early RCA color set on Ebay
 

I guess the west coasters will have a go at this one. Too far for polaraman to drive and pick up. :cry: Good luck to all of you.

polaraman

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...179316050&rd=1

*yawn* a 10?

Hehehe, after you've got a 7, 10s and 11s don't seem so 'early' :)

(Still want a 4!)

Ahh crap! Local pickup only.... I wonder if this seller will give in and ship it for me...

Picture and reliability-wise, how do these earlier sets compare to say a 16? That's such a strange photo, it appears to be a table top model......could that be correct? I thought that at such an early date all color sets would be a floor model sort of affair.

Anthony

Heckfire, one of the CTC-4's in 1955 was a table model. This one is a CTC-9. Lotsa table models in the years in between. 'Course they all sat on big tables!

Here, Feast your eyes!

he includes measurements of the legs so sounds like it is not a tabletop model, maybe it just has the little pointy legs or something, or a separate stand. Asked him to send me pics.

Thanks for that link....forgot to check that site! Looks to be the Abbott model (does this keep baaaaaad boys in check?)

Here's a pic I swiped from that site, this is a remote controlled set or at least it was an option. I zoomed in on the picture on the screen and am pretty sure that's Perry Como and quite possibly Jack Gilford on the left (famous for his 60's Cracker Jack commercials).

Anthony

I believe that a lot of sets that had legs, all could be removed (at the very least for shipping, and perhaps to allow you to place it on a table or stand on it's own).

Just sent the seller an e-mail asking about the remote, if it was so equipped and if he still has it. We'll see.

Anthony (am considering bidding on this unless someone else wants it)

As much as I want a roundie, I don't think this one's going to be within reach. It's on the wrong end of the country... Hope another AK'er can get it though!

-Ian

I hope I could get this one...

It's too darn close to me. My wife would kill. Hopefully Steve D. can get it!

Hey Hoffy,

Jonathan must think we're crazy. This sets in our backyard and we're not going for it. I just don't have the space. If you can convince your bride, I'll supply the truck. I'll bet Steve K. will supply the techno-fix. Or we can forget the whole thing and save your happy home.

-Steve D.

Steve,

Really?

I'll think about it in that case!!!!



Thanks!

Neither of you Steves want it? Both of you are crazy. :P I contacted the seller and asked him about shipping, and he said he'd ship it if I can and if I'll pay for it. It will be $172 to ship a 150lb 35x30x30 package from North Hills, California to where I am in Pennsylvania.

He said that the picture is dim and out of focus. Focus can be adjusted, but if it's going dim it seems like I'll have to pay lots to get it rebuilt, if I can get it rebuilt...

I'll gladly pay the shipping, and give this nice TV a good home, right by my RCA 630TS clone I recently just finished recapping.

I do want a beautiful prewar RCA TT-5, but thats like asking for world piece. :) I wanted a CT-100, but they are super rare as well, but a bit easier to get.

These beautiful round color screen TVs are quite appealing to me. Restoring it would be heaps of fun, as well as money, and effort, but when I see a beautiful color raster, it will be 100% worth it.

If none of you guys really want it, I'll gladly take it. :)

Well, I have four roundies already... If it stays low I'll pick it up but if one of you want it for sure please post here.

I definately want it, even if it has a tube that is going gassy. I never bid yet because I want it to stay low. Though, if you happen to get it, would ypu resell it to me? :)

Jonathan

Jonathan,

By all means, go for it. Hopefully it will stay low. I hope you get it; it could be a peach restored.

Ditto!


-Steve D.

This is only one reason for a dim picture. The former metal cone crts had problems with going gassy. But I assume that this set has a 21CYP22 crt, an all glas tube. If this is going gassy, it is imploding. ;-)
There are a lot of other reasons for a dim picture: low high voltage or focus, bad crt screen voltage, low IF amplifying and so on. I think, a dim picture is a good sign that with a little adjustment you can get a clear and bright picture.
BTW: read the questions. The seller will crate it and ship it if you are willing to pay the additional handlings.

