which chassis was the best ?

[Zenith26kc20]

A RCA CTC169 has been one of my favorites since they came out. Love the picture when the CRT is good. Power supply caps were a problem as well as the tuners sometimes. I always marveled at the vertical stage in that set.
I personally liked the dreaded Sears "Warwick" solid state once I got used to it. The owner of the shop where I was at the time literally hated those sets!
Also liked the Motorola chassis that used the "JA" panel.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by Zenith26kc20

A RCA CTC169 has been one of my favorites since they came out. Love the picture when the CRT is good. Power supply caps were a problem as well as the tuners sometimes. I always marveled at the vertical stage in that set.
I personally liked the dreaded Sears "Warwick" solid state once I got used to it. The owner of the shop where I was at the time literally hated those sets!
Also liked the Motorola chassis that used the "JA" panel.

I thought I was the only one that liked the CTC169 ! A little awkward
to work on but always had a killer pix when done. Best modern RCA
by far, if pix is important the best RCA period.
Agree with your boss on the Warwick 19" SS, sorry..........
As for Quasars with the JA I remain neutral. Only saw a few & of course
they both needed JA's.

73 Zeno

[zenith2134]

The comment regarding industrial Tektronix monitors reminded me of another great brand-Conrac. My RHB19 Conrac was a studio set with a lot of hours on it. a 1975 model, with a Rockwell branded USA made CRT. Its chassis was built almost like a tube set, all metal construction with high-quality PCBs.
It took a minute for the crt grayscale to finalize, but I personally ran the thing for days on end with no shift in performance. Contrast and chroma gain could be jacked up with no bleeding edges. It also had a cool underscanning feature, which would create a " postage-stamp " sized image on demand. Lost it in hurricane Sandy.

On the other hand, regarding the 'tube heat on printed board' debate, I had a '66 portacolor with all its original tubes, bought from the original owner, who claimed it never needed service. The CRT 11SP22 was real weak in terms of brightness, and a member here shipped me a new one. After installing and aligning it, the set produced a fantastic picture, with the original tubes-on-pcb design. No cold joints on that board, and it ran hotter than most tube stuff I've used.

[rca2000]

In regard to the moto JA sets....I think the biggest problem is that techs were NOT used to a SMPS power supply back in 1971. It must have been a LOT of fun checking a board over, finding a shorted SMPS out transistor, changing it , and applying power, just to hear that POP!! the instant you powered the set up--due to a shorted load or stuck oscillator. Keep in mind--these guys were still seeing totally tube sets EVERY day....and any SS sets was still strange to them.

Today--that JA SMPS power supply is old-hat--and most of us who have worked on sets for the last 30 or so years would find it's circuitry pretty familiar--and easy to deal with. A relatively simple forward-mode switcher, with horiz. rate locking. I recall fixing a few JA sets, one was a 19 incher. Have NOT seen one in over 25 years though !!

[zeno]

Originally Posted by rca2000

In regard to the moto JA sets....I think the biggest problem is that techs were NOT used to a SMPS power supply back in 1971. It must have been a LOT of fun checking a board over, finding a shorted SMPS out transistor, changing it , and applying power, just to hear that POP!! the instant you powered the set up--due to a shorted load or stuck oscillator. Keep in mind--these guys were still seeing totally tube sets EVERY day....and any SS sets was still strange to them.

Today--that JA SMPS power supply is old-hat--and most of us who have worked on sets for the last 30 or so years would find it's circuitry pretty familiar--and easy to deal with. A relatively simple forward-mode switcher, with horiz. rate locking. I recall fixing a few JA sets, one was a 19 incher. Have NOT seen one in over 25 years though !!

The transition was interesting. Started with Zeniths & Admirals first
since we sold them. Others were referred to other shops that sold that
brand. RCA was next due to numbers & proved easy. Then Sylvania,
GE & the rest of the US sets. Jap sets were next in the late 70's.
At first nobody liked them including me. After a few years I never
wanted to see a tube TV again & left them for the old farts. Much easier
to deal with & the recall rate fell to near zero.
You are 100% on the SMPS. The first JA set I saw I had no idea
what it was. It even looked strange...... I started trouble shooting it
but the boss stopped me & got a board at Moto Boston. Said by the
time I got it going I could fix five other sets & not do anyone any favors.

73 Zeno