[Charlie]

Hi Guys

Got home Wednesday from being at sea for the past 2 months. I'm very glad to again be surrounded by the warmth of the vacuum tube... especially considering how cold the temperatures have been getting lately!

Yesterday, I drove to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to pick up a 60's Curtis Mathes set that I got on ebay a while back. This was the same set that Eric H. started a thread on when the auction started. The owner said it would come on, but wouldn't tune in any stations, and showed me once I got to his house yesterday.

This morning, I pulled the back off and found a lifetime supply of dust inside. I spent about 30 minutes with a small brush and the vacuum cleaner on it, and then the set started to wake up.

The picture is a little dark, and looks like the convergence is off a bit. The tuner feels solid, but will need some cleaner spray. In a few days, I'll take out the chassis to give it and the controls a good cleaning, and check caps and tubes that might need replacing. Hopefully that will be all it will need to improve the picture. The stereo in it sounds good, but will need a cleaning also... controls sound scratchy.

So far, I found two dates inside it. The power transformer has a date of June 3, 1966, and the RCA picture tube has a date code of 66-35. I assume that means the 35th week of 1966. If i am incorrect, let me know if that means something else.


Charlie