4 Tube RCA 9" Hybrid from 1969

[Eric H]

I've had this set for a while, it's just like a set my Dad had when I was a kid, got this one for $10 off eBay, back when people were sane enough to list sets on eBay at $10.

It's both Hybrid and Modular with some of the circuitry being mounted on plug in boards. This is the same chassis used in the RCA Mini Consoles that everyone (erroneously) calls a Salesman's sample.

This was without doubt one of the dirtiest sets I've come across, the chassis was just caked with filth and grime, everything inside was filthy. only one option on this case and that was a full disassemble and a good hot bath.

I stripped it down to the bare cabinet and washed all the parts, including the chassis in the water based parts washer at work, most everything on the chassis is plastic based or coated so there really wasn't much that could get hurt. I scrubbed everything clean, including the flyback and the yoke, then I rinsed it all off in the utility sink with some hot water and set it in the Sun to dry.

Sometime in the sets life someone had added an Atom brand filter capacitor across the main filter cap, they just ran some wires under the chassis and laid the cap in the side of the cabinet.
The Atom Cap had a 1967 date code on it so it was older than the set itself when it was installed, I removed it and will restuff the can when I get time, the set does still come on but it has a hum, there's also no video, or very faint video, just sound and a raster that I can just make out that there is something there.

Take a look at the picture of the CRT neck, it's so blackened from use it's a wonder it's any good but it seems to be nice and bright.

Someone familiar with these sets might note the Horizontal Output tube in the wrong socket in the last picture, I had stuck them in in a hurry and mixed it up with the vertical, took a few minutes to figure out why I had no high voltage.