View Full Version : 20" RCA CTC146 from 1992


radiotvnut
11-15-2015, 06:06 PM
Today, someone gave me this RCA CTC146 20" color TV from 1992 (Thomson-era). Upon first turning it on, the picture was dark and blurry; but, adjustment of the focus and G2 controls, as well as a greyscale setup, made it look better. I can tell that the tube is a little tired; but, it should still serve someone well for a little while. I think this chassis was around from about 1987 until 1992 and was replaced by the infamous CTC175 chassis (the one with the integrated tuner that gave ground connection problems). Thinking back, I've seen one non-remote, non-cable ready version of this chassis (only had a set of screws for the VHF input and a set of screws for the UHF input). In fact, I'm not sure if this set can be used with a remote because most of the remote sets said so on the front panel (I didn't bother to look for a remote sensor).

Now, what to do with it? It's a little too new for my interest and I'll probably give it to the guy at the flea market to do with as he pleases. There was a time I could have gotten $75+ for this TV; but, now, I'd have a hard time getting $5 if my life depended on it. The last time I tried to sell a 20" TV, the woman backed out when she found out that it didn't have input jacks and this one certainly does not have them.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff341/radiotvnut/CTC146%20009_zpswnoq5fh9.jpg (http://s538.photobucket.com/user/radiotvnut/media/CTC146%20009_zpswnoq5fh9.jpg.html)

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff341/radiotvnut/CTC146%20011_zpse8q4dzrj.jpg (http://s538.photobucket.com/user/radiotvnut/media/CTC146%20011_zpse8q4dzrj.jpg.html)

rca2000
11-15-2015, 06:14 PM
Worked on 'em when they were NEW. DO NOT have a 'soft spot" for them. HOT chassis, darlingtoin regulator. a LOT of vertical problems, even seen a couple of leaky pump-up diodes in the V-out ckt. Fly did NOT seem to go out real often. Tube nearly bulletproof. Tuners sometimes gave trouble--can be removed and re-soldered out of set. Also comes in 13" version.

zeno
11-15-2015, 06:22 PM
Dont look all that bad BUT...
The no-remotes were notorious for the buttons breaking
off. Of course the were part of the cabinet & it netted
about $75. Real dumb ass way to build it. Not a bad set
otherwise but no where near most other RCA SS sets.

73 Zeno:smoke:

MRX37
11-15-2015, 06:42 PM
1992? Are you sure?

That looks exactly like the XL-100 I found. Mine was made in 1988 and it too had a weak tube.

I'm curious what a CRT tester says about the tube...

radiotvnut
11-15-2015, 06:46 PM
I agree that it wasn't one of their better sets, even for that period. The CTC130, 36, 40, 49 and 69 were much better. About ten years ago, a local technician told me how bad he hated CTC169's because they would not stay fixed. I think the reason they wouldn't "stay fixed" was because when he'd get one in with the usual blown HOT, he'd either throw in some random part out of a random junk board and/or he'd fail to investigate the power supply. Usually, bad electrolytic capacitors in the PS caused the B+ to rise, causing the HOT to fry and there would sometimes be other parts associated with the HOT that would go belly up. When I fixed them, I used OEM parts and I checked everything. I don't recall ever having one come back to bite me.

radiotvnut
11-15-2015, 06:47 PM
1992? Are you sure?

That looks exactly like the XL-100 I found. Mine was made in 1988 and it too had a weak tube.

I'm curious what a CRT tester says about the tube...

Yes, I'm sure it's a 1992 model; but, they were around in '88.

Jeffhs
11-15-2015, 09:20 PM
RCA (Thomson) may well have gotten the bugs (most of them, anyway) out of these sets by the late 1990s, and certainly by the time the CTC203 chassis came out (RCA had begun mounting the RF tuner remotely from the chassis by then). I have a CTC-185 table model that still works as well as it worked the day I bought it, almost 16 years ago. I had a couple of repairs done on it for an antenna connector breaking off the tuner PC board, but other than that the set hasn't given me one bit of trouble. I put it in storage (along with my Zenith Sentry 2 19" table set) when I bought a flat screen in 2011, but the last time I plugged the RCA in and switched it on, it worked--well, at least I got a raster, snow and the OSD operated as it should.

One other thing the technician who resoldered the antenna connector the second time did was also to resolder the ground points around the tuner shield, but that was the only time I had the TV serviced. No problems since then.

These sets (CTC-185, et al. until the CTC203) were known for their problems with the EEPROM chip, which would be destroyed when noise got into it as a result of poorly soldered grounds at the tuner shield. How my set escaped this problem is beyond me, :scratch2: but I'm glad I had no problems with it from that source or from anything else. I'd still be using that RCA today if the TV transmission standards hadn't changed six years ago. The CRT is still as strong as ever, which surprises me since I used that set quite a bit until replacing it with my current flat screen.

radiotvnut
11-15-2015, 09:59 PM
The CTC203 was the last semi-decent RCA and the early versions of that chassis still had the integrated tuner. After this chassis, they started using Chinese-sourced garbage. The Chinese ones liked to eat flyback transformers, had problems with the front panel switches, had CRT problems, and various other issues.