Ladies and gentlemen, may I humbly introduce....
 

CT100 number 2! :eek:

She's gonna need a LOT of work, but it's waited this long for me to come and pick it out of a pile of garbage. Wasn't exactly a garbage find, but I'll tell you the story later.

The chassis is complete minus one tube :)

Tim,

Congratulations! Are you going to use this chassis to save time getting your other set operational? I know you were missing a few critical parts like a flyback (?).

This reminds me of the line in "Back To The Future". "Nobody has TWO TV sets! :eek: "

Nobody has TWO CT-100's! :eek:

Are they rare?

Quite rare. The CT100 was RCA's very first color TV manufactured for sale to the public in early 1954. 5000 units were optimistically produced by the factory with high expectations. Few sold and many were destroyed. Only about 100 of these technological wonders are known to survive today, and interest in them from early TV collectors is very high.

Tim ,

according to the TV collectors rules and regulations you are only allowed one of these sets.
You are required to pass any surplus sets along to another collector, preferably one on the opposite Coast from you :D

To be totally honest, I dunno what to do with it just yet, but all I know is that I wasn't about to leave it where it was.

Back in about November, our good member jshorva65 passed along some info about a CT100 that he found out about in the Ashtabula Ohio area. I called the owner, and he said that it wasn't exactly for sale at the moment, that he had just entered into a conversation with him about it, and that if he did decide to sell it, which he thought he would, he'd call me.

Called him once again maybe April, and left an answering machine message with my contact info.

Out of the clear blue I get a phone call from the man on Wednesday this week, asking me if I'd like to buy it as it took him about two weeks to get at it in his garage where it was stored. I agreed to meet up with him this morning early as I didn't want this to pass by! Left bright and early this morning before dawn on the ~3-4 hour drive.

When I got there, the set was sitting in his driveway. It had just rained and the set was a little wet, uncovered. I'm going to describe what I saw as best I can. Take a 10 wheel tandem dump truck full of televisions dating from 1983-1995, and dump them in a driveway. Then proceed to stack the unbroken ones outside in the weather, inside in the sunporch, and fill the 2 car garage so you can't open the doors. Oh yeah, and put the busted parts in piles in the yard and driveway. I was stepping over wet broken VCRs to enter his house. There was a huge pile of picture tubes and projection set parts in the corner by the back door.

Plus, he's got more in a storage unit.

He told me about his basement packed with 1940s and 1950s black and white, but it wasn't accessible at the moment :eek: He did show me the back of a CTC5 that he'd think about selling, and told me that he has 2 CTC7s in his storage place. He's going to keep my number and call me when he digs them out if he decides to sell them. At the rate he has to go through them, it will be around the same time I pay off my house!

Wherever this CT's been, it's led a hard life. I just couldn't let it sit there any more. Paid a pretty high price for it considering condition, but ya do what ya have to do.

Interesting story, you just never know where they will be hiding or how many more are out there.

I guess most of us will want to know if this suffers from "White Getter" syndrome.

Sure would like to get into his Basement :D

There is a local here with at least two CT-100's, whole house full of other goodies too :eek:

P.S. if you are going to keep posting stuff like this then we are going to need a "Drooling Smiley" icon. :lmao:

How thoughtful
 

Good score Tim. Nice of the seller to remove the set from the protection of his garage to the rainey outdoors for convienient pickup. When you get a chance send the serial #'s (cabinet & chassis) to Pete Deksnis for posting on his CT-100 site. Also, Pete will add it to his list, currently up to 85 I believe. [email protected] And if you need the high voltage cage cover contact: Fred Hoffman [email protected]

Already emailed Pete last night. I also have contact info on another CT100 owner that I know in the Long Island area (he bought a CT last year that was stone mint for $900 at the Rochester AWA meet.....wish I'd have had the money :( ).

And, of course, the getter is white, but what else can you expect.....

Two CT 100's move in one week
 

Nice score!

I just aquired my 1st (and most likely only) CT100.

it is cabinet # 827. Everything is there, but the crt is gassy. The neck glows pink when I apply G2 to the grids on the CRT tester

It is not to the athmosphere,as the crt filiments have been lit for a week now on my B&K 470.

I heard somewhere that if you leave the filiments lit at 3v for 6 months, that some success has been had at actually getting the crt back when it is only slightly gassy.

can anyone confirm this or am I wasting my wife's electricity?



Thanks,
Kirk

Kirk, just my opinion but I think anything gassy enough to glow pink is probably beyond recovery, especially with a tube that is known for going to air, no doubt yours is getting worse each day and not better.

Usually running the heaters is for tubes that at least display a picture.

Your best bet at this point might be to seal it with some vacuseal to prevent it from going completely to air and perhaps there will be a way to re-evacuate it at some point?

Hi Eric!

Thanks for the advice...

A question....

Where to I obtain vacuseal and is there a proceedure for applying it?

Thanks,
Kirk

Kirk, Wiseguy (Terry) has that info.

He's posted it here before but i'm not sure where.

Kirk,

Here's a link to the stuff:

http://www.2spi.com/catalog/vac/vacleak.shtml


Chuck

I must appluad all you vintage TV guys, you are very active in your forum and very passionate about what you do, though I have no idea what you are talking about most of the time it is really neat to see and read about your enthusiasm! :rockon:

Vacseal
 

Thanks Chuck!

