RCA CT-100 color TV restoration
 

My RCA CT-100 color TV restoration is nearly done. The first article describes the project. The second has some design notes.

http://antiqueradio.org/RCACT-100Television.htm

http://antiqueradio.org/RCACT-100TelevisionDesign.htm

The cabinet should be finished in a week or two. I'll update the article when there's more to say.

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Pretty neat, but you should put 800px wide pictures in it so you don't have to click on each picture to see it, open in a new tab all that. you can do quick loading jpg's and still have a clickable picture to a bigger better quality one if you think your page will load too slowly. But I like it, and all the detail, very very cool!!! The design page is very cool too, nice historical quality page!! I would put them both up there with wallnuts, very well liked in the squirrel world!! I would bury it in my yard!

Wow......Another one brought back from the dead....

The way the page is down with the thumbnails is perfect if he wants the search engine indexing to be good. Pages that are require transfer of lots of data get bumped down. Used to be pages under 100kb total were the highest rated.

Nice set. I wish I had that much patience.

Incredible work and documentation ! :thmbsp:

And 2 good jugs...WOW!!

jr

fantastic!what a project.must read tv!

I just read this today before you posted here. Phil, I knew you said you were working on "something big" and somehow I just knew you had finally come across one of these! No one is more deserving of such a find. Thanks so much for posting so many pictures of all the chassis hardware.

Does anyone know what set Phil's extra pencil case came from? Was it a B&W or color set?

Wow Phil, I didn't even know you had gotten a CT-100!

It looks great, how you find time to not only do a thorough restoration but document it and put it on the Web is beyond me. :yes:

Excellent job and a very enjoyable read! Thanks for taking the time to document your projects so thoroughly.

Phil,
I have always enjoyed reading the articles at your website.
This one was especially enjoyable.
I can't wait to see your photos of the refininished cabinet.

Hey Phil, thanks for the article, and pics as well. Congrats on the set and it's functioning! That's amazing you have two good CRT's!

Thanks. I have been a terrible slowpoke with this project. The TV found me, rather than the other way around, and in some ways I was jumping into the deep end of the pool. John and Pete have been great about offering ideas & encouragement. There are still a few unknowns and plenty of tweaking left to do, but it seems likely that I'll end up with a working television.

Phil Nelson

Wow! That's great! The pictures are amazing!

As usual you've done a great job in documenting everything along the way. That'll be a great help to the rest of us should we be fortunate enough to acquire one someday.

Congratulations! :thmbsp:

John

Highly impressive and you should be proud. Congratulations and I do visit your site frequently. A great source of info and it motivates me.

Wow - thanks - really a great job.

Outstanding, Phil!

Excellent.

Hi Phil,

thank you very much for your wonderful presentation and documentation of your CT-100 project. It is well-weighted in pictures and words, and your success with the set is stunning! BTW, I like also you other documentations on your website, your Motorola VT-73 (VT-71) project was the first, which I found on the web and gave me high valuable hints for my own restoring project.

Kind regards,
Eckhard

FANTASTIC Phill! Your attention to detail in documenting the process of your restoration is a marvel to behold. Your web site has a wealth of information. I have often thought of having a web site to document my projects. But life is too short and I have much to do before the final curtain and I find it more rewarding to read your wonderful web site.

Outstanding Job Phill! Keep up the great work. You are a credit to our hobby!

Phil,

I can only echo the praise the other members have posted. Wonderful step by step documentation. The side trip to your CTC-11 restoration was also filled with great info and restoration tips.

Thanks,
-Steve D.

Phil! You Da Man !! Of all your masterfully authored restoration sagas, this one is the crowning flourish. So far.:banana::D

I depend a lot on the kindness of others, in this forum and elsewhere. The CTC-11 project is a good example. A guy contacted me, wanting to trade his TV for something else I wasn't using. I said, "Sure, sounds fun," not really knowing what I was getting into. I had done b/w TVs before, but never thought of trying a color set.

Soon after getting the TV, I looked at a diagram in Sams and posted a question here, saying something like, "Hey, I can't find these adjusters -- what's the deal?" I learned that I was missing these mysterious things known as convergence assembly & purity rings, and a forum member then gave me the parts I needed! That's when I realized it was time for some serious homework.

Phil

Great restoration, Phil. I'll put a link to your page from my site.

Thanks, that's fantastic. Now if I could just locate a back cover for this TV, I could die a happy man.

Phil

Hey Phil, why dontcha post a link over in the rec.antiques.radio+phono NG? Some folks there probably haven't seen it yet.

I found a back (!), so now I'll have to keep my promise to die happy. Thanks, Einar.

The back has a stamped Video/Air label by a little hole at the bottom. Perhaps that set was used as a broadcast monitor or lobby display at a TV station. It don't know why anyone would add such a switch for home use.

Phil Nelson

Phil,

RCA pulbished instructions on converting its early color sets for video monitor use, and many were so converted for use at TV stations. Here is the article.

John

Phil, the RACS-rebuilt 15GP22 you saw at the 2010 ETF convention

http://www.earlytelevision.org/2010_...tion_RACS.html

was driven by the circuit on the first page of the atricle.

Pete

Very interesting. Thanks for the info!

Phil Nelson

Thank you for posting that circuit information, John. That could be a fun project someday, particularly if I ever got something like an already-hacked roundie set that was not restorble, or one with a messed-up tuner/IF section.

fantastic!!
 

Guys,

I work for the state government here. The department I work for manages the protection of historic buildings and objects.

Phil, I showed your restoration of the CT-100 to one of our chief conservators.

She was extremely impressed (and that means she was reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllly impressed) at the depth of knowledge and attention to detail and the sheer beauty of the results.

And wished all of you here the best of luck with your conservation and restoration efforts.

All I can say is WOW!!!

That's very kind, but don't get too carried away. There are folks around who make my little projects look like amateur hour. They're just not as blabby as I am :)

Phil

Humility is a mark of a master craftsman. I would say Phil's mastery is in the high proficiency he's attained in the (relatively) short time he's been doing these restos, starting from a pure nooby. Now watch him start blushin'. :D

I doubt if they were given anywhere the amount of "TLC" you've bestowed on this 'un when they were originally made...

Ditto - I would have thought Phil had been restoring these for ages looking at his site.

the work you do...
 

folks,

I think you tend to forget that while we are all enthusiasts the work you guys are doing is actually significant.

The restoration and documentation of the technical aspects of television history is essential ...really essential.

In no time at all the CRT television has practically disappeared but the place television played in the latter half of the 20th century is immense culturally and in no small part due to the extraordinary advances in television technology.

So when my conservator lady said she was impressed she really did mean it ...and she meant it for all of you.

The cabinet restoration is done and it looks great (thanks, Michael!).

http://antiqueradio.org/art/RCACT-10...Refinished.jpg

Now to round up all the parts & pieces and try to make a TV again.

Phil

Wow!! :thmbsp: It couldn't have looked that good when new!

John

Shiniest CT-100 cabinet EVER! That thing looks awesome!!