I was at a local tv shop today to pick up some tubes and noticed they had a nice ctc16 combo unit. the set was given to the shop by the original owner as it was too nice to throw out. They fixed it up and got it working nice. Its a blonde french provincial cabinet, but the set is near mint. Here is the best part: It has the 7 button remote control! This set has the individual VHF and UHF spot light dials. The stereo and phono are very nice too. If anyone is interested, I'll go back and try to take some pics of it. They want $500 for it which is a bit steep, but its very rare considering its a remote set. I can hold it for as long as it needs to be held for. The 21FJP22 is catarac free and is pefectly bright. Very little wear on the knobs etc, looks like a low mileage set.

I love the CTC 16. A nice looking picture when tweeked. It's a good thing I live far away in LA or I would probably get it to keep my sets company...

steve,
nice ctc16. I love the ctc16 too! Ive only got 1 at the moment, and a spare ctc16 chassis. This combo unit thats at the shop has the same bezel/control layout for the tv unit.

My father (a longtime TV repairman and broadcast engineer before that) felt that the CTC-16 was the best RCA chassis of them all. As a teen and in college, I had a CTC-15 with no UHF tuner and a broken on-off switch (the whole shaft would pull out of the front of the set if one pulled on it!)... wish we'd have kept it.

I try not to read posts on this forum because the last thing I need to do is start collecting TV's!

Maybe a nice, small GE Portacolor, or one of those little, early 15" rectangular RCA tube color portables...?

There is a CTC 16 Cabinet, and 21FJP22 on ebay for sale. The set does not have a chassis. Ebay Auction Number is 2206122963. It is located in New York State.

polaraman

Model HF867VR. correction, they want $550. firm, this is no taxed and the set will be in excellent working condition. Its needs repair to the remote control unit, which they say will be no problem. The vhf drive motor has a problem. I never got to see the remote in operation, so I cant tell you what its doing, but they will have the set all fixed up before they sell it to me. (or whoever)

picture closeup

What a beaut! Wish I was rich and/or had a spot for it.

I still think $550 is too much...I got a Zenith with a crt just as good, plus space command for $5. There is NO WAY that this set would sell around here for $550! Not that they wouldn't try...sometimes antique shops have given me console radios/TV's after they sat around for years and did not sell for their high prices.

Wasn't that one of Liberace's old sets? :D

Anthony

Wow, Antique white! French Provincial! Just like my 1967 maggie remote! And I thought My set was the only ugly one out there!
I have to agree 550.00 is a little steep....
Also, The way they have it perched on that cart has me a bit worried, One wrong move and the "value" will go down considerably!

Yeah, it's ugly, but in a neat way. I bet they didn't sell many of these monsters!

It seems that many things from 20 to 30 years ago look ugly to modern eyes. Back in 1970, bakelite radios from just after the war looked ugly. Nowadays it's stuff from the late 60's and the 70's that look awful. Give it another 15 years, and it will look great...... :D :D :D

I have and will continue to collect sets like this one, But think even after giving it 50 years it will still be fugly!
They still deserve a place in collections though...

I like that antique white RCA roundie console, but I have no room for anything that big in my very small apartment (not to mention antique white wouldn't match my furniture, even if I had the room). I have two TVs here, my RCA XL-100 19" which is my main set in the living room, and a Zenith Sentry 2 19" in my bedroom. The Zenith set works, but I don't use it much (except as a backup for the RCA). Both sets have remotes and are on cable (I live in a fringe area for Cleveland TV).

I also like those light-through channel selector knobs on the RCA console. I have had a liking for TVs with illuminated channel selector windows or knobs for as long as I can remember (about 30-some years ago, I had a 1963 Zenith 23-inch B&W console with a SpotLite channel selector knob). The Spotlite dials looked nice on Zenith TVs and other manufacturers' sets as well, but getting to the pilot light that illuminates the numerals so they project to the screen at the front of the knob can be a real problem. I think most set owners didn't even bother trying to replace the lamp when it eventually failed, or if they did have it replaced, they waited until something major went wrong with the set and had a service technician replace the bulb.

I like to think the OSD channel and time displays on all new and recent vintage color sets and cable converters are a modern replacement for those great old light-through dials. The nice thing about OSDs, IMO, is that, as I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, there is no pilot light to go bad and need replacing every so often, depending on how much the set is used, of course.

