WOuld the CTC-5 be considered a "2nd or 3rd generation" color set??
 

I am curious about something. The RCA ctc-5 is described in old magazines as the first "affordable color tv" set, and considered much simpler made, simpler to use and more reliable the those that came before. Perhaps that is true....it is certainly simpler than a CTC2, either with the 15" or the 21" version. But would it be considered a newer generation than the CTC-4? if so, it would be considered a '3rd. gen" set. Or--does it belong to the same gen. as the CTC-4, making it a "2nd gen. set?

3rd gen.

CTC-4 was what RCA called a much simplified chassis, and that's certainly true. It's too bad they made all the 5 chassis with weak HV, would have been an outstanding offering otherwise.

CT-100/21CT55= 1st gen
CTC-4= 2nd Gen
CTC-5= 3rd gen

and so on.

That definition can't be correct, can it? I would expect 'generation' in the context of TV models to be looser in definition and broader in scope. I mean, at what point in the introduction of a new RCA chassis would color TVs stop being of a 'new generation'?

I would consider the 4 and 5 (and probably the 7, 9 etc.) second generation sets, using the 21 inch tube, with the CT-100 being first generation.

IMHO, the Glass CRT (21CYP22 ) used in the Ctc 9 is a breakthrough that defines the next generation.
jr

Wasn't the 21CYP22 introduced with the CTC-7?

Yes indeed !
The glass CRT, IMHO, separates the 7&9 from the 5. I was looking at the post above mine and typed 9 instead of 7... sorry for the confusion.
jr

I'm looking strictly at the chassis, since that's what makes the set. After all, we refer to them by chassis designation not the CRT paired with it.

From that point of view, you can see that the CTC-2(B) faithfully stuck to the original signal decoding scheme outlined by the NTSC. The CTC-4 was the first departure from the original plan, having a 'much simplified chassis' as RCA put it (generational). Gone was the original decoding matrix and driver tubes, in it's place a circuit which was a little strange. Instead of separate matrix/output tubes, the 4 chassis uses a single section of a 12BH7 to do both jobs (one for red one for blue). Kind of genius when you look at it. They fed chroma and 3.58Mhz into a tube, and the output signal drove the CRT grids directly.

When you get to the CTC-5, you finally had the circuits that set the tone for all remaining chassis (well, with the Deluxe 5 anyway). Here they got to X and Z demods, and the familiar circuits that became standard thereafter. From the CTC-7 all the way to CTC-15 (I think, these slow ship computers gag trying to download the manual) the story remained the same. These were the last generation of sets before a whole new string of changes came along, so I lump them all into the same category.

Miniman is right about the CTC-5 Deluxe and following chassis - there were many things in that design that were only adjusted slightly in following chassis.

The CTC-5 Super, on the other hand, was a diversion (perversion?) that really foisted a lot of semi-successful cost-cutting experiments on the buyers. Insufficient gain in the audio IF. Single stage high level chroma demods. Color ringing circuit instead of a real PLL. Video response so mushy that a 3.58 trap was not needed. If you look at all this, it's amazing that they didn't Muntz the IF down to two stages and make it an urban-only chassis. It was an offshoot that deservedly went no further. Plus, too little high voltage, which unfortunately was a shared characteristic with the Deluxe and was fixed in later chassis based on the Deluxe design.

ouch, I have a CTC-5 super that I have not even touched other than to test the CRT (good), does not make me too motivated to get it down and get started on it.

Be prepared for a LLOOONNNGG restoration on that super. No matter what you do to make it "better", it doesn't get any better. Best to get it "pretty good" and leave it alone. You will NEVER get the convergence perfect.

its going to be a while, beside being stored up high (read hard to get at) I got a bunch of other projects om the que. I know about convergence woes, after doing the delux 5 with its pots for static, I did not even touch the dynamic, its pretty good so I left it be.

Like in cell phones, what makes a new generation? I'm holding out for 5G...