[Joel Cairo]

OK-- Betty is in her new home...!!

And she is indeed a CTC-5 "Lockhaven", with a #5 finish.

There are a few issues that will slow things down a bit before she's in tip-top order, though...

- Number 1 would be the fact that the power cord is gone... evidently it was detached at some point (from the 2-prong connector on the back), and subsequently lost when the set was put into storage...

- Number 2 is that the front safety glass is missing... the framing is there, and there are clips still present to hold the glass in place, but the glass itself is gone.

- Number 3 is something I hadn't expected, and it's actually somehat visible in the second picture that I posted.. if you look toward the bottom left edge of the picture tube, you'll see what looks like something dusty or frosted right next to the bezel on the left side... well, as I looked more closely at it when we picked it up on Sunday, and it appears to be something de-laminating on that side... (there appear to be a series of small "cracks" or fissures, and the look of two layers separating, with a sort of gel or film in between them)... now, this set was owned by a TV engineer, and was restored to full working order by him, so I'm wondering if at some point he swapped out the CRT for one that has an attached faceplate shield (the face has a sort of a "matte" look, rather than the gloss I would have otherwise expected, from what I've read about the tube). He did do some extensive re-capping of the interior electronics, as there are Orange Drops and other modern-looking caps inside of it.

- Exterior is OK (small dings in the wood finish, a little edge wear/scraping), but does need some restoration.

-Interior needs to blown out a bit, as it's a little dusty and cobwebby in there.

- The pencil box is there, and in fine shape, but I need 4 of the 5 knobs for the inside adjustment shafts... however, I count myself lucky to have at least one!!

-The main channel knob is missing whatever decal goes on its face, but both it and the on/off knob are still there.

So overall, aside from the possibly de-laminating edge of the pic tube, the set is in what I'd consider to be fine shape for being 46 yerars old. It was evidently last fired up about a year ago (that was the last time this woman could remember seeing it on, after it was moved into the work area that her husband used), so overall, I'm pretty optimistc about getting it up and operational again. Although I'm certainly not sanguine about having to track down a new CRT (if necessary), at least I know that a few have turned up recently.

And a personal note: After reading through the forum and visiting some sites, I'm now very mindful of the fact that I'm exceedingly fortunate to have found a CTC-5 in anything like working order, so this is defintely a situation where I feel as though I've been cursed with good fortune: the truth is, this is my **first** vintage set, and after seeing all of the enormous effort that you folks have had to go through to both locate AND get yours operational, I feel like one of those jerks that hit a hole-in-one the first time they go golfing...

So please know that I have an enormous amount of respect and awe for the work that you all do... and I hope to be a frequent visitor and learn as much as I can from this incredibly valuable resource.

If anyone's got any handy tips or advice as to where I might find some of the minor things I need to finish off the cosmetic restoration, or has any helpful comments about this CRT issue, then I'd certainly be grateful for the assistance. Thanks to everyone for your help!

-Kevin