RCA T-121 Restoration

[Crist Rigott]

I have a RCA T-121 chassis #KSC34C. I'll be doing a restoration on this TV in the future. However it needs a back.

1. Does anybody have one to sell?

2. Can anybody take a picture straight on with a ruler so I can draw one up and make one. I assuming that it is made from Masonite.

Thanks.

[jr_tech]

Those sets had backs ????

I don't know about t121s, but I have seen a fair number of t120s (mine included) and have never seen a back on one.
I always suspected that the sets ran quite warm with the back on, and that they were often removed and thrown away fairly early in the set's life.

Question... how does the 121 differ from the more common 120?

jr

[benman94]

My T-120 had a back. I trashed the set though after restoration; it seems a fair number of the T-120s and T-121s are incapable of adequate horizontal linearity. Mine was among them...

[decojoe67]

It's commonplace for backs to be missing on early TV's. Often it was suggested to allow for better cooling. I found some nice selections of perforated sheet metal on eBay that worked very well to make backs for two Admiral TV's. I've seen them made from sheets of Masonite too, but it requires more work to make the cooling holes/slats. I agree that your RCA likely used masonite, although metal was used on the earlier models. The worst choice is peg-board in my opinion. It always looks cheesy.

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by benman94

...it seems a fair number of the T-120s and T-121s are incapable of adequate horizontal linearity. Mine was among them...

Dang. I battled H. linearity one of these back in the day, and could never fix it. Phil Nelson had one more recently with the same problem. Seems to be the nature of many if not all of this particular series.

[benman94]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Dang. I battled H. linearity one of these back in the day, and could never fix it. Phil Nelson had one more recently with the same problem. Seems to be the nature of many if not all of this particular series.

With your post I now know of at least six people that fought one of these sets and lost... and none that have figured it out. I finally concluded mine likely rolled off the line with p*ss poor linearity.

[jr_tech]

Make that 7

But then, I seem to have more trouble than most with horizontal problems on early RCAs.

jr

[benman94]

Very pleased to report that the 12LP4 in your set tests like a brand new tube. I think this was a very low hours set...

[Crist Rigott]

Originally Posted by benman94

Very pleased to report that the 12LP4 in your set tests like a brand new tube. I think this was a very low hours set...

I'm all smiles! Looks like it'll be a good restoration. Now I gotta get rid of the smell!

Looking forward to tackling the H Lin. problem too.

Thank you Ben.