RCA Roundie Test Jig Resto

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by miniman82

Problem with the meter is it's a later production one with the wrong RCA logo. If it had the old meatball on it I'd have moved it elsewhere, because I want the stencil on the front to remain intact. I can always put it on a bracket on the back, but HV isn't diagnostically important to most service jobs unless the job is specifically a lack of HV. I typically verify correct HV once when I do the horizontal circuit setup, after that if there were a problem you'd know.

Steve,

The stencil on the front is probably gonna have to be done by an artist, maybe I can have someone who does pinstriping or air brushing take care of it. Suppose if I had to I could always have the guy at the mall who does T-shirts make me some stickers, and that way I could paint it in myself.

Made in 1970, the meter/kit HAD to have the new RCA logo, which debuted in 1968. You will not find a meter with the old meatball logo. The original, and only HV meter for your jig had the new RCA logo, as do all others.

[miniman82]

Wish I could get a HV meter with the early meatball, but I guess it's not meant to be.

Here's the finished cabinet, just came back from powder coating today. They did a satin black on the whole thing inside and out, came out pretty good. Next step is cleaning up the original parts, installing them back into the cabinet, and finding a good 21FBP22. Oh, and I need a set of sturdy nylon feet. I don't think the jigs came with legs like the regular sets did.

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by miniman82

Wish I could get a HV meter with the early meatball, but I guess it's not meant to be.

Can you get the bezel/lens off the old one? Get a meatball image, add it to the meter scale software, and print a new one on an Avery label - attach it to the meter, replace the bezel/lens, and mount.

http://www.tonnesoftware.com/index.html

Their meter software allows adding a graphic - we used a similar Win 3.1 version to customize generic meters in the cal lab back in the early 90s.

[miniman82]

Nah, if I want to know what HV is I have a probe/DMM. I'd rather have the graphics on the front, it's gonna look killer.

[miniman82]

Put the jug back in the refinished cabinet today, because Bruce sent me his CTC-16X chassis for some work. Worked like a champ, and I found out why RCA relegated this tube to the job of test mule- it's got a triad of dots missing in one small spot about the size of the tip of a pencil. Almost doesn't matter when viewing it at a distance, but was apparently bad enough that it was rejected. Still needs degaussed, but I'll leave that for another time since it's not in its permanent place.





Chassis was sent in because the tint control had to be at one extreme to see normal flesh tone, a tweak to one of the chroma board slugs fixed that up. Also checked out the HV production since the 6BK4 broke in shipment, it needed a tweak to get it in spec. Now rock solid at 24kv before blooming, makes a really bright picture. Horizontal cathode current looked good, so I let it be. Ready for more service!

[bgk283]

Looks awesome. Thanks Nick!

[MIPS]

So why exactly did you settle on black?

It now looks extremely out of place, if not half-a**ed. From what photos you showed us before painting it looked totally fine.

The welding shop I went to said its not possible to patch, due to metal warpage- you'd always know it was repaired. So they are making me a whole new one for like $50, when done it will get dropped off at the powder coating place.

I'd of just taken a 2x2" square piece of sheet metal and JB welded it to the backside of the panel, then bondo'd and sanded the front down before paint. You wouldn't of needed a new panel and after paint you'd again never notice it.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by MIPS

So why exactly did you settle on black?

They said they can't do hammertone powdercoating, so I had to pick a solid color. They didn't have a blue in stock to match the original color so it would have been some waiting to order the correct stuff and it only comes in 5lb bags, so they wouldn't have used it all anyway which would have been wasted money for me. I ended up with satin black because it was in stock, it looks nice, the red stenciling on the panel will really pop against it, and RCA themselves did metal cabinets in black so it seemed logical.

It now looks extremely out of place, if not half-a**ed. From what photos you showed us before painting it looked totally fine.

Not sure what you mean by half assed, it was a professional place that did the work. The reason it had to be done was the top of the cabinet was pitted with rust, they had to do some sanding to get it back to good metal. That and like I said, I didn't want the HV meter in there.

I'd of just taken a 2x2" square piece of sheet metal and JB welded it to the backside of the panel, then bondo'd and sanded the front down before paint. You wouldn't of needed a new panel and after paint you'd again never notice it.

I thought about it, but in the end powdercoating is a tougher finish that lasts longer. This will likely end up getting kicked around my garages, so I needed something that would stand up to a little neglect. Bondo doesn't play well with the heat of powdercoating, so that idea was a bust.

Plan is to have a sort of repair shop set up, so I can service chassis people send me. I want to be able to put it on a shelf and forget about maintaining it, plus powdercoating just turns out so nice.

[kvflyer]

I have to say that those colors are stunning! Only a few of us here would appreciate all of the trouble you went to. I am one of them!

[ohohyodafarted]

I think it looks VERY NICE in black Nick! And if someday you want to make it look original, the powder coat will serve as a very good base to paint it with Hammerite Enamel. I used the Hammerite gray on my U-Test-M drug store tube tester cabinet. It was easy to use if you have a compressor and spray gun.

I don't see any point in making a fuss about having original paint color on a bench test jig. It's not like you painted a CT100 fire engine red

[MIPS]

Nevermind me then. I guess my purity is a touch high.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

It's not like you painted a CT100 fire engine red.

I could try if you think it'll look good...

Lol

[Steve D.]

Nick,

Red wouldn't be my 1st choice for a CT-100.

-Steve D.

[miniman82]

Maybe on the next one, then.

[sampson159]

although i am a purist too,i think the black cabinet looks great.cant wait to see the set all together with images on the screen.this has been a most interesting project so far