In what period "R.C.A." made good (relaible, long lasting) tv sets/pictures tubes.
How good where theyr picture tube compared to other manufactured by another compaines?

Monochrome: Their first sets (the 630 chassis family) were very long lived and reliable they had some crappy and decent designs until they went with tubes on circuit boards, then they produced a lot of unreliable stuff for a while....I've not dealt with (and don't have interest in) RCA monochrome sets made after ~1962 so I have no clue what their later sets were like.

Color sets: The better ones were from CTC-7 and CTC-15 and their early SS sets. I personally feel their tube color offerings were never as good as other makers of the time because after their first chassis they went right to circuit boards, and tubes with circuit boards are a nightmare.

CRTs varied. I've seen ones they made that lasted and ones that were failure prone.

Electronic tubes on printed circuit board. I have 2 x EL 84 (I think the U.S.A equyvalent is 6BQ5) and 2 x ECC 83 (don't know the U.S.A. equyvalent) on a tube radio and the affected the p.c.b. But it depended on the qualty of the p.c.b. ... some p.c.b.'s lasted long, very long with tubes onto it.

rca crts were hit and miss.the early glass tubes seemed to be pretty good.the later early solid state 25v s faded but would take a jolt once a year or so,they would last many years.mid to lates 70s delta guns had a short life span compared to the latter.i like them but the zenith crts were absolutely the best of the best

But the in-line tubes... how where they.
So an '60's "R.C.A." delta tube was better made then a '70's one?

My CTC 9/10s have been more reliable than the CTC 15/16s. I've never had a 12 or a 7, and haven't had too many rectangular RCA colors either. As far as B&W, their late-40s - early-50s sets always seem to have issues with the sound. But I like their late-50s - 60s B&Ws (I have 4 of them now), and never had any trouble with the circuit boards.

From the sets I've had - Philcos and Magnavoxes seem to be the worst with circuit boards falling apart, Admirals and RCAs the least likely to have trouble with the boards, while Motorolas and GEs are somewhere in between. And while their b/w sets were ok, Magnavox tube color sets all seem to eat flys.

For best TV there first SS sets CTC40 etc were it for me. That
goes for almost any builder. The first SS sets were built of
the highest quality. Runner up if you want something
newer with features is the CTC169 series (early 1990's)
. After that things go down hill fast.

CRT's I would say any from about 1980 til the end of CRT's
were best from RCA.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I liked my CTC101 RCA set, it made a very good picture (had a comb filter). But it was the chassis with the infamous flyback...
http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/rcactc101.jpghttp://www.wa2ise.com/radios/rcaremote.jpg

I was hard to made a transformer for that set?

Electronic tubes on printed circuit board. I have 2 x EL 84 (I think the U.S.A equyvalent is 6BQ5) and 2 x ECC 83 (don't know the U.S.A. equyvalent) on a tube radio and the affected the p.c.b. But it depended on the qualty of the p.c.b. ... some p.c.b.'s lasted long, very long with tubes onto it.

ECC83 is the 12AX7 tube.

My 1976 Electrohome has its original RCA-supplied tube which is still going strong. I gave it a zap when I got it - restore, not rejuvenate. On the flip-flop, the RCA Hi-Lite 25BCP22 that came with my Heathkit GR-370 was so bad it wouldn't even rejuvenate. That was dated July 1972.

ctc68 xl100 sets were really finely built and excellent performers.as good as a zeniths reliability and the crts made a very pleasing picture.the later colortrac with the delta guns didnt last as long.i have a ctc68 that i bought at the etf.nib,still bolted to a pallet.the picture is amazing.we were so hung up on sylvanias back then that we totally forgot how good those rca sets were.i have watched approx 100 hours since i got it and i cant beleive how good it is.my wife just bought me a zenith avante on ebay.working set from an estate sale.as soon as i am able to get up and around,(improperly set broken leg,broke and rebroke!)i ll get on it.

Filling in some years here that I recall:
RCA rectangular color sets from 1965 (CTC17) thru 1968 (CTC35) made a great picture but you need to reduce the flyback load by using the "high line" tap on the power transformer and adjusting the efficiency coil. I had to condemn a good many when the customer said "it looked great, then quit" as I pulled off the back, noticing the baked-fly stench as I did so.:sigh:

The CRTs seemed average in these years. The 1969 and later tube TV's (CTC38, 39 and some others) were not so great but as Zeno mentioned in post #7, the all-transistor stuff even before the XL100 (1973?) was pretty decent. That is where quality was going while the cheaper tube TVs were winding down.

The early 1970's had a modular series called "accu-color" and the chassis I recall CTC52, 19" using a one-gun CRT, while the bigger screens were still delta-gun. This pre-dated the XL100 and the smaller sets' one-gun CRT's were not easy to rejuvenate ,if at all.
About the same time, a cheaper smaller screen tube chassis was the CTC53, which I think still had a delta tube, perhaps the last of its kind. All told, you got what you paid for.

I liked my CTC101 RCA set, it made a very good picture (had a comb filter). But it was the chassis with the infamous flyback...
http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/rcactc101.jpghttp://www.wa2ise.com/radios/rcaremote.jpg

I remember replacing these with "flyback kits" on the 1979-80 models. They never seemed to come back so I guess RCA figured something out when they made the replacements available. Cant recall how many were in-warranty but the cost of the kit was reasonable, compared to an older flyback.

I have an RCA TV with the CTC-185A7 chassis. I bought the set new in 1999, and it still works as well as the day I bought it. The picture is excellent, even after 17 years, but I don't use the set much since getting a 19" flat screen in 2011. The RF antenna connector on the RCA set is a bit loose, but it is still holding on and working well. I had this connector replaced twice because it broke off the tuner PC board, but the second repair held OK. Those repairs, however, were not covered under my set's warranty.