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#1
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Chromacolor II
So, I have been fortunate enough to score this '78 Chromacolor II 19" locally. It has seen moderate use but the CRT is quite strong with perfect focus still. Didn't even need the usual set-up done either, since convergence and purity are A-OK.
Luckily the original owner saved the manuals, and the hangtag. It is a K1908C using the 19KC48Z chassis. I thought these models had a tube type HV rectifier. Must be thinking of the early 70s Z I have somewhere. This style might be my favorite Zenith color ever made. |
#2
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IIRC Whenever Zenith went SS they stuck with a SS trippler module...Atleast in their color sets (I've had limited exposure to Zenith's late tube/hybrid monochrome sets). The only sets with modules and HV rectifier tubes are the 4 tube hybrids (tube based horizontal system) and the higher tube count hybrids like my 12B13C52 (roughly half tube with a single duramodule for chroma that has a DIP demodulator chip on it).
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Tom C. Zenith: The quality stays in EVEN after the name falls off! What I want. --> http://www.videokarma.org/showpost.p...62&postcount=4 |
#3
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Yes, memory can be a funny thing. The 4-tube hybrid is neck-and-neck to be my favorite to the CCII. Still have a 19CC19 with the tube horiz and damper. 6FL6? I believe. That one probably has a better picture than this one but the CCII has much better HV regulation and may be brighter overall.
Meanwhile, my early system-3 stuff (9-160 based sets and the 'Z' line from '83-'84) still makes a fantastic color picture but when you take them apart, they are so much cheaper of a build. Really plasticy and thin boards. |
#4
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All Zenith color solid state sets used a tripler. Early SS colors
from RCA, Sony, Motorola & others used a tube rectifier. Now a few IIRC's The first SS B&W Zenith used a tube. A rare set. The first SS 19" Zenith, 100% hand wired also did. Also rare set ! The next generation ( hand wired with duramodules) used a stick HV rectifier. Your set is a K-line. K-line also introduced the first gen System 3 chassis on TOTL 19 & 25" sets. Next year, L-line the last CC2 sets were built out as a low priced set. About a 6+ year run for CC2's. Not bad ! 73 Zeno LFOD ! |
#5
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Nice set! Great find.
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Audiokarma |
#6
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Thanks! It does have impressive color and has gotten better after running for a few hours. Owner bought it and ran it til 1990 then it was a spare set and rarely used.
I'm trying to recall which were the problem areas on these chassis... It will see semi-hard use, since I just stashed away my 19" RCA CTC-97 from 1980 (inline gun CRT, single mainboard with electronic pushbutton tuner and ultrasonic remote), which was my daily watcher for the past few years. |
#7
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Quote:
mind this must be the most built color chassis ever. Every Zenith 17-25" used it for 3 yrs then when EFL CRT's came out they used a near identical chassis. But EFL's only came in the TOTL sets. They also stuffed this chassis into the 13" sets with a few minor changes & kept it serviceable . Good news is you can still get almost any part for them. Also the design is so simple we had the young kids working on them to learn. 73 Zeno LFOD ! |
#8
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Well now, it's about time that one of us who rarely finds what he wants got a break!
My Bradford/GE 19QB set uses a stick rectifier. It's odd-looking setup, first of its kind I've seen. Last edited by Jon A.; 03-05-2018 at 05:39 PM. |
#9
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Oddly enough, I sent a photo of this to my aunt and she said that my grandparents, who only bought Zenith, had this set new and that it started smoking one night so my grandfather put it at the curb! I asked how she knew it was the same one. Her boyfriend at the time put it in his car, had it repaired, and used it daily when he moved down to Florida. Interesting
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#10
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I never got the whole story on the EFL gun CRT. Did it have more cathode material, or is this the one with the additional focus lense? The sets I have with that designation on their CRT are capable of *blinding* brightness levels
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Audiokarma |
#11
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Quote:
angle. came out in H line on some 17 & 19" then on some 25" in J-line. Minor chassis changes from CC2 were separate V outputs, 9-89 board replaced with a CRT board. Almost the same as the 13". Also some minor HV changes. The other jug they came out with was the FTM https://www.creativeplanetnetwork.co...een-crt-386450 This is the perfectly flat tube everyone used at the end of CRT's. I had a mid 80's Zenith monitor with it & the pix was spectacular. For years it was only in highest end monitors & military apps. A 14" TV with it would have sold for $800 to break even ! 73 Zeno LFOD ! |
#12
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The EFL gun spot was extremely sharp. They initially had a problem that wherever the spot was perfectly focused on a highlight, the high current density caused the green and blue phosphors to saturate a bit and turn the white slightly pink. (The rare-earth red phosphor was linear at high currents.) This was very visible on an all-white picture like the Indianhead test pattern, where it would look like a big soft-edged pinkish ring (because when overall focus was best, the absolute best was halfway between the center and edges of the screen.) They worked on reducing the saturation of the phosphors, but I don't believe it could be completely eliminated. I can't recall if they did anything to the gun design to increase spot size a smidge to reduce the problem too.
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#13
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When they first came out you could light a room with them !
But they had a real soft red & to me sucked. A fire engine never looked right. They often had wickid bad moire, so bad we had to change a few jugs. Took a few months but they did cure them. Life on them was almost as good as the CC delta sets so lots of survivors. 73 Zeno LFOD ! Quote:
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#14
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Our family had one of those--lasted FOREVER!
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#15
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That's truly interesting info regarding the EFL sets. I'll have to check mine at high-contrast and see how the tube behaves.
On the CC-II, I discovered a minor issue. Keeping in mind I never even took the back off: On animated content, and with motion scenes, the color demod acts up. For example, it has the notorious green turning blue in spots, and vice-versa. The horiz freq appears to be fixed, no hold control to adjust. Also, uniformly red/green/blue/white rasters are perfect, so this is not a purity issue. I suppose I'll have to scope out the burst and demod circuits but I do NOT want to make this worse. On my 19CC19 4-tube hybrid, I had a bad case of the rolling color bars which I was able to adjust out. But this one is a different beast. |
Audiokarma |
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