21FBP22A/21FGUP22 Sylvania Rebuilt C.R.T.

[Telecruiser]

"Rare Earth" refers to Europium Oxide which Sylvania pioneered for use as the red phosphor in color picture tubes. It really changed the way we viewed TV. I had the pleasure of knowing Lee Davenport, who is credited with it's development. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Davenport He was also very instrumental in the early development of radar. He was quite a guy and the consummate gentleman. We met because we both had an interest in old cars. It's odd how paths can cross....

[Tomcomm]

I completely agree with Electronic M regarding his rare earth CRT:

My Silvertone has a 21GUP22 and produces one of the nicest color pictures I've seen.

The color-bar screen shot is outstanding, on a par with my 21CT55's rare earth 21FBP22A. The saturated red bars are as accurate as any I've seen on my LCD monitor and on live-viewing. I too would like to know more of Electronic M's Silvertone, like is it an RCA clone, which one, which year made. The full room lighted screen shot washes out about as much as mine does........Tomcomm

[stromberg67]

Yes, a very nice picture . seems that it's aligned well as there isn't much crossover distortion between the bars. Wondering if that great Silvertone is an RCA CTC-15 clone.
Kevin

[Electronic M]

Thanks for the compliment on my regular use TV.

I've never owned an RCA higher than CTC-4 so I'm not dead certain, but I'd say my Silvertone is probably a CTC-12 or 15 clone (given chassis layout and lack of the goofy fly the 16 used). I can post a picture of the tube layout and give the model or Sam's # of the schematic tonight if you want it.

That pic is 3+ years old. Presently It needs a convergence setup, line voltage here causes slight horizontal under-scan on right (sometimes), sometimes needs a smack after warmup for the chroma osc. to synch, and there is a steep brightness/contrast dip a moment after warm up that goes away after a couple of minutes (which I've failed to pinpoint), and the DTV station that the test pattern came from stopped transmitting it (I wish I had taped it...Have not seen a better color bar signal since). I wish they had opted for a hand wired chassis as it seems like about half the maintenance I put in to it is PCB/solder and tube socket related.

However I may end up posting some more awesome screenshots from it on VK after Thanksgiving since I plan to switch from wired VCR RF signal to wireless agile-modulator signaling then, and many video issues such as distortion of high contrast text, text buzz in sound, high contrast monochrome producing color ringing, etc. seemed to be eliminated by the agile mod. The best live video quality I can recall that set making occurred during signal strength/quality feasibility tests of the agile modulators several weeks ago.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

the DTV station that the test pattern came from stopped transmitting it (I wish I had taped it...Have not seen a better color bar signal since).

You should be able to find a good NTSC generator on Ebay, when you have funds available. A B&K 1260 is on there now for under $50 shipped, for example.