Picking up a 1964 RCA roundie need advice

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by freakaftr8

You know im curouus too, I was really young and I was given what seemed to be a 1972 to 1974 desigined RCA tube 25" rectangular tube tv. It's funny how close resemblence the chassis is to that newer unit..

Electronically, there wasn't TOO much change from CTC-5 through CTC-38 (circa 1957 to early 70s.) Basically all the same circuitry, just newer tubes and a few new bells & whistles (AFT, etc.) Physically, the layout was about the same from CTC-12 through 38. I guess there wasn't any big reason to change, since they were pretty good sets.

Charles

[compucat]

Originally Posted by freakaftr8

If I could find my picture tube tester, I would.... If it's dead, who out here or anywhere could I send the 21fjp22 to for a rebuild or a replacement??

Hawkeye Picture Tube does excellent rebuilding work. I had the 21FJP22 in my Zenith roundie rebuilt and the set performs like new. It's not cheap, about $400 with shipping but well worth it if you plan to keep your set and use it regularly like I do with my Zenith. Please post some pics. That RCA sound great. I love the big roundie combos with the solid wood cabinets. I just wish I had the room for something like that.

[freakaftr8]

I found a good 3A3 and a 6BK4 in my collection today, im going to install them tonight with all the other weak tubes and attemp another power up on the variac. Lets see what happens! Ill post some pics while im at it.. Hopefully ill snap a pic of the set in action!

[freakaftr8]

SHES RUNNIN!!!
Well I got a blurry raster, focused, looks better, Green lookin, so I adjusted screen controls. adjusted everything the best I can, brought back proper greyscale. picture a little dim, not much, added brightness causes blooming, there is color, washed out looking just a bit, I still have weak tubes, im in need of a 6GM6 (2nd pic IF), 6KA8 (AGC noise & sync sep), 6EW6 (burst amp), two 6GY6 (x&z demod), and two 6GU7 (RGB blankers), these tubes test bad, and some borderline. Im wondering if this could be a cause for faint retrace lines, I still cannot find my picture tube tester...

[kx250rider]

That's good news! I bet that some of that dimness is the cataract. Not a BIG factor, but every bit will help.

Blooming (picture gets BIGGER and dims from the center outward when turning brightness up) is caused by several things: First one I'd check is the filter caps. If they leak, your B+ is low, and the set will bloom. Also the 3A3, and possibly the damper and horizontal output tube will cause that. If it's just BLURRING with increased brightness (pic stays pretty much the right size), it's probably a gassy, weak CRT. Depending how bad, you can either add a brightener or even rejuvenate it. I wouldn't rejuvenate it though, unless/until you're willing & ready to have it rebuilt. Usually rejuvenating a 21" roundie is fine for about a year, but there's always a good chance that you'll kill it on the spot.

Do you have a high voltage probe? If so, measure the HV and see if it's dropping off when the picture blooms. It should drop slightly, but stay over 20KV or so. MY ADVICE: DO NOT INCREASE the HV adjustment!!!!!! Every time I've done that, the flyback has failed on me within a month, even if I'm just turning it up to where it's supposed to be!!!!! If the HV is low, leave it. If it's high, turn it down to 21KV.

Charles

[freakaftr8]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

Shawn,

Agreeing with most of the others, I say it's an OK price, and definitely a great price if it's a set you want. That wouldn't happen to the the set that was on the Los Angeles Craigslist a few weeks back, would it? I almost called, but I stopped myself

As Carmine points out, the combo units are a bit harder to sell due to size, but I personally like them. There was a TV repair shop in Culver City, CA, named Don's TV. It was a single family house with backyard that was converted to commercial property. In the backyard, they had at least 50 huge roundie combo sets. At the time, I hated to see them out in the rain, but they weren't worth a plugged nickel at the time.

Charles

Hey Charles, No this set I found in the San Fran craigslist, I drove 150 miles from my house to get it, and it was worth every mile.. I just wish I could figure out this pic posting thing to show you guys the set!

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by freakaftr8

Hey Charles, No this set I found in the San Fran craigslist, I drove 150 miles from my house to get it, and it was worth every mile.. I just wish I could figure out this pic posting thing to show you guys the set!

The easiest way is to have an account with photobucket.com . Once you upload photos to your Photobucket page (best is to make them small files; 400x600 or so,) there will be 3 addresses in boxes under each of your photos. One if them is an [img] address. Right click and copy that one, and then paste it here in the posting box along with your message. When you submit the post, there it is! (plenty of room for mistakes, so be patient)...

Charles