1963 Setchell Carlson color roundie
 

For anyone who isn't part of the Facebook tv group, here's what I scored yesterday. I traded a 1968 Zenith console color set for this 1963 Setchell Carlson color roundie. We are both very happy with what we ended up with. I'll have to do a full restoration on this. The cabinet is fair and just needs refinishing and a leg made. (I know someone that'll make it for me) and new caps and whatnot on the chassis. Has good RCA crt with no cataract.

Wow. Nice score. I don't recall ever seeing a chassis like that. Very Cool!

wow, a well ventilated high voltage cage!

Unit-ized chassis?

That is one cool tv, nice to see something different like that. Would really like to see the underside of the modules looks like it may be point to point wiring like Zenith. Nice score.

That is a very interesting chassis layout, do those modules plug in or are they hardwired? If pugged in that would sure make trouble shooting quick and easy if a shop had all the spares.

Gregb

The modules plug in, with plug and socket terminal strips along the edges. Remove 1-2 screws, and pull the module straight up. Seems to be a reliable connection method. I have 3 B&W SC sets. should be easy to restore! Cant be too many of these left!

Very cool! This really interested me because a few months ago someone linked me a photo of a b/w setchell carlson for sale and it looks real similar to your color set, just with less knobs. Take a look, they must have reused the knobs and parts. If possible please show more of the chassis and set, it is very neat.


btw: do you have the link to the facebook group, I would like to look into joining it.

Wow! If you ever want to sell it Mark, please let me know.

I've been wanting an S-C color for a while.

Very cool: I have an ad for them, but never saw one.

Cool ! 100% NOT an RCA clone !?!?! Did they do original design circuits ?
I bet they did, but don't own one, so gotta ask those who know....

.

I remember reading someplace that when SC came out with color sets, RCA engineers were sent to visit SC and find out how SC got a better picture out of RCAs CRT. Might have been in a company publication, I read through the Pavek museum's SC files last time I was up there.

Do the channel numbers light up through the smoked section of the knobs? I have an SC radio like that.

IIRC S-C color sets were electrically RCA clones, but S-C made them 100% hand wired and unit-ized as they were known for.....I recall someone saying they worked so much better picture wise than RCAs that RCA sent engineers over to S-C to figure out how they were doing it.

A S-C color set is on my short list. I've seen one at another collector's house and have often wondered if he still has it.

VERY kewl set !

Love it! :thmbsp:

I'm hoping to find me a Setchell color roundy too some day. I have found a latter 60's SC rectangular set, which I understand is also quite uncommon.

Awesome, and rare....I've seen just four SC sets in 30+ years of repairing them. Only one was a color set - Dad took it in from another dealer to fix, as the other dealer was terrified of "that oddball thing" - so SC sets got the nickname "oddball" with Dad.

I have an SC B/w set myself - low emission CRT on mine, a classroom set with key locked control door...someone else here has the same set, IIRC...

When I was in high school I helped out at a TV shop that sold S C. They were good sellers for odd locations (oil rigs in the gulf for one), where service was not easy (helicopter ride). The modular chassis made repairs easier than the normal repair as the tech could bring the needed modules with him and take the defective one back and repair it in the shop. I do remember thinking how strange they looked.

That set is awesome!

I installed and repaired Setchell-Carlson (later Audiotronics, then Dotronix) commercial CCTV monitors for decades, and they (all black-and-white ones in my case) all used plug-in modules into the mid-1980s or later in some cases. To see a color, tube-based set with the same module concept is really cool.

WOW.. I love that set...

That tilt-down panel with the convergence controls is a nice design feature, too.

I think you got the better deal. Advanced engineering, this kinda thing is right up my alley. I like different.

Everything looks so neat and organized.

in almost 55 years dabbling in the business,i ve only came across 1 setchell carlson color set.it was a 23v set with a rauland crt.looked well built and pretty nice wood cabinet.tuner was shot but it was a very good looking set.

Those adjustments were well thought out on placement. You know, the front of the TV, where you can see what you're adjusting. In genius design right there!

The only Setchell Carlson color set, I worked on was a 23V set with a RCA 25XP22, that was bad.
Typical S-C quality, but nothing real special. The color circuitry was pure RCA CTC15 clone. :boring:

Just curious...which shop sold S.C. in N.O.?

I really can't wait to restore this set! I will update this thread as soon as work begins :) :banana:

Yes Unit-ized meant modular. The very first modular TV, I think. Schools loved the black and white models. They ran forever. I did not know that S-C made color sets that way. Awesome score.

Mark, what is the model number of this set? I'm curious to look up the schematic.

Should be the U800 chassis. I have a 50 page factory installation and maintenance manual for this chassis. Has fold out's, so it's a bit of challenge for me to scan. If I can get it to look decent, I'll forward the scans the ETF. This chassis features push pull audio. :)

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/q...pshti6ggtf.jpg

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/q...pscjgx1wgm.jpg

that is a cool set. I never saw a Setchell-Carlson in person, so they must be rare in this area of Nebraska. One set I DO remember ( and was wondering if anybody else serviced one) Not as well built as this Setchell looks, but we had a late 60's Truetone on our service route and its whole chassis was modular as well. (even the board with the flyback) Not sure who made it, but I'm thinking Wells Gardner? Anyway.. it was so odd for me to see a set with plug in modules that had tubes on them.

Kevin, that looks like a very interesting manual. Hope the scans turn out well!

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Jim, the two scans I posted today are from a sales brochure.

Ahh...very nice.

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What a slick TV!
RCA used to tout the "printed copper circuits" over old-fashioned hand-wiring.
We all know how that turned out!

That tube lineup is certainly RCA in color and sweep section but the tuner, IF, video sync and sound are not.
Seems more like Motorola or is it a genuine S-C design ?

Thanks Kevin, that specification is priceless. A real poke at RCA if I ever saw one.

I suspect they used RCAs circuit designs for the color and CRT-realted circuits, but they probably adapted existing modules from their B&W TV lines where they could. I have a B&S B&W set that also uses push pull audio. Many SC sets had a record changer optional.

Zenith used to make a big deal about their TVs being "hand crafted". Though the funny looking terminal strips and tube sockets allowed the "crafters" to quickly stuff part leads into the terminals, and then they were wave soldered.

The gold plated tuner contacts and video IF tube complement make me think they borrowed(or got inspiration for) some of their receiver design from Zenith.

I've always liked hand-wired sets better from a maintenance stand point.

I always thought wave soldered meant that PC boards were soldered by lowering them into a vat of molten solder. I'm not sure how a point to point wired chassis could be wave soldered without damaging plastic components and wire insulation. :scratch2: