RCA "Deluxe" Portable KCS-111D

[JSMCMS]

Hi Guys, Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking C106 might be part a resonant circuit and by removing it reduces width but I'm still wet behind the ears on these things. Cap is very close at 127 pf. Boost is a little high at 640V and HV is right on spec at 14KV. Voltages don't change with or without cap. I don't think the flyback has been changed.

This set was all original when I got it with the exception a few non-original tubes and someone adding what appears to be some bypass caps from a few tubes B- points to the RF shield on the back side of the main board. I wasn't too impressed with the workmanship so when I recapped it, I put it back to original. That was the major fix.

Thanks for the help!

[Kevin Kuehn]

I'm no expert but I believe C106 is basically in parallel with the width coil(T4) so I would suspect it was included to increase the width by partially cancelling the effect of T4. So long as you're getting the desired width I wouldn't worry about removing it. If you're curious what it's doing you could even play with it's value. You may see some change horz linearity. Most everything in the horizontal circuit interacts to some extent. Oh, I've been an active fixed wing RC'er for about 45 years.

[old_coot88]

Do you guys ever hang out on RCGroups?

[Kevin Kuehn]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Do you guys ever hang out on RCGroups?

I have over the years, along with Flying Giants. Not so much the last few years. This whole FAA fiasco has everybody so up in arms over all the hoops we're expected to jump through. I grew up hanging out with my dad who taught me to fly, I think it was about 1972. I consider it my mental therapy now, and lots of good memories.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by JSMCMS

Gentlemen,

My name is Scott. I grew up in the '60s and '70s, got my electronics degree and have been working on modern 3 phase UPS systems for more than 30 years. About 10 years ago I built an Internet radio and picked up a TeleTone AA5 to house it. I looked at the removed chassis and figured out what was wrong with it and that started my fascination with tube electronics. I've restored several radios and TVs since then acquiring (and restoring) vintage test equipment along the way.

I am not trying to keep this going but it was never my intention to slam anyone other than the "Stupid Law" comment. I attempted to respond to the portion of vortalexfan's thread after Electronic M made the comment but I did not realize that my comment would be added to the end of the thread. That made it appear out of context which I now understand.

I obvious agree that the 2007 EISA decision restricting 60 watt and lower incandescent lamp production based on efficiency is a good thing. It does not mean you can't find these lower wattage lamps. It simply means that your typical source for these bulbs will likely dry up because marketing LED replacements are becoming more popular. The reason I commented in the first place is I was following vortalexfan's troubleshooting of his Meck TV and wanted to encourage a more sophisticated approach. I have re-read the thread and I now realize that not only was he struggling on some of the most basic troubleshooting concepts but his financial situation could not support my suggestion. I apologize for misreading the thread and writing a comment that was easily misunderstood.

I have benefited from being a videokarma member for more than two years and I'm hoping to regain trust from the membership.

With respect, Scott

Hello Scott, I'm very sorry I misunderstood your post, and I am also glad to know that you were fascinated by my TV Thread, which I'm still having some issues with (mainly Tuner and Video IF alignment issues).

I didn't mean to upset you, and I'm really quite new to working on antique TV sets (although I have serviced many solid state TVs from the 1980s and 1990s and even Flat Panels without too much issue).

I'm more experienced in repairing Tube Radios and Record Players (not as complicated to troubleshoot and not as much to go wrong with them as TVs).

I just wanted to try my hand at an old tube powered TV because I've always wanted to have one to watch period movies and TV shows on, but even this lower end Meck TV has proven to be a nightmare to work on as you could see from my thread.
Although it doesn't help matters any that my Meck TV had sat in an old abandoned farmhouse that lost its roof over 20 years ago prior to the person who I got it from finding it.

I have been working on vintage electronics (tube and solid state) since I was 13 and I'm 31 now, and my very first repair was a 1985 vintage Montgomery Wards 13" B & W TV that the Vertical and Horizontal hold was screwed up on it and all I did was readjust the horizontal and vertical hold controls on the back of the set and it worked perfectly for the 5 years I had it (before I was given a 1988 Zenith 13" Color TV that had the best Picture I had ever seen on a color TV up to that point), and I had that TV clear up until just before the DTV Conversion when I then donated it to Goodwill (back when they were still taking CRT TVs, which the Goodwills near where I live all quit taking CRT TVs arount 2014).

[JSMCMS]

We’re good. Things got a bit out of joint but we found our way back. Thanks for the kind words.