What size bottle is needed to do one 15g?

( I assume the gallon pail size would be a bit over doing it :-)

Kirk

vacuuseal
 

a small bottle is all you need,a pic of the seal on my tube is on petes website someplace..you just apply it around the metal to glass seal at the faceplate,i did several layers,and the stuff takes almost over a month to cure at room temp.. car body shop oven will speed it up..
so do you get any type of emmision on your tester from this tube?
is the getter white?if i remember my tube had a weird glow but only on a older sencore tester,when i tested it on a new cr-7000 it was not there,but had perfect emission,this was when it was first being "wokeup" after asleep after many many years..
terry

Update: this set's cabinet will finally return home within the next two weeks. The one side had to be completely remade as it was virtually caving in.

It's been at the restoration shop since July or so, I shudder to see the bill on this one.....

Thanks, Thor. Some folks think us old tv guys are...uhhh...you know...kinda "WEIRD"?!? We ARE,well, some of us, anyway... but that's beside the point.... Tim, I'm GREEN W/ENVY over yr not 1, but 2...Count 'em, 2 CT-100s...-<grin>-Sandy G.

So Tim, have you decided on whether to use that Sanyo or Toshiba chassis? Those CT100 guts make a helluva wheelchock.

Anthony

The Sanyo won't fit and the Toshiba is a piece of crap.

Petco has aquariums on sale this week.

Always a pleasure to help!

veg

I think the LG chassis would fit. Or maybe the Apex.....or should he spring for a Sony...nahh... too hard to make that odd-shaped Trinitron tube fit in...now, where did I put that Boogie Bass ?!? Wouldn't that RULE on top of it ?-Sandy G.

Just remembered, I have a Daewoo that some kids thru a brick thru the tube (and it then fell in the bath tub while on) that you can have for the price of shipping. Should fit like a glove.....like one of OJ's gloves!

Anthony (I suppose next we'll see a picture of a CT100 engulfed in flames)

Youse guys are byooteaful :)

Thats cuz we got lollipop color!

Anthony

My reds are still so red they're orange, though :(

One of these days, I'll find something pre '59....

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Well, an update to the update. She's still not home. I last had contact with the restoration shop back in early March, and they promised it would be done soon. Hey, not a big deal, I just want it to look as good as the other one did. Called them for the heck of it a week ago.

Their phone was disconnected. No forwarding number. Had the wife go down and the place was locked up and dark. Not looking good.

So, I asked my father who lives close by to go by a couple times and see if anyone shows. Today, somebody did. It was the owner, who is indeed closing his doors and going out of business. I've got a new contact number, and will finally (fingers crossed) have my CT back in hand next week.

Yikes!
 

Tim,

Certainly not the post I was looking for. I can imagine that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you saw those locked doors. PLEASE! let us know when that cabinet is back in your hands.

-Steve D.

Good Lord, as I was reading that I thought your post was going to say that the guy up and disappeared and that your lost the cabinet......glad that's not the case. Even if he returns it to you in an unfinished state at least you'll have it back. Good luck.

Anthony

Good luck from me too - hope it all goes well :)

Do either of your 15GPs work??

:rofl:



Um.....no, don't I wish :(

nice ct-100
 

Nice find!!! Keep us informed on staus of critical parts (ie. CRT and flyback) Can someone reply to this question, HAS anyone devised a way to replace the CRT w/anything newer or easier to find--- as these are going to CRT heaven??? Is there a way to rebuild or replace them????

A friend of mine has an old CRT rejuvenator unit from Sencore (SP?)

It would test the CRT to see if it's a likely candidate, then you'd just
hit the "rejuvenate" button and it would do it's thing...

You'd be lucky if you got two more years out of the tube, but it was
better than nothing!

Scott

its worth a shot, take an older picture tube that has gone to air, and hook an airconditioner vacuum pump up to it, as they are known to pull a VERY hard vacuum. Almost enough to implode the glass.

Take one of those, let it run for awhile and see if you can get a picture, it would be nice if you did. then the stumper is reactivating the getter, and sealing the tube :scratch2:

gotta heat it in an oven while pulling the vacuum.
and an ac compressor is nowhere near good enough.not even the 3/4 hp robinair i use for ac work.
at the very least you would need a new getter.the cathode coating is gonna be dead too.
they are coated when the gun is made and are run at elevated heater voltage a while to expose the fresh cathode after evacuation/gettering.

oh well, it was worth a shot

Update
 

The cabinet still isn't back, but it looks like it may hopefully return. I spoke with the landlord of the property where the cabinet is, and he believes it is still there, in some form or other. Apparently I am one of several people in this situation, and hopefully within the next month, he will be able to file suit and I'll get my TV back, the rent had gone unpaid at that location for 5 months.

It has been approximately one year since I've seen the CT-100's cabinet, and I have no idea what it's going to look like when I finally lay eyes on it, assuming that it's not firewood. I haven't spoke with the actual guy in about a month (I havent been able to reach him), and last I heard he was "working on it" :rolleyes:

Important Question
 

I would get the local authorities involved to make cabinet turn up---- since so much is at stake!! Did cabinet have YOKE AND crt??? IF JUST CABINET, WOULD BE SMALL FORTUNE TO MAKE GOOD REPRODUCTION. Consider this to justify consider formal action later.

:worried: :sigh: