Scored an RCA CT-100
 

Someone pointed this out to me yesterday on the Pittsburgh Craigslist yesterday. The guy selling it didn't know what he had and was planning on throwing it away initially!

Anyhow, to answer the big question: The 15GP22 is still under vacuum. Getter is perfect on it.
I am working on getting the setup information to test the tube with my Sencore CR-7000 tonight.

The cabinet is in good shape, but will need refinished. It is missing the back cover, HV cage cover, pencil box, and the part of the tuning knob with the channel numbers. All of which I view as minor.
The rest of it is complete. All tubes are there, all components are there.


I didn't get the serial number last night. I'll get that later tonight.


I'm going to start restoring it as soon as I can. Though it may take me a good while before I complete this. I know there's a lot of things I need to learn about this set. I've been reading the forums trying to get as much info as I could.

One last thing: What is the best way to get that front safety glass off? I removed the 8 pins holding it in place and the trim, but it appears stuck on there. I don't want to accidentally break the glass. There are a bunch of dead bug guts and other nasties between it and the CRT.

Wow, nice score! So you must be the lucky recipient of the CT-100 discussed in this thread: http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=257550

I won't attempt to answer your questions, because at this point I've only dreamed of encountering a CT-100. I'm sure that many will chime in soon.

Congratulations!

-Clark

nice ct-100 ,someday ill happen across one !!!

Ahh HATE Yew!! -Yosemite Sam, Esq. (grin) Seriously, SUPER score !! Keepin' Fingers 'n' Toes crossed that the 15GP22's OK...

VERY happy for you!! I also hope that the CRT is still under vacuum, and checks with high emission. :yes: All the best!
Kevin

Congratulations. For a relatively rare set, it amazes me how many of these seem to turn up. Here's hoping for a good CRT and an easy restoration. Take your time and enjoy it.

Answer: very carefully!

It's probably glued on there by some old tar like stuff that used to be a gasket, here's how I attacked the issue. Remove the whole CRT bezel by removing the 1/4" screws holding it into the cab, then lift it out. Once you have it free, you can heat the edge of the glass where the goo is and try lightly prying on it with a putty knife. It should slowly start to separate, then you can pull the whole mess apart. Once it's in 2 pieces, you'll need to clean off said goo- this is actually the hard part. I scraped with a sharp razor till the majority was off, then used goo gone for the residuals. It's a mess and you'll probably end up taking some paint along with it, but you can always hit it with the rattle can later to make it look good. Put single sided foam tape in it's place, as a dust seal when you put it back together.

There were what, supposedly 5000 of thease made ? We know of about 135 survivors... There COULD be a LOT more..Just sayin'. I've done MY part on spreadin' the Gospel of CT-100s..."Civilians" can't believe a 1954 TV could be worth SO much..Some believe they didn't even HAVE TV in '54...

Wow, nice find, TV Beta Guy! It's encouraging that the 15GP22 is still under vacuum, hopefully it will have decent emission, or at least "restore" well! I can see the bugs behind the safety glass, I also had to chuckle when I looked at the attached photo, I see that the CT100 had just recieved a "cat-scan" as well:) New items I bring in the house also get "cat-scanned."

VERY NICE!!!!

Its sad ppl do not realise how good this stuff really is!!!!

I do hope you get a long/enjoyable use with it,thank you for sharing :)

Someone here, IIRC, has compiled a list of known surviving CT100 sets. The cabinet also has a serial number, along with the serial number on the chassis? or was it the back over?

A few of us spoke to the gentleman over a week ago. He told me the same story about almost hauling it out to the curb... but then he started receiving "education" and offers of $500, $800, and $1000 from a man in Maryland who he said was 'hot to trot' over there and pick it up. If you saw this ad yesterday, I wonder what happened to all of those other offers unless you just happened to blow everyone out of the water! :smoke:

Congrats, I've got my fingers crossed that tube proves to be good!

Mike,

re the removal of goo once the safety glass is separated: I've done two of these. The first five decades ago and it didn't go well; lost the glass in that one. But the second was accomplished a year ago, and you're probably not going to believe this until you try it. Wet the so-called 'tar' with water. The stuff softened up and came right off without scraping any more paint from the bezel.

Look for the B800nnnn (or B111nnnn or B900nnnn) serial number on the back of the chassis just below the candohm resistor rivet-mounted back there.

Pete

Congratulations!

These articles may be helpful. The first has some restoration notes. The second includes CT-100 service manuals and related docs.

http://antiqueradio.org/RCACT-100Television.htm

http://antiqueradio.org/RCACT-100TelevisionDesign.htm

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Nice acquisition, beta guy. I found my CT-100 less than two years ago, and they are a great set to work on. Good luck with your new project.

another ct100
 

Did they make several thousand of these originally??

I wouldn't be surprised for another 50 to 100 of these to turn up in the next 20 years. Does anybody have production number estimates made of the ct-100 chassis?