I know what you mean about learning B&W TV alignment. It almost more art than science. Specific tube makes can matter and many passive components matter more than you think they should. A good sweep generator with markers helps a lot but I think practice helps more. I keep a Motorola 9VT1 running. Those early sets teach you a lot. Mainly patience and humility but eventually your skills improve.

On February 1 in Farmington, MI will be the annual Winter Vintage Electronics Expo of the Michigan Antique Radio Club. There will be a ton of radio deals and usually a fair number of vintage TVs that need attention. I’m not sure what part of Northern Indiana you live but if you have a few sets to sell, looking for test equipment or are interested in buying something to work on, it’s a good show. I’ll probably share a table with someone (saves a few bucks) let me know if you are interested.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by JSMCMS

We’re good. Things got a bit out of joint but we found our way back. Thanks for the kind words.

I know what you mean about learning B&W TV alignment. It almost more art than science. Specific tube makes can matter and many passive components matter more than you think they should. A good sweep generator with markers helps a lot but I think practice helps more. I keep a Motorola 9VT1 running. Those early sets teach you a lot. Mainly patience and humility but eventually your skills improve.

On February 1 in Farmington, MI will be the annual Winter Vintage Electronics Expo of the Michigan Antique Radio Club. There will be a ton of radio deals and usually a fair number of vintage TVs that need attention. I’m not sure what part of Northern Indiana you live but if you have a few sets to sell, looking for test equipment or are interested in buying something to work on, it’s a good show. I’ll probably share a table with someone (saves a few bucks) let me know if you are interested.

I live near Bristol, Indiana which is about 7 miles from the Michigan border with Indiana, and I've heard of Farmington, MI, which I believe is a suburb of Detroit and I'm about a 3 1/2 hour trip out from Detroit, Michigan where I live. I would have to have someone give me a ride if I were to go to that show, because I'm not too keen on driving around Detroit by myself.

I do have a Westinghouse WR-10A AM Only Tombstone Radio that I would be interested in selling that I had fixed up.

[JSMCMS]

You are right, Farmington is a western suburb of Detroit. I used to make a monthly drive down to Coldwater. I'd guess it's more like 3 hours. Interstate the whole way. Pretty easy but it's a drive. If you make it, let me know. I'll keep a space available for you. By the way, what's your first name?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by JSMCMS

Gentlemen,

My name is Scott. I grew up in the '60s and '70s, got my electronics degree and have been working on modern 3 phase UPS systems for more than 30 years. About 10 years ago I built an Internet radio and picked up a TeleTone AA5 to house it. I looked at the removed chassis and figured out what was wrong with it and that started my fascination with tube electronics. I've restored several radios and TVs since then acquiring (and restoring) vintage test equipment along the way.

I am not trying to keep this going but it was never my intention to slam anyone other than the "Stupid Law" comment. I attempted to respond to the portion of vortalexfan's thread after Electronic M made the comment but I did not realize that my comment would be added to the end of the thread. That made it appear out of context which I now understand.

I obvious agree that the 2007 EISA decision restricting 60 watt and lower incandescent lamp production based on efficiency is a good thing. It does not mean you can't find these lower wattage lamps. It simply means that your typical source for these bulbs will likely dry up because marketing LED replacements are becoming more popular. The reason I commented in the first place is I was following vortalexfan's troubleshooting of his Meck TV and wanted to encourage a more sophisticated approach. I have re-read the thread and I now realize that not only was he struggling on some of the most basic troubleshooting concepts but his financial situation could not support my suggestion. I apologize for misreading the thread and writing a comment that was easily misunderstood.

I have benefited from being a videokarma member for more than two years and I'm hoping to regain trust from the membership.

With respect, Scott

I've been missing Posts over the holidays including this post, and have yet to read the one that bothered vortelexfan (who for months I've been certain is a particular other member he has been accused of sounding like, but I won't go into specifics as I don't feel it needs my attention presently).

I want to logically justify my position in saying it was a stupid law before.
I'm a free market favoring capitalist and a DXer, among other things, and that law hacked both of those aspects of me off quite a bit.
First off as an American adult I feel deeply offended when something benign is made illegal to sell to me. Also I see global warming/climate change as nothing more than a Marxist strategy to destabilize and sieze big brother style control over our ecconomy. Marx himself proposed killing capitalism by getting the public to attack industry for pollution. Climate change has never been on solid ground scientifically, virtually all predictions especially the alarmist ones that have passed their it will happen by date have not come to pass, and there are many predictions that are in conflict with other such predictions...In short I believe it is all a bunch of hogwash made by politicians, scientists with overriding political motives, and scientists funded by politicians trying to please their source of funds...
I believe that as long as I pay for the energy I use and find some personally defined benefit in the way I use it then I should not be bound by someone else's efficiency standards.....If the opposite happens and consumer energy use regulations tighten we will likely eventually be banned from using our tube electronics based on their poor efficiency (and that prospect should bother all of us).
As a DXer and Licensed Ham radio opperator the proliferation of man-made radio noise in recent decades has bothered and hampered me greatly... non-incandescent lighting seems to be the most common source behind switch mode power supplies (that often are components of said lighting) which are also proliferating. I chose to use as little non-incandescent as possible to minimize the RF noise and I really wish we would all just go back to incandescent and 60Hz linear transformer supplies to reduce man made RF noise....I suppose an alternative would be for the government to completely ban the manufacture and import of noisy devices and force the alternative lighting solutions to get their noise problem under control, but the government doesn't seem to be interested...

I could also argue about the difference in actual light quality and that there are plenty of fixtures out there that don't properly support modern bulbs or look silly equipped with them but those arguments are IMO obvious.

The above represents my personal opinion. It is not intended to offend but rather merely to offer insight.

[Dubis7]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Climate change has never been on solid ground scientifically, virtually all predictions especially the alarmist ones that have passed their it will happen by date have not come to pass, and there are many predictions that are in conflict with other such predictions

Can you explain this more specifically? I'm legitimately curious as to which climate predictions have passed without hitting or bypassing estimated targets.

[Electronic M]

Well specifically in the 60s-80s when we were having cold winters they were predicting that we would be in an ice age in a decade or 2. There have been many other climate change reports that have been reviewed and proven false and in the case of the infamous hockey stick graph even made from bogus data to create a falsely ominous prediction.
I'd have to research some of the more specific examples as it has been some years since I've written it off as hogwash and grown bored of listening to all the baloney about the subject...alot of the info I had has faded into the twilight zone of rarely reviewed memory.

[Popester]

This is really getting off topic. Stick to old tv stuff and get this thread back on track.

[JSMCMS]

Hi Tom C., I appreciate your view on capitalism and agree that regulation is not ventured into lightly. I will disagree that climate change has never been on solid ground. The oceans are rising, glaciers are disappearing, the average global temperatures are rising and the average mixture of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing at a rate higher than ever before measured ever since we've been able to retrieve trapped air bubbles of ancient ice in Antarctica. It is not convenient but it is the truth.

Sometimes we humans don't want to know the truth and sometimes we have to find ways to incentify the larger populase of a better way forward even when they don't want to do so. Take seat belts for example. I remember when the auto industry fought tooth and nail in opposition to federally mandating seat belts in all passenger vehicles. Their principle argument against it was cost and the scare tactic that you'd get trapped in a burning car. They couldn't argue the safety aspect so they created distraction to build opposition. In the end we got seat belts in all car and after seat belt use laws became the nation's choice, crash related deaths in the US fell dramatically.

Using LED or CFC lighting greatly reduces power consumption which was always the goal but the battle was to fight fear. Now the LED lamps are just as good (if not better than) incandescent lamps and the total cost of operation is way less.

The regulation (it's not really a law) creates a new market where innovation drives competition which drives cost down. Yes, it took a regulation to force the existing manufacturers to develop better products and that can reduce choice but that's the right way to use these kinds of governmental processes. We all benefit from these game changers.

I will say I wish we didn't have to force these kinds of changes through governmental regulations because it kind of goes counter to free market concepts. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal capitalist democracy. We live in a Madisonian republic that is a compromise at best. It is the best compromise on the planet.

As a fellow HAM and tube device enthusiast, I appreciate your passion and love the debate. Let's agree that LED lamps use less energy and despite how we got here, that part is a good thing.

[JSMCMS]

Oops! Popester is right. My soap box is put away.

[Titan1a]

I would love no better than to move to some god-forsaken place where I could get away from QRM. This doesn't include West Virginia. I'd put up a small house off the grid with my equipment where I can DX without interference of any kind. Unfortunately, the chance of my dream becoming real is slim to none. Is wanting to be a "DX hermit" a bad thing? And yes, I would TV DX too!