Ceci n'est pas une machine à écrire*

Taking a short break from typewriters, I wanted to share one of my favorite electronic-age gadgets.

In our dining room we have a TV, but it's not a standard flat screen. This television is a GE model 10T4 from the late 40s. I found it at a Hamfest in Glendale, AZ back in the late 90s. In the first few hours of the 'fest I had seen this beauty, but the price was too high. I came back close to the end and offered what I thought was reasonable ($20 or so) and the seller was happy to not not take it back home. 

Borrowing a friend's tube-tester I was able to hunt down the bad tubes and replace any capacitors that has started to leak. It's wasn't a hard repair, but I was scared when I had to re-solder a yolk post back onto one of the power supply tubes. That monster was a little scary. For 13 years the tubes have been working well. Powering it up for 30 minutes once a month has helped keep everything limber and well-working. 

The saddest day for this TV was the digital transition. I had it on the very moment the last analog signal was broadcast. It was a sad day for me too, but I have been able to bring it back to life with a DTV converter box and a rat's nest of cables.

Monday I took out the old iPod and snagged a video of it running while Peep's Wide World was on PBS. The video is embedded below.

*Blame Google if the translation is not correct.