Help on a 1977 RCA colortrak

[Sterlin]

Hello! It's my first time posting here so I hope I'm doing this right. I've been collecting vintage electronics since I was 15. Mainly televisions and radios from the 1950s to the 1980s, but I also collect basically any other gadget from the era including VCRs, toasters, desk fans, computers and the like. I'm 19 now and have an entire room (or 2) filled with the stuff.
That said, I really know nothing about the electronics themselves which is a pretty bad combo for someone who collects them. I just look at a schematic and my brain shuts off. I'm good at the cosmetic restoration but that's it.
My main console television is a 25" 1977 RCA colortrak console set rebadged for JCpenny. I was using it and heard a loud pop from the back (yikes) and now the picture is all messed up. It's much brighter for some reason but the convergence is all out of alignment, with the white of the static now much more bluish. Before this the picture was very good but pulled slightly to the top right.
Before you try to say for me to try and fix it myself, there is no way I'm working on this. It's just way to complicated and every time I try to fix things they generally just get worse. That said I need to find someone who can fix it. I live in Delaware and have no idea where I'd get something like this fixed. I've called around to every electronics repair shop and they say nobody works on them anymore, but I know that's not true. If anyone knows a place near Delaware that does vintage television repairs please let me know. I have a bunch of other stuff that needs fixing too and I know for a fact I'd just make everything worse.

Thanks-
Aidan

[Blast]

Originally Posted by Sterlin

Hello! It's my first time posting here so I hope I'm doing this right. I've been collecting vintage electronics since I was 15. Mainly televisions and radios from the 1950s to the 1980s, but I also collect basically any other gadget from the era including VCRs, toasters, desk fans, computers and the like. I'm 19 now and have an entire room (or 2) filled with the stuff.
That said, I really know nothing about the electronics themselves which is a pretty bad combo for someone who collects them. I just look at a schematic and my brain shuts off. I'm good at the cosmetic restoration but that's it.
My main console television is a 25" 1977 RCA colortrak console set rebadged for JCpenny. I was using it and heard a loud pop from the back (yikes) and now the picture is all messed up. It's much brighter for some reason but the convergence is all out of alignment, with the white of the static now much more bluish. Before this the picture was very good but pulled slightly to the top right.
Before you try to say for me to try and fix it myself, there is no way I'm working on this. It's just way to complicated and every time I try to fix things they generally just get worse. That said I need to find someone who can fix it. I live in Delaware and have no idea where I'd get something like this fixed. I've called around to every electronics repair shop and they say nobody works on them anymore, but I know that's not true. If anyone knows a place near Delaware that does vintage television repairs please let me know. I have a bunch of other stuff that needs fixing too and I know for a fact I'd just make everything worse.

Thanks-
Aidan

You were me at 15, 19 (in the 70's). At one point at that time of my life I had 12 televisions in my bedroom. Some had picture, some had sound, some actually had both. I didn't/couldn't read schematics either very well then. I had a mentor of the same age at that time. He was a genius, as far as I was concerned. He got me started on the right foot.

Over the decades (after he was gone, committed suicide, what a loss...) I wanted so much to prove it to myself that I would FORCE myself to read schematics and to try to understand them.

In the 90's I worked on a LOT of VCR's (and TV's, camcorders, DVD players and stereos). To this day I am more focused on industrial automation, "ladder logic" diagrams, etc. What I learned in my teens and twenties helps me today in that regard.

I wish I could help you with your '77 RCA. Be sure to advise the chassis number (i.e. CTCxxx) for better help on future posts. They are very complicated sets. I have a 1984 (CTC121) that has given me fits in the past. I hope you find some help with yours.

Electronics will come to you in time if you really enjoy it and wish to absorb it. Good luck to you, young man!

[init4fun]

Hi Aidan, welcome to VK !

I will start by saying that yes, there are darned few places that work on vintage electronics anymore, there just isn't enough money in it to justify operating a business dedicated to what is a somewhat small community of collectors. As to fixing it yourself, I agree that from your description of your present electronic knowledge it's not going to be possible right now. BUT ! You can educate yourself on the basics of electronics with something like the "Electronic Snap Kit" that I will enclose a link to. These kits are a perfect introduction to electronics and make it easy to learn at your own pace. Starting small like this will not overwhelm you right outta the gate and once you've learned the basics the guys here can help educate you as to the specifics of repairing your TV. After mastering the snap kit, "recapping" a common 5 tube AM table radio would be a great next step, soldering skills are best practiced on something not too valuable (There were literally millions of cheap 5 tube radios sold back in the day, so there are still plenty of them around today). That's the great thing about the snap kit, no soldering, till you progress beyond the snap kit and venture into repairing the "AA5" tube radio.

I wish you well on your journey......

https://www.amazon.com/Snap-Circuits.../dp/B0000683A4

[zeno]

IF this is the chassis I think there is a "special" fuse that blew.
It is easy to change, just pull the back & tilt the chassis down. If you get
the CTC### off the chassis I can look it up for you & you can at least
find one for now.
Welcome aboard & GL

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[electronjohn]

Welcome!