"Super" Saturday
 

Just got home from the estate sales today and I came upon a bit of a lucky find! In the basement of an old mansion over in St. Paul I found this beautiful "Westcott" CTC5-F Super, for ten whole dollars. It seems to have all of its original parts and the chassis looks undisturbed. I know the super models were RCA's budget line chassis and I have heard that they don't produce as nice picture as the Deluxe chassis. Do you guys think its worth the time and energy to restore this model?

I'm currently working on my first color set, a CTC9. I had static sounding arching noises coming from underneath the rubber flyback tire, I was able to cure this problem by removing the tire and recoating the flyback windings with a layer of HV liquid corona dope and a layer of sensor-safe silicone. Hopefully this fix will last. I have recapped the set and replaced the electrolytics plus I have replaced some out of tolerance resistors which were causing a bad horizontal pull. Now I'm searching for the cause of a 120cycle hum which is making for two minor waves rolling up through the picture and after that I need to do some convergence. Otherwise the set is coming along nicely, considering it started out completely dead.

Hi:

Personaly I would restore the CTC-5, especially at that price! The picture may not be as good as the deluxe model but if properly restored I'm sure that you would have to put them side by side to see any real difference. If you decide to redo it, keep us posted on your progress.

Steve

great find... and beautiful!!!!

Hey, I'll give ya a whole $20 for it...Double yer money !! Seriously, that is one NICE set- Think it would be a shame if you didn't restore it. -Sandy G.

Looks like you've got your answer ;)

Beautiful set!

Now why can't I ever find these??

Well thanks guys for the info! :) Looks like I'll have to add this to my list of sets to be restored, but its going to have to wait a while as I prefer only to have one project going on at a time. First I want to get my CTC9 done and installed in my "Hall of Television". After that I plan on working on my '53 blonde Spartan, that supposedly had never been sold. The tube tests brand new and is super bright, so that should be a fun set to watch b&w vintage television shows on. But I'll post more about that in the B&W forum when I start working on it.

AHA!

I figured I'd find you here Uni. From washers to TVs, eh?:p:

And just like washers, old TVs are VERY rare around here in New Orleans.

For those that don't know. I also collect washing machines... or try to at least :D

Hi Jason, old TV's and washers are rare everywhere! Its the challenge of finding them and then the bigger challenge of restoring them that makes this hobby so much fun. There's nothing like watching the Flintstones on a 1959 round screen color television. The colors seem more vivid, there is great pride in knowing that you personally put all the effort into restoring the set and its also a lot of fun knowing that no one else on the block (or probably the entire city for that matter) is watching a roundie!

So I have to ask.....are there many people around that collect them? Where the hell do you find the space? :eek:

My grandparents who are in their 70's still use their 1950's Maytag wringer washer. I was always fascinated by the process of wringing the clothes out into the washtubs and pumping the wash water out of the machine when I was a kid.
They had an RCA CTC-31 up till around 1995 or so when they bought a new Zenith console. Also they were using their 50's Frigidaire up till that time when they got a new one cause they wanted more space in the fridge...they gave the old one away still working.

I wouldn't think Washer collecting is as widespread as TV collecting but there are a bunch of us out there. I personally have only 2 machines (a modern Kenmore washer and a 1977 portable Kenmore washer) but there are people (Uni) that has a basement full of them:)

I would say my TV is pretty small too: a modern Sanyo TV and the 59 Zenith.

Considering I live in a mobile home, that's doing pretty good as far as collecting big stuff like that.

I also have some cool 70s hi-fi: A 75(I think) Sony reciever, 78 Dual 604 TT, 198? Sony LInear turtable (that I'm about to smash it to bits if it doesn't stop skipping), a Zenith tabletop stereo and an Akai reel/8 track machine.

Lets see at this very moment in time I have in our house:

7 B/W '47-'53 Vintage Telelvisions (5 Consoles, 2 table models)
1 1951 Zenith 19" Giant Circle / Radio Phono Huge Combo Monster
4 Vintage Color Sets (1 late 60's portable, 3 1950's consoles)
4 Vintage Dishwashers
1 Vintage 40" GE Range
28 Vintage Automatic Washers (20 are hooked up, ready to run)
2 Vintage Washer/Dryer Combo's (both hooked up)
7 Vintage Dryers (3 Hooked Up)

AND

1 Very Understanding Spouse!


Not that its any shock but I would love to have a vintage car too, but I think that's going to have to wait. :rolleyes:

But that is such dreadful housework! The "modern" housewife can now have carefree washdays with a new automatic washer. Just load the clothes in and the washer does the rest. It washes, rinses, and spins the clothes clean.:eek:

Actually, wringers are fascinating as well and I'd love to find one.