Thanks so much guys! :) This is greatly appreciated.

For comparison, see the screenshots of other early color tv sets on ebay. Only a minority has not dim and fuzzy pictures. I have collected them in my cache:

http://bs.cyty.com/menschen/e-etzold...ache/cache.htm

(I keep this cache online for one week, after that the files will be erased.)

Jonathan,

I would go for the CTC 4. Much better set. More collector value in the future.

polaraman

Jonathan,

take both! :banana:

Jonathan!

How on earth are you going to get a 150 lb TV shipped across the country for only 172 bucks? Who are you using? We'll all want to know! Considering how much I've paid in the past to get a set shipped halfway across the country, this is a huge bargain! :banana:
veg

Yes these are valid causes of dim picture but in most cases of a dim picture I have seen, a weak CRT (low emission) has been the problem.

<<Yes these are valid causes of dim picture but in most cases of a dim picture I have seen, a weak CRT (low emission) has been the problem.>>

But as far as an average-joe seller calling a set this old "dim", I'd have to chalk it up to a.) needs recapped especially when this old and probably has wax caps thruout, b.) tired tube or two or three, c.) might need other parts and adjustments and d.) these 21ax sets are pretty darn dim even when fixed up and with good picture tubes, compared to a modern set that can be used to light a room. It was pretty common back then for tv repair books to recommend that color sets not be installed in bright rooms, you should close the shades etc., which just hasn't been considered a problem at all the last couple of decades. Heck even if a tv is advertised as 'dead' that hasn't stopped me from buying them and I've been able to fix every one of them, so "dim" would never be a deterent either (unless maybe if it has already been restored and I saw it in person and could see the tube was shot)...Frenchy

Thats what I found with sets of the 1960s and 1970s. They usually had weak crts. I have seen many tv sets from the 1950s (b/w), but I never found a set with a weak crt. The emissions of these old crts were such oversized that they didn't get weak in the lifetime of the set. (That's my observation with German tv sets of this era, but with respect only to b/w sets.)

Added factors on late 50s and early 60's color sets were:
- Lousy regulation, leading to horrible blooming if you tried turning the brightness up too high, or picture might look fine on a brightness setting, then boom, real bright scene comes on and blooms like crazy and you have to crank it down a little.
- not the best retrace line suppression, compared to modern sets where it's unheard of to see retrace lines no matter the setting.
So even if a tube back then was capable of being brighter, you couldn't just crank it up without running into consequences due to limitations of the chassis, separate from the crt itself...Frenchy

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Ok, so did anybody here get it? I bid a little on it but 280 was a tad steep, besides I don't have a place to put it! : ( But it would be a nice sized set (not a wide console) and with those cool little legs.

I am proud to say I am the winner of the auction. I'm not to proud about the fact I'll be in the hole a considerable amount, but this week is pay week. I really wanted this set. I apologize to everyone who really wanted it, but I guess if they did really want it they would have bid higher than me. This set will definately be in a good home and will be well taken care and restored. It's not a CT-100, but it's close. Probably the closest I'll ever get to a CT-100 or an RCA prewar set (like the TT-5). Just as with all of my other restoration projects, I am going to document the whole restoration process on my site when I get enough time to write it. My progress on the Air King A1000 (RCA 8TS30 clone) is all in the RCA 630TS flyback thread. I hope the new guys who want to collect and restore vintage electronics could learn something by reading my posts, as I am learning a great deal. Thanks for all the help, guys. It's greatly appreciated! :)

Cool, hope that pic tube is good. My CTC-5's picture was horribly dim and fuzzy (barely visible even in the dark in fact) when I bought it but with the recap and a handful of tubes it came back to life, so chances are yours will do the same (as long as all three filaments are lighting of course). Actually you should not be stupid like I was and plug it in before the recap... but I couldn't help myself : () ...Frenchy

frenchy,

According to the seller, he did plug it in, but probably to test it. I'm definately going to recap. This will be a fun set. :)

Jonathan