I'm trying to figure out which RCA set my OIC gave me back around 1971. At the time I picked up a copy of "Fundamentals of Television" by Walter H. Buchsbaum. It included a CTC-16 schematic, but I believe that the set I had was more than one number earlier. I'm certain it wasn't the CTC-16, but it was close enough that I was able to use it to repair the set.

The CTC-12, CTC-15, and CTC-16 layouts are similar enough to the chassis I remember. Were there ever CTC-13 and CTC-14 chassis produced? If was never a CTC-13 or 14 then I think the set I had must have been a CTC-12. I'm pretty certain that it had a glass CRT. Though I was able to carry the set a short ways by myself, barely.

Can anyone tell me the release dates of the CTC-12 through CTC-16 models?

John

Model year introduction may be earlier by a few months.

CTC-12 1963
CTC-15 1964
CTC-16 1965
CTC-16X 1966/67

There was no CTC-13/14 chassis produced by RCA.

-Steve D.

But there was a CTC-3!

What was the last true RCA color set? CTCxxx?

There was one more RCA roundie, the CTC-20.

But there was a CTC-3!

There was? I thought they went from CTC2 to CTC4
I have a pretty good idea why they skipped 13.

Yep!

It's actually a tricky question you can throw at people- the CTC-3A is a convergence chassis, part of the CTC-2B/21-CT-55. A transformer and a bunch of pots is all it is.

There was one more RCA roundie, the CTC-20.

My bad. Thanks Chris. I got to the CTC17 on the list which was a 25" rectangular and stopped there.
I'll edit my post.

-Steve D.

There was? I thought they went from CTC2 to CTC4
I have a pretty good idea why they skipped 13.
I believe the CTC-3 designation was assigned to the convergence panel used with the CTC-2B chassis.

There was also a CTC13, it was experimental and only 6 were made IIRC.

There was also a CTC13, it was experimental and only 6 were made IIRC.
Sorta like the DC-5, the 'forgotten Douglas'.

There were also a few weird CTCs that were limited-runs designed for 32VDC operation. I worked on a couple of them. One was, if I recall, a CTC-14. Looked like a 12. It basically was a conventional chassis but had a 32VDC-117AC dynamotor. Zenith did that as late as the 80s, with a 32VDC version of the System III. It was identical except for the 9-160-05/06 board being a 9-160-FRM. That one was actually a different board altogether.

Charles

Were those 32vdc sets used on aircraft, or very remote rural areas? :D

What was the last true RCA color set? CTCxxx?

The highest CTC numbered chassis I've seen is the CTC203, then Thomson went off with the ATCXXX and M134C, the ITCXXX sets and so on.

Now as to "true" RCA-engineered/RCA produced, I dunno. The service seminar folks never explained what was RCA/GE vs Thomson vs Taiwan/China (TCL) produced. With their flat screen stuff, anybody's guess.

Any RCA Indianapolis folks here?
Cheers,

Yeah, that's really bizarre when you go back in time and look at when farm lighting plants apparently peaked. The 1923 Sears catalog offered almost all appliances in 32 volt and 110 volt versions, but already by 1927 the catalog reflects a serious trend toward phasing out 32 volt items.

32 volt farm radios continued to be made through the 1930s and there were even a very few offered in the immediate postwar period. I have never seen a single schematic for a 32 volt DC TV set. If there wasn't enough demand in the 50s, well, by the 80s demand would have been effectively (if not literally) zero.

Up into the decade just passed you could still get 32 volt light bulbs, but apparently the only real demand was a marine application and the price per bulb was outrageous. To my knowledge they are no longer offered anywhere at any price.

There were also a few weird CTCs that were limited-runs designed for 32VDC operation. I worked on a couple of them. One was, if I recall, a CTC-14. Looked like a 12. It basically was a conventional chassis but had a 32VDC-117AC dynamotor. Zenith did that as late as the 80s, with a 32VDC version of the System III. It was identical except for the 9-160-05/06 board being a 9-160-FRM. That one was actually a different board altogether.

Charles

...and Setchell Carlson made an 19" B/W inverter-based TV (more like a video monitor) for aircraft use. Conrac was left holding the bag on it when S-C went under. 27.5VDC input, and two 75-ohm impedance UHF connectors for input. I've seen one, used in the "Admiral's Bird", a Convair twin-prop post-WWII bird they had at NAS Norfolk Operations. The one I saw was a ready spare, but I don't think the original ever got pulled from the aircraft.

Cheers,

The highest CTC numbered chassis I've seen is the CTC203, then Thomson went off with the ATCXXX and M134C, the ITCXXX sets and so on.

Now as to "true" RCA-engineered/RCA produced, I dunno. The service seminar folks never explained what was RCA/GE vs Thomson vs Taiwan/China (TCL) produced. With their flat screen stuff, anybody's guess.

Cheers,


My RCA CTC185, built in 1999, has a label on the back that states "Thomson Consumer Electronics, 10330 Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN." I don't know if that address is or was just a business office; I seriously doubt that the company had a manufacturing plant there or anywhere else that late in the game. My best guess is that the building now having the Indianapolis address, whatever it was being used for by the late 1990s into the 21st century (business offices, administration, etc.), was eventually shut down when Thomson took over operations. The building may have been demolished and the land on which it once stood may now be little more than a parking lot, or it may be a retail store or an office building -- who knows? :scratch2:
.

The newest and best feature, IMO, of the CTC203 chassis was probably the remotely mounted tuners. By this time RCA had finally gotten the message as to how much trouble the onboard tuner design had been -- thank goodness. My own CTC185 had this tuner design; I had two repairs done on it: both on the RF antenna/cable port which had snapped off the tuner PC board. The first repair lasted a year and cost $120 (not covered by the warranty); the second, something on the order of $68, again out of my own pocket since the warranty didn't cover that one either. :no: However, the technician who did the second repair (in my home) also took the time to resolder the troublesome grounds around the tuner, which explains in large part why the set still works well for me today, 11 years later. Most other sets with OB tuners developed problems when the tuner ground points broke loose, allowing noise to enter the large "jungle" IC. The chip, which among other things contained the tuner programming, lost all the information programmed into it and had to be replaced -- at greast expense to any set owner whose set was now out of warranty. In fact, the tech weho repaired the antenna port on my set the first time told me that one section of the jungle IC was defective, although I never noticed any problems with the picture or sound, likely because I have never used this set on an antenna -- it has always been on cable, as the OTA TV reception in my area was awful in those days (late '90s) and would likely be 10 times worse today. :no:

Were those 32vdc sets used on aircraft, or very remote rural areas? :D

Farm power (windmills, I believe). There are/were still a handful of 32VDC towns in very rural areas, at least as late as the 2000s as I've been told. Commercial planes, as far as I know are on 400 cycle AC (smaller military planes may be on 28vdc).

Charles

Thanks for clearing that up.

I thought possibly they were the Amish closet sets I've heard about :naughty:

Military aircraft run 115 VAC, 3 phase 400 Hz and 28v redundant busses.

yep 32 volts was rural farm wind power. I have an instruction sheet that explains how to change the standard 5 tube radio to kinda work on 32 volts dc.
A 32 volt dynamotor powered color tv....what a current hog that would be!

I've often thought about that 32vdc Zenith that Charles mentions. Neat to think about a place so desolate that the power lines hadn't made it there yet. I have seen some towns on a map that could fit that description.

I'll have to ask around at the steam and gas shows this summer. There are some guys with a lot of old (small) power plants in running order, mostly Kohlers (which are pretty cool, I think). How big were the 32v Delco units, and what engine typically powered them?

This therad is really interesting! I used to think there were not any CTC-13 or 14 chassis even designed, and also thought that 32VDC areas dissapeared in the 50's. Wow the cool things one can learn on these forums!

Tom C.

yep 32 volts was rural farm wind power. I have an instruction sheet that explains how to change the standard 5 tube radio to kinda work on 32 volts dc.
A 32 volt dynamotor powered color tv....what a current hog that would be!

And a TV collector who wants a big color set from the 50s with a dynamotor power converter, should be a competitive class weightlifter :scratch2:

Charles

thought that 32VDC areas dissapeared in the 50's. Wow the cool things one can learn on these forums!

Tom C.

Most did, but there are still holdouts where farmers are so remote that they don't want to pay utility bonds to string power lines miles & miles. I would assume that by now in 2011, they would have solar power and/or Diesel generators. But if they still have operational 32v sources and pumps/machinery, it would make good sense I guess, to keep it as long as it's maintainable.

Charles

My RCA CTC185, built in 1999, has a label on the back that states "Thomson Consumer Electronics, 10330 Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN." I don't know if that address is or was just a business office; I seriously doubt that the company had a manufacturing plant there or anywhere else that late in the game. My best guess is that the building now having the Indianapolis address, whatever it was being used for by the late 1990s into the 21st century (business offices, administration, etc.), was eventually shut down when Thomson took over operations. The building may have been demolished and the land on which it once stood may now be little more than a parking lot, or it may be a retail store or an office building -- who knows? :scratch2:


I started working for RCA back in 1983 down on Sherman Dr on the East side of Indianapolis. We moved to the 10330 N Meridian address in 1994. It was a brand new complex with two buildings. By 2007 the TV business was on the way out. I left on a severance package in Feb 2007. It was clear it was going down the tubes with Chinese ownership. The last of the TTE offices were closed in Indianapolis just over a year ago. The 10330 address still has some satellite receiver design. Thomson bought Technicolor and then changed the name of the Indianapolis operation to Technicolor.

Way back in 1984 I found some of the rarest of televisions going to the dumpster. I held many of them for years thinking I'd never sell them. But one by one other things came along. Designing color televisions was a life long dream and it was good while it lasted.. Things change and life goes on..
One time we has 1300 in sales/marketing/engineering. We had a wood model shop, metal model shop, PCB manufacturing and assembly. Two buildings, a total of seven floors. Oh well.. Got a great set of Voice of the Victor's from an old executive that retired to Florida... Enough rambling.... BTW there was a CTC-211 but it didn't make it that far..

JBL, I find that sort of thing very interesting. I'm sure many of us would enjoy the stories if you wanted to share more.

A CTC 211? What new things did it offer?

[QUOTE=JBL_1;3007072]I started working for RCA back in 1983 down on Sherman Dr on the East side of Indianapolis. We moved to the 10330 N Meridian address in 1994. It was a brand new complex with two buildings. By 2007 the TV business was on the way out. I left on a severance package in Feb 2007. It was clear it was going down the tubes with Chinese ownership. The last of the TTE offices were closed in Indianapolis just over a year ago. The 10330 address still has some satellite receiver design. Thomson bought Technicolor and then changed the name of the Indianapolis operation to Technicolor.

The building now has the St. Vincent's logo on it, so it's now part of that large hospital network here in Indianapolis. A friend's wife was in the IU(formerly Clarion North) hospital further north up on Meridian & on the way up one can see the former Thomson building on the left side of the road. Also the old 600 N. Sherman drive building looks like it's a sort of "mini industrial park" now, with several businesses now occupying that building. Sad to see what became of RCA Victor, a once great electronics giant-though its longtime chairman "General" David Sarnoff was one of the most ruthless, "go for the throat" old-school businessmen that ever walked this planet.