Frankly, it's been quite a while since I got this camera working and I don't remember whether or not the spot was there from the beginning, but it sure has been there for several months now. I might suggest, that if any of you are in the Los Angeles area, you'd be welcome to come over and take a look. Just let me know and I'll send you directions, etc. Write to:
ralphsargent@earthlink.net
(PS: I have noticed that a number of these tubes improve their quality of picture when they have been run daily (for several hours) over a period of days or weeks since their long hibernation!)