All of those washers and dryers!?! Man! And i thought we were nuts for collecting all of these televisions! :eek:

Well, I have NO spouse to tell me what to do so :p: . I had a vintage car. 1964 VW Bug. I sold it (stupid). And yes, I want another Bug, or 2 or 3 or 10 :D

we're havin' a laundry party!
 

Ever tell your friends to bring their laundry when they visit? :D

Re: we're havin' a laundry party!
 

YES!

Or I bring my laundry to my other friend that has a collection:D :guitar:

Did you ever see that Brit show "The Secret Life of Machines"? I remember the one on washing machines was very good. Still liked the one where at the end of the show the host set that whole pile of operating TVs on fire & you watched 'em slowly die in the reflection on his glasses. He had a particularly evil grin going on...-Sandy G.

OH YES! TSLM is one of my favorite shows. I was definitely glued for the TV and the washing machines episode. I wish they'd come out with it on DVD because my VHS copy got ruined.

...

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Unimatic, enuff with the washing machines!!! everyone knows that Sunbeam Mixmasters beat washing machines in the collecting stakes! :)... as for your CTC5 ...what a find ....I am sure we will all look forward to hearng how you go when you get 'round to restoring it to working glory!



and yes I DO collect Mixmasters!!! My pride and joy is a 1953 beautiful greeen Series 9!

It's almost worth it! I'd have to save up the money to buy it but I will. Yes, I'm crazy but it's like one of my all-time favorite shows.

Why won't the BBC or something put out a regular box set with all the eps llike most other shows?

And what about ice cream freezers? I used to know a guy who collects them. From 1800's hand cranked models to electric ones... Did you know there was a conversion kit to use a Sunbeam mixmaster head on hand cranked machine back in the 30s and 40s?

hehehehehe....

well kitchenalia in general is my thing ....hahah ..but never made it into ice cream freezers .....dishwashers yes ...freezers no ...lol

but then what we really need is an NTSC standard color freezer washer mixer with 15" tube and ultrasonic remote control .....preferably built at the little known RCA factory in Wallawalla Washington ....


hehehehehe

:)

"...Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo !!" - Boston Charlie, aka Sandy G. <grin>

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As for the CTC-5 Super model having an inferior color decoding, yes, it does... compared to the Deluxe. But really that's the only reason it deserves to get picked on, because it was the FIRST production chassis to use the lower-rez color decoding, and because there was also a 'deluxe' model in the same cabinet that still had the better decoding. Other than that, what's the big deal, it's the same, not-quite-as-good, non-I&Q decoding that was used for years and years on all the color sets after that. Like two twin brothers and one has a little bit bigger nose than the other, now everybody's gonna call that one "bignose"!
Plus though it seems to get singled out as a dog when in fact it used THE system that was adopted by everybody after that, so if it's a dog, so are all the other color sets and CTCs after it! And it's not like the difference is striking anyway, I bet people watching a CTC5 and a CTC4 next to each other would have a hard time distinguishing them apart if they weren't told they were different beforehand. I love mine by the way...Frenchy

IIRC, you could still buy a wringer washer new as late as 1969-70. My dad did to wash rags we used when my sister & mom would go to horse shows. took him awhile to get it-they were special order items & I think it was fairly expensive. Why they had to have a wringer to wash horse towels I don't remember, maybe they thought it would get 'em cleaner...I don't remember whatever happened to that thing...-Sandy G.

Nice find! RCA's literature on the "Super" chassis shows the blue lateral adjustment to be a coil controlled by a pot under the pencil box. Your chassis seems to have the mechanical set up like the "DELUXE" (CTC5-N) chassis. I've never seen the coil set-up on any -5 chassis. Has anyone else? I know the first thing I would change is that HV regulator tube. I'm surprised (as black as that thing is) that it hasn't cracked yet. Phil

My 5 Super has the blue lateral permanent magnet also.