I'm talking about the Thomson/RCA CTC17x series chassis that had the tuner ground issues. I think this chassis came out in '92; but, it seems like only yesterday. AFAIK, Thomson was the only one who used the "tuner on board" system and it's sad that it took them until the later production CTC203's to realize that a traditional seperate tuner module would be better.

I recently fixed a mid '60's RCA console stereo for an elderly gentleman and he asked me if I wanted an old RCA TV that lightning had struck. Hoping it would be close to the age of the stereo, I told him that I'd take it; but, it turned out to be a '93 RCA Colortrak using the CTC177 chassis.

It was indeed dead, due to an open 1.5megohm resistor in the power supply, along with a crumbled degaussing thermistor. When I put it all together, I had no reception with only snow on the screen; so, I gave the top tuner shield a good smack with my nutdriver and the picture popped in. I then pulled it back apart and resoldered the tuner. It was obvious that the tuner had been resoldered; but, I think it's common for them to redevelop bad solder connections. Finding one of these sets that hasn't had it's tuner soldered is almost as rare as finding a '94 Zenith console with a good CRT.

The set now works well and I'll be finding it a home, as I don't have room for it and it's too new for my collecting interest.

Here's a video I made of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnQxGrd-nnA

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff341/radiotvnut/CTC177rca008_zpsa9bfb571.jpg (http://s538.photobucket.com/user/radiotvnut/media/CTC177rca008_zpsa9bfb571.jpg.html)

OMG....This makes me feel old. Don't make me feel old anymore:nono: I remember looking at these when they were new. I'll be 31 this year :sigh:.......I still feel and act like I did when I was 15... LOL! Time flies!!!

I remember the portable version was in the $300-$350 range, while the fine photofinished particleboard console version cost at least twice as much as the portables. By this time, most people who were buying consoles were likely senior citizens who had always had consoles.

Those sets worked pretty well, but the tuners were troublesome. They also had issues with the EEPROM IC-chip. If I remember correctly, EEPROM was an acronym for "electronic erasable programmable read only memory" and it was a little 8-pin chip. RCA had about a dozen different versions of this chip, and they all caused problems.

I have that same set, same cabinet, with CTC 177AM2 chassis.
Also have one of those ugly black vertical cabinet sets with a CTC 177AM2 chassis.
When working they produce a great picture. But I am unable to keep tuner connections patent. The PCB is so damn flimsy and cheap that any flexing will break the solder connections.
Both sets are soon to be loaded into the bed of an old Ford Ranger pick up and delivered to a recycling center, along with a stack of common, garden variety VCR's that are not worth the trouble to repair.
Sad, but I couldn't give the sets away even if/when they worked perfectly. Same with the VCR's. Zero demand for console sets and VCR's.

I used the walnut particle board set for a couple of years as the main living room set. Really nice picture ... and that chassis has the alarm clock feature ... I would set the tuner to the weather channel or a news channel and wake every morning to the weather or news. Still have the original owners manual and remote for that set also.

I'm still a year older :P

I was around 15 when these came out; so, I'm actually old enough to remember when the CTC13x series chassis with the MTT tuner modules were new. I also remember when it was not uncommon to see rotary knob tuned consoles (some were tube sets) still in use.

Man, I was taking my first year of high school electronics when that set was new. Doesn't seem that long ago! We were working on alot of the 1980's 25 inch RCA Lyceum tv sets used in the school district. The only problem most of the time was a broken power button. Also lots of district overhead projectors, vcrs, and cassette players came through. My Grandfather just retired his 1988 RCA Color Trak with ctc 159 chassis for a 55 inch Hitachi flat screen. The cabinet is very similar to the one you just fixed. It's got a ton of hours on it, but still makes a decent picture. I told him we better keep the RCA for backup when the flat screen craps out next year!

I started taking electronics in highschool in '93, when these sets were new. A lot of the school employees would bring in TV's for us (oops, I meant ME) to work on and I saw quite a few older tube/SS color and B&W sets.

I actually liked those a lot. I hated that they insisted on building the tuners that way, but as long as they did, I was happy to fix them Except tor the tuner ground issue and that 1.5meg resistor I rarely saw problems with them. And I made a bunch of money fixing those tuners, often still under warranty. Even when the EEPROM got zapped by the tuner ground problem it wasn't too bad to reprogram. Practice makes perfect, I guess. (I figure I worked on nearly a thousand of those tuner-on-board sets)

Loved them. CTC175 & its cousins put my son through collage.
Got him a cash job at an RCA warranty shop. They couldnt keep
up with them. Its about all he did for 3 summers, 2-3 per hr.
Other than the connection problems they were really decent sets.
Even the stripped 19" sets looked good. Memories........