I took another look at the picture of the RCA antique white French Provincial console, and noticed something that doesn't seem quite right. There is a hole directly beneath the UHF channel selector, which I think may have been for a control (volume and power switch, perhaps?). I wonder, though. If that control is broken or missing, how on earth was the set powered up? :dunno: The only thing I can figure is that, if the switch is bad or missing altogether, it was jumpered.

I agree with the poster who "worried" that the set's value would drop like a stone if it fell off the cart on which it was perched. :eek: Yes, it would drop--to some value well below $550, as the CRT would likely be smashed and other damage would certainly occur to the circuitry; the TV would then be worth next to nothing, except maybe as a parts set. I would be afraid to plug a set like that in, even if the CRT survived the fall; I certainly wouldn't pay more than a few dollars for it, either.

Originally posted by wa2ise
It seems that many things from 20 to 30 years ago look ugly to modern eyes. Back in 1970, bakelite radios from just after the war looked ugly. Nowadays it's stuff from the late 60's and the 70's that look awful. Give it another 15 years, and it will look great...... :D :D :D

Well I happen to like the disco era Zeniths (slanted cabinets) and these will certainly be collected by others, but that ornate overdone femmy looking baroque look seems to be gone forever.

If you like it, fine, not criticizing anyone's taste....but I think it's safe to say that it wasn't very popular when it was new and most likely will never get any more popular.

You know what they say about a old car that didn't sell well when new? No one wanted it then, and fewer want it today! Can you say "Pacer"? LOL

Anthony

That console doesn't match my tastes either. But someone in marketing must have thought it worth producing a few thousand of them. Maybe the same cabinet was also done in more normal brown wood tones, and only a few painted white? Did people go to a TV shop and select their consoles from a catalog for delivery later?

Wasn't that one of Liberace's old sets?

I saw part of a PBS show about Liberace my mom had on and he had a normal looking TV set at his home. Similar style to my RCA 21t8395:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=84726

The hole below the channel knob is the remote sensor, i think.

Yes, That hole is for the mic for the remote sensor.
Isn't that funny, Even Liberace wouldn't own that feminine style of set!

Originally posted by captainmoody
Yes, That hole is for the mic for the remote sensor.
Isn't that funny, Even Liberace wouldn't own that feminine style of set!

LOL! Seems to me that would be the sort of set that Mrs. Drysdale from the Beverly Hillbillys would own.

I can just see some rich bitch dripping with jewels, wrapped in a mink coat wearing far too much perfume and clutching a fruity looking poodle, sitting on a couch eating her Bon Bons and barking orders at the hired help while berating her husband over some trivial matter and all at the same time watching this TV.

Do I win the Dennis Miller run on sentence award?

Anthony

I think Zenith and Magnavox did a better job with these kind of TV-Phono consoles by using power tuning controls at the set and concealing the knobs or by putting them up in a top compartment so that all you see on the front is the screen. This french provinicial console just looks like someone stuck a table model RCA CTC 16 in the cut out area. (Now don't get me wrong I really do like the RCA's, but Zenith and Mag. made better looking large consoles).

I agree with you on that one Chad. RCA had a rather plain design as far as the controls on that one. They saved money by using the same bezel for many models.
I like the high end mag and zenith combos also as well. Motorola had some nice ones too.
You know, It is funny about what heathkit tv said, I used to repair a Magnavox in the same style cabinet for a lady that fit his description to a tee!
All the furniture in their front room was that style! What I remember most was the thick shag carpeting they had and the petrified dog turds I found when pulling the set away from the wall!

Originally posted by captainmoody
I agree with you on that one Chad. RCA had a rather plain design as far as the controls on that one. They saved money by using the same bezel for many models.
I like the high end mag and zenith combos also as well. Motorola had some nice ones too.
You know, It is funny about what heathkit tv said, I used to repair a Magnavox in the same style cabinet for a lady that fit his description to a tee!
All the furniture in their front room was that style! What I remember most was the thick shag carpeting they had and the petrified dog turds I found when pulling the set away from the wall!

I know all and see all, for I am the great Kaballah.

Pray unto the Holy Sacred Camel Egg!

Anthony

Originally posted by Chad Hauris
I think Zenith and Magnavox did a better job with these kind of TV-Phono consoles by using power tuning controls at the set and concealing the knobs or by putting them up in a top compartment so that all you see on the front is the screen. This french provinicial console just looks like someone stuck a table model RCA CTC 16 in the cut out area. (Now don't get me wrong I really do like the RCA's, but Zenith and Mag. made better looking large consoles).


I agree 100 percent, Chad. Today's TVs are being designed with no knobs, dials, etc. on the front panel, so we have come full circle on this issue. My own RCA CTC185 is an example. The set is in a very dark-color cabinet; the six pushbuttons that control volume up/down, channel up/down, menu and power on/off are the only controls to be seen. In fact, these buttons are practically invisible with the set on and only one other light on in the room (or in the dark), so all one ordinarily sees is the screen. The same buttons are duplicated on the remote. This design, IMO, makes the set a lot nicer to look at, especially if you put the TV in an entertainment-center cabinet or on a wood stand finished to match the rest of your furniture.

I agree with all comments made here regarding the appearance of the white French Provincial cabinet of that CTC16 3-way console. I would never have furniture like that in my apartment, let alone a TV of the same color. (My furniture is all dark wood; everything matches everything else. Wouldn't have it any other way.)

I said I liked the looks of the light-through channel selectors on RCA's CTC16, but that was about all I liked about that console. I nearly laughed out loud, however, when I read Anthony's comment about the image of a rich woman decked out in jewelry, with a poodle in her lap, barking commands at her servants, etc., all the while watching soap operas or old movies, etc. on a TV in that style of cabinet (and with the remote close at hand, of course).

If that particular set were to have been offered by RCA dealers in, say, a mahogany or cherry wood (or even oak or maple) cabinet, the appearance of the entire TV, including the light-through channel selectors, would have been much more attractive in most living rooms with dark or medium wood furniture, not to mention the fact the company probably would have sold more of these sets than they did.

Come to think of it, RCA may have offered that model in several different cabinet styles, as most manufacturers (including Magnavox) did when large 3-way entertainment center consoles were in style. If they offered this console only in white French Provincial, I doubt if they would have sold very many of them; maybe that style didn't sell well after all, even when such furniture styling was in vogue in this country.

BTW, I didn't think about the possibility of that small hole under the UHF tuner being for a remote-control sensor. The size of the opening is what threw me; it looked to me to be just the right size for a thin control shaft, which is why I immediately leaped to the conclusion that a shaft for the volume control and/or power switch may have been broken off or missing.

Originally posted by Jeffhs
I said I liked the looks of the light-through channel selectors on RCA's CTC16, but that was about all I liked about that console. I nearly laughed out loud, however, when I read Bryan's comment about the image of a rich woman decked out in jewelry, with a poodle in her lap, barking commands at her servants, etc., all the while watching soap operas or old movies, etc. on a TV in that style of cabinet (and with the remote close at hand, of course).


Hey you hucklebuck, it was I, Kaballah who wrote that drivel!

Isn't it interesting to think how television came of age in the 50's....the era of modern pushbutton everything, except TV sets?

Pushbutton automatic transmissions (Packard, THEN Chrysler and Edsel), stoves, washing machines, etc etc. Not until the 70's did pushbutton on set tuning controls appear--granted remote controls had this much earlier, but not quite the same thing at least in terms of styling.

That's one of the key things that always struck me about my precious heath GR-2000's, their futuristic neutered look in terms of knobs.

Anthony (AKA Kaballah)

Anthony,

If you look at my post directly above your quote, you should see my correction. I realized my mistake as soon as I posted my original reply, which is why I reposted a second one. No offense meant or intended.

BTW, I do like your avatar. Earl "Madman" Muntz on board a sailing ship, proclaiming "Avast ye Muntzers!" below the TV. I had forgotten Madman was a pirate.

I briefly had an RCA roundie combo, I think it may have been a little older than this, but I don't know the chassis. I have a non-combo console with the same chassis, anyway. They used side by side tuning knobs-I have not seen a picture of one anywhere on the site. (can't get to mine right now) Anyway, on the combo, it had basically the same control panel as the other set but was located under the top lid so you did have a clean front. (I actually saved the panel when I scrapped that poor specimen)

Originally posted by Jeffhs
Anthony,

If you look at my post directly above your quote, you should see my correction. I realized my mistake as soon as I posted my original reply, which is why I reposted a second one. No offense meant or intended.

