Brought Home a $50 CTC-16 Today
 

Bought a really nice CTC-16e off the local craigslist today. What a great set! very clean and it works excellent as found. The CRT was replaced in 1983. Dusting off the chassis revealed one of the nicest chassis's I've seen.
Here's a photo and a link to a short video clip of the set working.
Jim
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...CTC16photo.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/th_CTC16.jpg

WOW! That's a beauty. Super happy for you!:yes:

DAMN that's a nice set! Looks almost new!

A very attractive cabinet design & control panel, to my eyes. That chassis, that crt...you did very good!

Sweet deal :thmbsp:

Very clean set too!

Sheesh, what a bargain!

Phil "green with envy" Nelson

That is a nice set.:yes:

Wow! That is awesome! And I thought I got a great deal when I got a CTC-16 for $100. Man, you did great!

It does indeed look like it's brand new!

Congrats on saving another one and enjoy!

Jim,

Great find. Exceptional set.

-Steve D.

Good job
 

In my estimation the ctc 16 was the finest set RCA had developed in that era.

Good find, wish it was mine.

what a NICE set! I'm jealous. Love the cabinet style on that one. I wish I would come across a smaller "roundie". ALl of mine are too huge and I haven't been able to have one upstairs.
It's pretty cool that the owners had it "kept up" into the 80's. 83 was about the "tail end" of when you could get a replacement tube, and alot of RCA's parts for the tube sets were NLA by the mid to late 80's.
When I worked in my Uncle's TV shop I remember one of the last roundies he worked on. A CTC-16, and the owners had a nw flyback AND picture tube installed which was pretty amazing. By the late 70's early 80's people were junking those out left and right....

This set belonged to an elderly woman who recently departed at age 92. She was blind the last 5 years of her life. There is wear to the finish on the top right corner and along the front edge of the top. The TV was still in her living room and was probably a landmark object she ran her hand accross. The line cord was tightly wound and coiled and looks to have been that way for years. There was a later modern television in the same room too.

Hi, this is a wonderful set. Congratulations. Can you post some more photos from the details of the chassis?

I only took 2 photos of the chassis before I placed the set. If you need close-ups of a particular area let me know. I can always pull the back off and take more pictures.
Jim
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...1100/ctc1a.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...1100/ctc1b.jpg

What a beaut. Almost make ME feel 16 again. Cut my teeth on those things. When I saw that convergence board..I'd love to converge it for old times sake.
Thanks for the time warp!

Thats the same set that was in my house when I grew up, it was the first color set for my parents. Just a little different cabinet but the rest looked exactly the same.

The ctc 16 is a cool chassis and as we can see has a good picture.
Would anyone know if this is the first chassis that had the flyback where the 3a3 plate connected into the top of the flyback tire? I thought it was but not sure.

You are correct.

Thank you. Wonder why rca did that? I have seen a lot of flybacks that melt down from the heat of the tube.

The reason is universal: to cut production costs.

Been trying to think of a way to get some air inside the hv cage on my set.
If i drill holes in the front or side hv cage it will destroy the look of it. Could drill some holes on the back side of the cage where it can not be seen? Humm.

Beautiful set! Congratulations!

I think part of the reason may have been a safety device to ensure the HV rectifier could not be active with the HV cage open. It probably was a cost cutting move too but I wonder why all the chassis went to this design, from the cheaper portables to the highest end models.
The key thing is to make sure the tube is plugged in all the way to the socket...if its not in all the way you can get arcing which can lead to flyback destruction. Probably a fuse in the HO cathode would be good too (1/4 amp to .3 amp).