73 Zeno

Yes, I DO have an 1993 RCA CTC175A Chassis Television Set.

It was made in Prescott, Ontario, Canada.
I have repaired mine in January 2006 in the old fashion way soldered around the Tuner Cage.

In my Opinion, it was the first set that comes with built-in closed-caption decoder. (Intregrated in a system control IC)

I was a fan of models that have a 4-page 4-color on screen read out. (yellow-green-cyan-white)

Right now it is in working order with high-hour on it.

Cheers!!

1993ctc175

...

Finding one of these sets that hasn't had it's tuner soldered is almost as rare as finding a '94 Zenith console with a good CRT.

I've got a 177 in my bedroom that's never been resoldered. Since it's left on channel 4 now, I no longer have to give it a slap.

Those sets worked pretty well, but the tuners were troublesome. They also had issues with the EEPROM IC-chip. If I remember correctly, EEPROM was an acronym for "electronic erasable programmable read only memory" and it was a little 8-pin chip. RCA had about a dozen different versions of this chip, and they all caused problems.
My EEPROM failed partially when pressing the remote's "Channel Return" button reset the TV to original factory settings instead. I cut the button out with an X-Acto blade.

I ended up advertising this set for sale for $50 OBO on CL and on a local facebook classified site and got zero replies. Then, I tried to give it away on the facebook site. I had a picture of the set posted, along with a written description; and, some girl claimed she wanted it for free. Then, she wanted to know how big it was. I guess that for some reason, she couldn't tell it was a console from the picture. I told her it was a 26" cabinet model TV and would take two people to move it. Never heard another word from her.

Saturday, I was in a local flea market that's owned by a friend who I went to school with. He suggested I let him try and sell the TV on consignment (I get 70%). He said he still sells consoles; so, I dropped it off with him today and he marked it at $65. Whatever he gets for me will be more than I have in it and it will be out of my way.

Personally, I think all of his TV's are overpriced; but, he says he can sell them. He has a late '70's Sears/Sanyo 19" color TV in a metal cabinet with a touch tune varactor tuner that he has $30 on and I know it's been there for a month or two. There was a time that $30 would have been a bargain for that set; but, I can't see anyone paying $30 for a 35 year old TV. He also has a mid '80's Zenith system 3 table model 25" set for $50 and a bunch of VCR's in the $20-$35 range. I think most of his electronics are consignment items; so, that could also explain the high prices.

I suppose the only advantage he has is that he is open 9-6, M-S and his parking lot is always full; so, he has a better chance of getting more money for TV's. When I advertise TV's on CL or on facebook, my audience is likely much smaller.

I also have a 2003 19" Orion with front mounted jacks listed for sale for $20 and it's not generating any interest. I must say that it's a hell of a note when a 19" color TV won't bring $20. A long time ago, I could have stood at the end of my driveway and shouted that I had a 19" color TV for $20 and people would have converged on my house. I suspect this one will also either go to the consignment shop or to my friend who sells used items at a community yard sale every weekend. Currently, he has two 13" TV's of mine that still have the remotes and instruction books. So far, not one bit of interest.

As I recall, that's closer in appearance than my '89 Panasonic to the console I was eyeing at Tel-Star when I was a kid, and it's about the same vintage. The Panasonic is close enough though.

We all need to learn not to let these things get to us so much. I know the feeling, and it indeed feels like yesterday that I made a prolonged sermon to a lunch group of TV techs, about this new stupid RCA chassis with the tuner in the board, and with the shield can actually IN THE GROUND CIRCUIT, and causing all kinds of problems if any of the connections cracked..... In the place on the board MOST LIKELY TO FLEX too.

If that's not old-making, I still feel like it was last week when prospective customers would ask me "Do you work on COLOR tv's, or just regular ones?"

Charles

Who made the picture tube?

Who made the picture tube?

The CRT has an EIA code of 553, which should RCA.
I saw 32's and 36's, that were bad, but not 20's and 27's.

i was getting out of tv repair around 1990.my mother bought one of these sets in 1993?branded ge.it was a good performer and she got 10 years out of it.sold it for a toshiba 36 inch.she still has that one.i remember the days when you could get 100.00 out of a console and 75-80.00 for a portable.now,cant give them away.the 60s,70s and 80s were good days for the tv business.

i remember the days when you could get 100.00 out of a console and 75-80.00 for a portable.now,cant give them away.the 60s,70s and 80s were good days for the tv business.
If it's any console-ation, I would have taken the Zenith if I had a means to transport it for less than a king's ransom. Even a Ford 8-track stereo cost about 40 bucks to ship here last time I bought one. I've reached my quota on those, at least for now.