CTC125 service info?

[maxhifi]

What's the general opinion on this little chassis? I've got one with low hours which I'm thinking about putting back into service. It has got to be one of the very last real RCAs.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

What's the general opinion on this little chassis? I've got one with low hours which I'm thinking about putting back into service. It has got to be one of the very last real RCAs.

I'm not familiar with the CTC125 chassis, so cannot say much about it. However, I have a 19" RCA TV with a CTC-185 chassis that still works very well. I don't use it much (or at all) anymore since all TV went digital in 2009, but when I was using it the set gave me excellent service. I only had to have it repaired once, the problem being a broken antenna connector. Other than that, the set worked well, as I said, and still works as well as when it was new. It has been sitting on the floor in my bedroom, unused, for years, having been replaced in 2010 by a 32" Insignia flat screen. My CTC-185 RCA is anything but a low-hours TV, as I used it quite a bit since it was new. The last time I powered it up, it seemed to work OK but the antenna connector is flopping around again, so I don't know offhand how well it works with an RF signal or with a cable box (I have cable on my flat screen, but no cable box, as I am using the TV with a Roku device and Spectrum streaming service).

[maxhifi]

The CTC125 is little 9" XL100 set which can work on 12V or 12V, and was originally purchased on 1986, right before the demise of RCA as a company. It was bought to be used in a VW camper van, so never accumulated many hours.

[Electronic M]

GE axed their own chassis design in favor of RCAs when they bought RCA. Both GE and RCA color chassis after the buyout began with CTC....how much of the engineering favored RCAs legacy after Thompson bought out GE/RCA I can't say. IIRC RCA was born as a pattent holding company formed by a GE, Westinghouse, and a fruit company.... the kid died and it's next of kin to inherit the consumer electronics division was Pappa GE...

[zeno]

Those were good little sets. IIRC only saw bad main filter cap, a zener diode in the PS & the DC-AC converter with blown transistors.
SAMS shows 3 manuals for the 125 so you need the full chassis number
& model number to get the right one.
If you dont find a free one PM me.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

What's the general opinion on this little chassis? I've got one with low hours which I'm thinking about putting back into service. It has got to be one of the very last real RCAs.

As close to bullet proof as any TV ever made.

John

[maxhifi]

Here is the chassis. I took it apart today just to clean the controls, they were all really dirty after sitting for years. Pretty cool how it uses an FP style filter can!

The picture is really good all things considered. I would say there is a tiny bit of graininess but that could be the long cable on my converter.

I will post the full model.

Zeno, Tom and John thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

[maxhifi]

Model is EMR295E, made in July 1986

[maxhifi]

So using the TV, I found there is one defect. A very very light horizontal interference line appears across the screen, usually within the top third of the screen, from time to time. It is the sort of subtle problem which I believe is going to be difficult to troubleshoot. I changed sources and cables, and it persists.

[maxhifi]

Not to keep responding to my own thread, but I got rid of the interference by plugging the TV into an isolation transformer. Boy does this little TV ever have a good picture! Can't beat RCA color.

[TVTim]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

Not to keep responding to my own thread, but I got rid of the interference by plugging the TV into an isolation transformer. Boy does this little TV ever have a good picture! Can't beat RCA color.

I just found this thread. I'm glad you were able to fix this easily and quickly!!

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by TVTim

I just found this thread. I'm glad you were able to fix this easily and quickly!!

LOVE that avatar!!

John

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

GE axed their own chassis design in favor of RCAs when they bought RCA. Both GE and RCA color chassis after the buyout began with CTC....how much of the engineering favored RCAs legacy after Thompson bought out GE/RCA I can't say. .

A lot. The 169 was designed and built under Thomson's ownership and control, and it bears a striking resemblance to the mid 80s CTC 140, one of the old RCA's very best chassis. The 140 looked a lot like the CTC130 chassis that preceded it in the early 80s. The 195/7 replaced the 169, and *that* looked like the RCA 140 boards. Even the later ATC chassis showed the lineage to Indiana.

Oh, I hope Jack Welch is stoking ol' Satan's furnace right now...

John

[Rog Beltmann]

My favorite RCA chassis to service was the CTC16. Almost every brand used it except Zenith. Least favorite was the vertical XL-100 chassis and their damn SCR sweep system. Very problematic to diagnose.
Best picture was the GTE super sets. They ran at 32kv second anode voltage.
We kept the SONYs at the other end of the showroom so they wouldn't get embarrassed! To me the CTC 125 is not too memorable... good or bad.

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by Rog Beltmann

My favorite RCA chassis to service was the CTC16. Almost every brand used it except Zenith. Least favorite was the vertical XL-100 chassis and their damn SCR sweep system. Very problematic to diagnose.
Best picture was the GTE super sets. They ran at 32kv second anode voltage.
We kept the SONYs at the other end of the showroom so they wouldn't get embarrassed! To me the CTC 125 is not too memorable... good or bad.

The CTC125 was a low-end chassis, but it was remarkable in its reliability (just the filter cap really) and excellent performance for the cost.

The SCR sweep was unusual, but we were an RCA ASC and had the field training classes and workbooks (RCA had great training manuals that explained everything). The SCR system was very reliable, very efficient, and produced a very linear sweep. Other than an occasional bad connection from those large inductors on the PCs or a cranky SCR socket, they were no trouble at all. The later ITR versions were a bit cranky if you ask me.

The GTE Supersets caught everyone by surprise. Excellent circuitry along with that near black tinted faceplate was unbeatable. Unfortunately, GTE forgot to upgrade the CRT gun assy to handle the strain of producing a bright picture through the dark tinted faceplate. We changed a lot of those tubes during the first few years they were out. RCA also ran a nominal 32.5KV chassis during the XL-100 years.

John