BTW, I do like your avatar. Earl "Madman" Muntz on board a sailing ship, proclaiming "Avast ye Muntzers!" below the TV. I had forgotten Madman was a pirate.

All is forgiven! :) And a good thing for you as an angry Kaballah is a vengeful one. :rolleyes:

My avatar was the primarily the creation of both Rob and Vintage TX with a slight mod by yours truly. See here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11605

Anthony

Anthony,
In response to your eariler reply. "No push button sets until the 70's." RCA actually produced in 1958 the "Worthington" CTC-7 model 21RC899. This was the very top of the line (make that expensive) remote control set. The best part is that all the remote buttons were duplicated on the set itself. No knobs to be found. This included channel, volume, fine tuning, color and hue. All electronic either from the remote or on the set. This was a limited late production CTC-7 model and sold for $1200. a tidy sum in 1958. Mrs. Drysdale after getting out of her pushbutton equipped 1958 Chrysler Imperial would find the "Worthington" right at home in her living room. The set can be seen on Ed Reitan's site on his CTC-7 page.

Well there ya are, just shows to go you, there's always an exception.

Obviously this must've been expensive to produce as evidenced by their application on such a high end set.

Mrs Drysdale was a tramp, and she was always hitting me with wire hangers (which actually I kinda liked) LOL

Anthony
http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/Gallery/images/CTC7_Late/CTC-7_Worthington300.gif

Here is the phono section. Its got a stereo phone jack and the 45 spindel is still there!

the tuner. Always like the transistor symbol rca put on their tuners to indentify "solid state". I was surprised to hear both channels working, even on FM stereo! I think the radio got more use than the tv, which is a good thing!

heres the back. If you can see, this set has the gold on the edges of the woodwork. I remember seeing lots of these cabinets in various homes when I was a little kid. However, they were stereo consoles. First time I saw a tv type like this. I told the shop to fix it up, as they offered it as perfect working order before I got it. so, this set will be added to my collection. Its a remote set and has a rare cabinet. Even though not too many like it, it needs a spot in the collection like captainmoody said.

That giant set needs a good home!

Originally posted by Steve D.
Anthony,
In response to your eariler reply. "No push button sets until the 70's." RCA actually produced in 1958 the "Worthington" CTC-7 model 21RC899. This was the very top of the line (make that expensive) remote control set. The best part is that all the remote buttons were duplicated on the set itself. No knobs to be found. This included channel, volume, fine tuning, color and hue. All electronic either from the remote or on the set. This was a limited late production CTC-7 model and sold for $1200. a tidy sum in 1958. Mrs. Drysdale after getting out of her pushbutton equipped 1958 Chrysler Imperial would find the "Worthington" right at home in her living room. The set can be seen on Ed Reitan's site on his CTC-7 page.

On this page:

http://www.novia.net/%7Eereitan/Gallery/CTC7_Gallery.html

Hallicrafters had pushbutton tuning in 1948 http://www.vintagetvsets.com/halli.htm

Bendix also had a pushbutton tuner around 1949, probably others too. They were mechanical in nature of course, no digital back then. :rolleyes:

Absolutely Eric,
There were mechanical pushbuttons on radios both home and automobiles starting in the 30's as well as on some pre-war tv tuners. Also motorized tuning on radios and tv also from the 30's into at least the 50's. I liked those old "Wonderbar" radio tuners on the GM cars. Buick even had a button on the floor like a dimmer switch that let you tune the radio with your foot. But I guess that's for another Forum.

Steve D., you look totally at home behind this camera!

From http://community.webtv.net/stevetek/StevesCT100

That 1958 RCA CTC7 may well have been the first color TV with no knobs or dials on the front panel, but one must bear in mind that functions such as volume up/down, hue, color level, contrast, etc. were being adjusted by potentiometers driven by electric motors, which in turn operated on command from a tube-powered (and also quite complicated) remote receiver, by the control buttons themselves on the front of the set or by commands from the remote. The VHF tuner also was driven by a rather noisy motor (as in all power-tuning schemes of that era), and only changed channels up or down (no favorite-channel or scan functions, as all TVs made in the last ten years or so offer as standard equipment).

Today's pushbutton color sets, which are the rule rather than the exception these days (except for those cheap 5" monochrome portables with AM and FM radio one can get in a drug store or discount store for under $30, which still use continuous tuners), OTOH, carry out the commands from the remote or from the front panel buttons completely electronically; there are no motors to be found anywhere in these sets.