Best estimate is that 4400 were made. Here is a list of the serial numbers of surviving sets (now about 135):

http://www.earlytelevision.org/Deksn...bers_List.html

Thanks everyone :)

The chassis is #B8002795
The cabinet is #759

miniman82 & Pete Deksnis- Thanks for the tips about the safety glass. So I will remove the whole bezel from the TV and just wet it down and get it to separate.

StellarTV - I did only just see that ad only Thursday. I rarely even check that sub-forum where it was posted here, so I had no clue. I did go high with the price, but still within what the TV should be worth in its condition. I pretty much just spent my tax return on this. I never thought I'd see one in person let alone get the chance to own one.

Phil Nelson - Thanks for those links. I've downloaded the service manual for it from somewhere already. Your site is definitely going to be a big help, and already answered a few of my questions too.

I'll definitely be post here about this set as I begin to work on it, and post progress of it just well. Probably won't be able to start it for a few weeks.

Very nice find Mike. I believe your CT-100 is the 3rd or 4th one w/a good tube to show up in the last year or so. Did you have the seller take a GOOD look around for any missing parts?

-Steve D.

One more excellent CT-100 info source is Pete Deksnis's website, now hosted by ETF:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/Deksnis/home_page.html

Phil Nelson

So is there going to be a video of this?

Steve D. - We actually did look around the basement there and even in a chest behind the TV. Didn't find anything else unfortunately :(

Phil - Thanks for that link. I'll be checking it out later.

Rod - I plan on making a video of it later on.


And now the good news: I finally was able to test the CRT. Definitely under vacuum, of course. No G1 and H-K shorts. Things were looking good already when I went to adjust for cutoff. Got to emissions and holy crap: all 3 guns are showing 100%. I figured it would have at least been asleep, but nope. All 3 guns were reading 100%, even with the life test function lowering the heater voltage. The CRT tester is setup correctly. In the picture, I was just testing the blue gun.

So this CRT is practically brand new. This is looking very promising.

Wow, great news! I'd be inclined to completely believe that tester too, as it is just about if not the most accurate and best one there is. I'm really happy for you. I'll bet this set will come back like new with an outstanding picture. I look forward to seeing the progress.

As they say, "You took the words right out of my mouth." Good on ya Mate.

Not to sound alarmist or anything, but it's rare for even a new CRT to tip the scale all the way to 100%. Try this: read for emission while slowly advancing the cutoff knob from full CCW to CW. If you are able to modulate the emission with the cutoff knob in a linear fashion you're good, but if at some point in advancing the cutoff knob it suddenly shoots up to 100% from nothing you have a gassy tube on your hands. I only mention this because at one time I had to understand why a 21AXP22 I had was testing new but glowed purple in the neck when powered by an actual chassis- it has to do with the fact that any gas inside the tube turns it into a gas regulator instead of an electron emitter. As you advance the cutoff control, at a certain point the gas inside will ionize. Once that tipping point is reached and the gas ionizes, it will read 100%.


Only sure way to know is put HV on it. If you can put 20kv on the ultor rim and not see a blue/purple glow, I'd call it a winner.

I just tried it. I was indeed able to get a linear response on emissions starting with the cutoff fully CCW.

Right when it reaches 100% is right when it starts showing up on the low-tracking/cutoff display, and it just a small tweak there to get it into cutoff.

The last few sets I've worked on (a couple 70s vintage sets) did have 100% emissions on this tester as well with proper cutoff.

I'm just hoping this is right and the tube isn't gassy. As soon as I can I'll try applying HV to it.

I sincerely hope for the best for you. I would be somewhat untruthful if I said that I was not envious. But very happy to see you with the set.

Congratulations on a very lucky find and may good vibes follow in the restoration. After a careful check of the usual suspects, I'd bet the thing plays!

gotta say, after looking at the CT-100 schematic for a while, I do have a lot of respect for those who tackle one.
Keep us updated!!!

One clue for CRT is any tiny presence of blue (in a dark room) around gun elements when testing w/out HV

Ok, good. I've done this already in a dark room too just to be sure. No blue at all.

Somebody else on YouTube has a CT-100 as well, and theirs tested out exactly the same as mine on their tester, even at reduced heater voltage. This is probably a low hour CRT.

Sometimes these buggers do what they are supposed to and don't leak!
It's something we all hope for when finding a '54 set.

another ct100
 

yay, 250 now surviving???

*150

It's 152 on the CT-100 Living List...

Looks like one will be available very soon.

I went to Manhattan some years ago to see Elli Buk and that CT-100. I did 'see' it. We couldn't get anywhere near the set, what with all the 'stuff' he had packed into that second floor treasure vault of his. So I don't know the serial number. The set is on the list though. Does anyone know what happened? Is it sold? I'd like to run down the serial number....

It sold for $900. Here is a link:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/...el-ct-100-scre

No idea who got it.

Dave

It also had the instructions paper you find behind the knobs when new. It was sitting on top of the set. Set was really clean.

If it weren't for the distance to drive and the buyers premium, that would have been my set. 900 bucks is a steal for one in that condition. Looks like that auction was a lot of fun to attend.