TruTone roundie found

[Tony V]

I was browsing through the local CL listings last night and found a Truetone roundie up for grabs. It's probably a CTC-16 clone but appears to be in good shape. I contacted the owner today and got it. I will be picking it up on saturday. Best part about it is that i got it for free! I'll post pictures when i get it home.
-Tony

[jpdylon]

Excellent. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

[radiotvnut]

I suspect a Truetone roundie is sort of rare. Truetone was Western Auto's store brand and there's a good chance that set was built by Wells-Gardner.

[zenithfan1]

I can't wait to see it!

[Tony V]

I picked up the Truetone today and got it home. A quick check looks like everything overall is in good shape. The model number is 2DC1667D and of course it was made for Western Auto. I couldnt find any chassis numbers stamped on it. It had notes inside where it was re-tubed in '86 and it also has a replacement GE crt that tests almost new.

It does have the beginnings of cataracts starting on the outer 1/4 of an inch so its more likely to be a RCA tube than Zenith. It is a RCA clone but possibly may be earlier as its more similar to a CTC12 than a CTC16 as it has the CTC12 style flyback set up instead of the CTC16 version. It has factory UHF so its at least a '63 model. It doesnt have a nuvistor installed and it has an automatic deguasser. One thing i've never seen on a color roundie is that it has a push pull instant on switch installed on the rear of the chassis with tone control integral with it. One of the filter lytics must have went bad at some point as theres and extra one strapped to the outside of one of the originals. That will be corrected when i do the recap.

I did a slow power up with variac and it produced a raster but with a hum bar of course. No video but its picking up the channels as the audio section works fine. Once the recap is done then i can trace this down. So, its got a good flyback, power transformer, crt and new tubes so needless to say it was worth chasing down. Another thing i've never seen before is it has white drop caps instead of orange or brown drops. I hope this isnt a bad thing.

I'll finish checking it out this evening and post pictures for you guys sometime tommorrow. I think another member on here has one like it as it has the VHF/UHF controls with 4 knobs directly underneath them forming a square.
-Tony

[Robert Grant]

Originally Posted by Tony V

<snip>
It has factory UHF so its at least a '63 model. \

<snip>
-Tony

While this is quite likely a 1963 or later model, be aware that there were sets made in the 1950's with factory UHF.
These sets were offered at a higher price than VHF-only models, and were usually hard to find, unless you were in a market where all TV was UHF (e.g. Fresno, South Bend, Youngstown) or there was only one VHF and more than one UHF (e.g. Austin).

[David Roper]

My collection isn't large, but it includes no fewer than three 50s sets with factory UHF: a Crosley from 1953, a Capehart from 1954 and a GE from 1957.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Robert Grant

While this is quite likely a 1963 or later model, be aware that there were sets made in the 1950's with factory UHF.
These sets were offered at a higher price than VHF-only models, and were usually hard to find, unless you were in a market where all TV was UHF (e.g. Fresno, South Bend, Youngstown) or there was only one VHF and more than one UHF (e.g. Austin).

And Erie, Pennsylvania. Their first TV station was channel 12, WICU/NBC. I don't know when their other two network affiliates and PBS (channels 24, 35 and 54, respectively) signed on, but when the first of those did begin operations, I'll bet the appliance stores around the area were selling all-channel TVs like crazy (not to mention UHF converters for older VHF-only sets).

I live near Cleveland and remember when the city's first UHF station (WVIZ, channel 25, NET--National Educational TV, now PBS) went on the air in 1965. I'm sure the local TV shops sold quite a few UHF converters after the station began regular operations, although the reception any further than, say, 10-15 miles from the transmitter was terrible. (The station's effectve radiated power output was a measly [by today's standards] one megawatt at that time.) I was living in a Cleveland suburb at the time and we couldn't get channel 25 worth a darn; that is, I could see a picture, but it was so weak (lots of snow) as to be unwatchable.

I don't think the station's reception problems (for most of their intended viewing area) were really solved until they put in a much more powerful transmitter years later, but far-suburban areas such as the suburb in which I grew up still had problems until cable arrived in Lake County, Ohio in the early 1980s. I remember a large antenna on the roof of the elementary school I attended as a kid; it was installed mainly to receive the educational channel. It fed an amplified distribution system (MATV) and downconverted channel 25 to VHF channel 4. Our school had all-channel RCA Victor 25-inch b&w table model TVs on carts from the time channel 25 arrived in Cleveland; in fact, when I got to junior high in the late sixties-early 1970s they also had metal-cased all-channel RCAs, but no MATV system that I remember--the sets operated on rabbit ears.

[radiotvnut]

Glad you got it and it sounds very promising at the moment. Keep us posted...

Oh, and stick a picture up here!

[Steve K]

Tony:

You may not be interested but here is a scan from the 1966 Western Auto Christmas catalog. I think your set is in the ad.

Steve

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Steve K

Tony:

You may not be interested but here is a scan from the 1966 Western Auto Christmas catalog. I think your set is in the ad.

Steve

"25-inch picture," huh? that's an interesting typo!

[Tony V]

The cabinet is the same as the early american model in the lower right but the control layout is different. Mine has VHF tuner at top, UHF tuner below it, then two sets of two controls below the UHF control. Thanks for posting the ad though as you dont see many Truetone color tv ads from this era.
-Tony

[bluenorm]

the price is right !

[Tony V]

Ok...heres some photo's of the Truetone. I messed with it some last night and found the no video problem was caused by dirty sockets. After finding that, i was pleased to find a crystal clear picture even though it still had a humbar from shot filters. It also displayed color which was a tad weak and tint was way off. To have the tv to be able to do this much before a restore is definately a good thing. Bringing this one back should be halfway decent. Maybe you guys will be able to help me date it or tell me where to look to find that out. I'll also be looking for a sams for this one. I apologize for the lower quality pictures as i wanted to keep the file sizes small to conserve space on here. Any comments are surely appreciated!
Thanks,
Tony

[jpdylon]

Looks like a great restoration project!

That is a CTC-12 chassis all the way. Replace all the caps in the HO and damper circuit. Watch the Ho cathode current on this chassis. They tend to run away and kill flybacks.