Note as well that RCA's G2000 limited-edition color console had completely electronic VHF tuning, which eliminated the detented tuner (and that annoying clunk-clunk noise it made when it was rotated by hand or by a power-tuning motor). However, the G2000 still had one small, very quiet motor driving the UHF tuner, so this one didn't quite do away with mechanical power tuning.

That particular version of the CTC7 must have been extremely expensive (in 1958 dollars; I hate to think what such a set would cost in today's money), meaning that only the very well-to-do could afford it; but then again, color TV was always very expensive through the '60s, '70s and even the '80s. One could not touch a color television in 1965, for example, for less than $800-1,000.

All of which reminds me. That white French Provincial RCA three-way console a lot of us here on AK do not seem to like (because of the cabinet style) is being sold for $550, which is close to what the set might have cost new. Is it really ethical to try to sell something like that (the set must be 35 years old or more) for a price so close to what it might have sold for when it was new? Go figure. :dunno:

That 1958 RCA CTC7 may well have been the first color TV with no knobs or dials on the front panel, but one must bear in mind that functions such as volume up/down, hue, color level, contrast, etc. were being adjusted by potentiometers driven by electric motors, which in turn operated on command from a tube-powered (and also quite complicated) remote receiver, by the control buttons themselves on the front of the set or by commands from the remote. The VHF tuner also was driven by a rather noisy motor (as in all power-tuning schemes of that era), and only changed channels up or down (no favorite-channel or scan functions, as all TVs made in the last ten years or so offer as standard equipment).

Today's pushbutton color sets, which are the rule rather than the exception these days (except for those cheap 5" monochrome portables with AM and FM radio one can get in a drug store or discount store for under $30, which still use continuous tuners), OTOH, carry out the commands from the remote or from the front panel buttons completely electronically; there are no motors to be found anywhere in these sets.

Note as well that RCA's G2000 limited-edition color console had completely electronic VHF tuning, which eliminated the detented tuner (and that annoying clunk-clunk noise it made when it was rotated by hand or by a power-tuning motor). However, the G2000 still had one small, very quiet motor driving the UHF tuner, so this one didn't quite do away with mechanical power tuning.

That particular version of the CTC7 must have been extremely expensive (in 1958 dollars; I hate to think what such a set would cost in today's money), meaning that only the very well-to-do could afford it; but then again, color TV was always very expensive through the '60s, '70s and even the '80s. One could not touch a color television in 1965, for example, for less than $800-1,000.

All of which reminds me. That white French Provincial RCA three-way console a lot of us here on AK do not seem to like (because of the cabinet style) is being sold for $550, which is close to what the set might have cost new. Is it really ethical to try to sell something like that (the set must be 35 years old or more) for a price so close to what it might have sold for when it was new? Go figure. :dunno:

Jeff,
There is a collector here in Los Angeles that has one of those "Worthington" CTC-7 sets. It is in near mint condition. The remote, when not in use, sits in it's own velvet lined compartment that tilts down on the upper left hand corner. You're right, the remote section on its own requires a very complicated series of circuits, motors, servos and at least 14 additional tubes! As for cost of color sets, RCA broke the $500. barrier with the CTC-5 "Special" $495. in 1956-57. Sorry, I guess this thread kind of drifted from that CTC-16.:confused:

I have an RCA promo film on DVD of that Worthington CTC-7. Quite an interesting presentation. Would love to have that set!!

I also have that DVD. It is interesting but RCA sure could have jazzed it up a bit. The narration sounds like one of those high school science films.
I wonder if the original print was in color?

drh4683 (Doug Harland),

RCA was not the only company to put a transistor symbol on the slide-rule dial of the AM/FM radio tuner of its 3-way entertainment centers. H. H. Scott had a symbol of a FET (field-effect transistor) on the dials of some if its high-end FM tuners of the 1960s, such as the LT-112B Stereomaster receiver. This receiver saw much use as a broadcast monitor in FM radio stations of the '60s as well.

BTW, the record on the turntable in that RCA set gives away the console's vintage. The Monkees were a popular rock group from about 1965 to 1968 or so, so this unit was new anywhere from 35 to 38 years ago.

A closer view of the solid state symbol, from a table radio I have.