got a 1953 dumont teleset dropped off the other day

finally got the pics to go with this but I got a 1953 Dumont teleset dropped off to me the other day, the guy never told me how old he just said got a old television to drop off and how much and seen this in his van and told him I would wave the $40fee cause it was a beauty and made both our days.
I am guessing 53 based on research I have done minimally and pics I have seen of other ones similar, no real dates on anything inside just model number, wishing it still had the tube diagram inside cause that would have been awesome to see. plugged that baby in and turned off the lights in the garage and not only did all the tubes glow like it was brand new but the screen even got a white line though the middle and speaker crackled a bit turning the channel dial which could just be blow but I have no tv channel to pick up these days. plus I don't think these old ones had channel traps to stop it all from bleeding over.
what I was wondering for anyone who has done it or restored one of these beauties, if I could use a 300ohm adapter I think its called with the antenna plugs one end and coax other end and then plug in either a converter box for tv or just a vhs player to see if it fully works ?

Mess with your kids and hook a XBox to it.

Somebody probably watched the first moon landing on that TV.

Should be able to stick a coax adapter on it and run it to an antenna or vcr.


That's how you connected the old game consoles to the ancient tv at grandmas back in the day.

A quick search showed that used working vacuum tubes can go for $2 - $50 each, depending on rarity.

Yep sell the tubes if you are going to scrap it.

ya parts and even the case could sell by themselves but I really want to keep it intact and working since its a good piece sadly it will probably come to that and indeed if it does I am sure the flat screen idea I will steal I have seen the fish tanks but flat screens I get in all the time and would love to try that as a summer project lol

To keep it vintage, you should be able to attach a 75 / 300 ohm adapter (aka balun transformer) to the VHF antenna screws on the back, and then hook up a digital to analog converter box along with a simple set of rabbit ears. Make sure the tv tuner is on either channel 3 or 4. You could also hook up a satellite or cable box and those should work as well.

I myself have a vintage 1952 Westinghouse that I used to have hooked to my satellite, and it worked great, as long as you like black and white movies...Good Luck...

Originally Posted by t00nces2

Mess with your kids and hook a XBox to it.

Nah, really mess with your kids and put a old video of the moon landing on it......