Like a picnic cooler:

http://antiqueradio.org/art/RCACTC-4LameSetup.jpg

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

And the best part is that you can keep your beer cold in the cooler while you work!

But it will be tough to get at...

I do the same thing, but I use a sturdy stool instead of a cooler. Makes everything so much easier for sure!

I replaced the CRT with a 21FB that is a bit stronger. It displays a beautiful picture with all colors strong except for red which is weak. This has do to a problem with the circuitry driving the red cathode. I have been tracing back through the circuit and have been finding resistors that have gone off. I think I will tackle this problem before I continue on the color sync issue.

Im starting to really think the replacement crystal may be bad since it does have a big dent in the side of it (Must have occurred during shipping) and I cant seem to get the color to lock no matter what I do. With the last crystal I could get the color to lock I believe. I will swap the crystal once I can find one. Work has been slow this whole year and I admit I have been lazy with the restoration of this set and have not worked on it as much as I should have. Summer is coming up soon so I hope to have the set finished by August. Slowly but surely this set is shaping up!

Sounds like you're nearing the finish line!

If you have a signal generator and scope, you can do a bench test of the crystal. In my CTC-4 article, scroll to the section titled, "Bench Testing the 3.58-MHz Crystals":

http://antiqueradio.org/RCACTC-4ColorTelevision.htm

Thanks to dtvmcdonald for that tip.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

From what I am gathering, I think the crystal may be bad. I have it setup to be bench tested. I'm not seeing a real big change in amplitude when I get around 3.58. First picture is at 3.58 and second is way down around 1mhz. This is what I believe the change should look like https://antiqueradio.org/art/RCACTC-...lAnimation.gif

Any thoughts? I believe the crystal is bad, but I'd like some advice before I go out and buy one.

They're cheap - get one or a few
http://www.newark.com/raltron/a-3-57...49u/dp/96F2798

Cant go wrong at 58 cents. Ill pick one up soon and go from there. I now have a whole lot of time to work on the set now. I hope to get it wrapped up by august. :yes:

New crystal is in and I can see a bit of improvement. Still cant get color to lock. But I can faintly see color through the rolling bars. Black and white picture is perfect I just cant get this pesky color to lock. I have tried putting caps across the crystal but I cant seem to get the frequency below 3.57900 (with a cap across the crystal). Reading through Phil's article on his 4 reveals that a 100pf cap can be put across L142 I believe. This TV wants to produce color, it is so close! Should I add a cap across L142?

Did you mistype the frequency? 3.57900 is too low - should be 3.579545.

Edit: oops - I see you meant 3.57966 - still high.

More C across L142 is easy and worth a try, I think.

Yes right, my bad. I can get it down from 3.57966 to 3.57900 with a cap across the crystal.