RCA CTC146 chassis: Any known issues?
 

I picked up an extremely good condition RCA ColorTrak 20" set today that uses the CTC146 chassis. It's a rather low-end set (mono sound, RF/antenna input only) but I couldn't resist the condition and I've been wanting a RCA set anyway.

What I would like to know is, is there any known issues with the CTC146 chassis I should know about? Would like to know if I accidentally picked up a known lemon of a TV or not.

Here's some photos of the set, I've literally never had a CRT TV be this clean inside before:

https://i.imgur.com/okXKNng.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/NQ9brSN.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gxMn1SQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/aQLPc2p.jpg

It's probably a low hours set! That model seemed to be a lot better than the chassis that had the Eprom and the on-board tuner, such as the CTC177.

This was a solid low priced set. Not much comes
to mind as far as fails go. Certantly a much better chassis than the
one that followed it ! It has my seal of approval.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

That's great to know! I haven't had any problems so far after a few hours of testing, though I think the vertical height might be adjusted a bit too high as it seems to be cutting off some of the picture.

Does anyone recognize this video IC labeled 874-2? I want to see if I can find out the pinout of the IC without needing to buy an oscilloscope. I want to add composite video input to this set and if I can find the pins that carry the composite signal, presumably I can just piggyback off them with wires and run said wires to RCA jacks on the back.

https://i.imgur.com/KTiGSU2.jpg

The CTC146 chassis may not have been the only "solid" TV RCA ever made; there may have been and probably were others, such as the CTC185. I have a 19" RCA table model set with the CTC185 chassis, which still works as well as when it was new in the late 1990s; it had a great picture and gave me no chassis trouble whatsoever. I put it in storage when the antenna connector broke off (for the second time), and replaced it with a modern flat screen. I may have the CTC185 TV repaired again eventually, but as long as I have my flat set (two, actually, as I have a 19" Insignia flat HDTV, my first one, in storage and a 32" Insignia HDTV flat screen in my living room), I am in no hurry to get the CTC185 repaired, as it is obsolete by now unless it is used with a cable box, and I don't have any video games at this time.

This is a hot chassis set and I'd advise against adding any sort of external A/V inputs. You'd be better off connecting the set to an RF modulator.

This was an entry level chassis, introduced in about '88 and replaced in about '92 by the infamous CTC17x series chassis with the EEPROM and "on board" tuner issues. I don't recall any problems that stand out and if if works, use it and enjoy it until it stops working.

Using the Sams for CTC146A / B
U1001 is A29-1101-01A OEM #193082
Video output is pin 47 goes to L3205 Problem is audio is still there.
The audio is filtered out by CF2301 & video fed to Q2302 vid amp.
After that it goes back into U1001 pin 49 for processing.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD!

Ah, it's a hot chassis set? I had no idea, I assumed by 1989 hot chassis sets weren't even a thing any more.

Always assume the chassis is HOT & use an isolation transformer.
Even isolated sets can have several grounds & a switching power supply
is hot on the primary. Its also common for a set to get hit by
lightning & the RF input goes hot.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Regarding the 146 in general: this was made in an era where RCA was able to make very inexpensive chassis that performed remarkably well and didn't break very often.

Back when these were new, I sold these with a three year warranty included in the price (my best weapon against buying-group retailers) and never had to repair any of them.

In fact, after the short run of flyback problems in 1981, I hadn't made a warranty claim to RCA until the CTC140 came out (pretty reliable but very complicated chassis) in 1987 as I recall.

John

Nice warranty you gave. Did the same thing for years. After Zenith
went to 1 yr parts 90 days labor & 2 yr CRT we covered them 1-1-2 CRT
with 2 yrs labor on CRT. Ate damn few & I know it made sales. Something free that others charged good $$ for. The other thing we did was if a
set got condemned & estimate charge paid we gave a coupon for
the est charge on an equal or better set.. It also had in bold DO NOT
SHOW THIS UNTIL THE BEST DEAL IS MADE. Hey John I guess we
were OK guys !

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I'm kind of stunned the original tube from 1989 is still in place, it lends credence to my belief that this was a low-hour set as the picture looks great, RF artifacts notwithstanding.

Not really. By the time the 80s came around, CRTs were pretty much good for 10-20 years of daily high hour watching. If the TV is low hours, even better.

About three months ago I tossed a 1981 RCA ColorTrak 2000 (CTC101 I believe) that had a bunch of hours on it and the tube was still 95% or better.
I tried my damnedest to give it away but no takers. I didn't have the heart to do it so I had my son bring it to our town's recycling center.

I still have a virtually new (long story) 35" dual focus Invar CRT from an RCA CTC169 if anyone wants it... It's in a very nice oak floor model cabinet. Bring a truck - central CT

John

Well I mean, the fact that there was hardly any dust inside the set and especially on the CRT itself and no noticeable "cooking" on the neck also convinced me it was a low-hour set, since high-hour sets tend to get "cooked" on the neck.