How-dee, recently got me a RCA GF 621W roundie, owner's manual has a 1965 date written in pencil on it. Have been tolded that this is the CTC 16 chassis.

Is showing a fair amount of cataract but otherwise the rest of the set is pretty mint (slight sun fading on the top)

This came out of a house that had been locked up for nearly thirty years due to estate problems (long story). That must explain why I found Rod Serling's corpse in the living room LOL

Haven't plugged this in yet as I don't want to let the smoke out of the wires (and you just know how hard it is to stuff it back inside)

Any comments? Thanks

Anthony

Anthony,

Welcome! I have a Heathkit GR-53A round screen color TV that I would like to get going someday. These seem to be really scarce these days as I've only ever seen the one I bought from a widow in Buffalo in the 6 years I've been looking for and collecting vintage TV's.

You should pull the horizontal output tube (6JE6?) and operate the set on a variac starting at about 20 volts and slowly working on up, say 10 volts every few hours until you reach 110 volts. This will reform the electrolytics and help wake up sleeping tube cathodes etc. By 80 or 90 volts you should have sound and probably be able to hear the vertical sweep oscillator. Once you have formed the caps over 24 hours or so unplug the power, replace the Horizontal output tube and give the set a try.

Keep us posted and please feel encouraged to post pictures here. We have a great group of interested vintage TV nuts, er collectors/restorers here. :)

Hi Rob (and all), thanks for the welcom and the tip about which tube to pull. Wasn't sure how to go about disabling the HV to do the Variac procedure and that sounds easy enough even for the likes of me! :D Wasn't aware that reforming caps was that simple. Grooovy Baybee!

Am just a lowly mechanic, like Eric H :p: :puke:

I just spoke with someone who is helping clear out a local TV repair shop---and she told me that she recently threw out some "old big round picture tubes" because they were taking up too much space ARGH! :mad: :uzi: :eek:

In the next couple of days I'll get a chance to take an inventory and pick up whatever she has handy, including an assload of Sams (mostly for radios). She tells me of all sorts of transformers, I wonder if she's referring to flybacks. We'll see.

Are Hoffman sets worth anything? ;) Yep, she has one too! Has some folding doors over the picture tube. Can't wait to see that set. If I can ever finger out how to post pix within the message I'll put some up here. Have tried all the and links to a URL but nothing seems to display. Foo.

Anthony

Anthony,

Posting pics here is easier than reforming caps with a variac. There is a box below the text box when posting a message where you can find/select the picture in your own computer. When you actually submit the post the picture will be uploaded to AK from your computer. The picture is then stored at AK and does not use a link to your server space.

I always laugh when someone asks are such and such TV's worth anything. This sounds like a question a radio collector would ask because he is buying radios with which to make a profit. Old TV's are worthless for the most part, much like art. Like art IMO they are only worth something to people who find something interesting or attractive to them personally by the item. Hoffmans are fairly scarce and I'd like to have a Hoffman round screen color set from the 50's because my collection would be more complete with it, not because I could polish it up and flip it on ebay for a quick profit.

Originally posted by Rob
Anthony,

Posting pics here is easier than reforming caps with a variac. There is a box below the text box when posting a message where you can find/select the picture in your own computer. When you actually submit the post the picture will be uploaded to AK from your computer. The picture is then stored at AK and does not use a link to your server space.

I always laugh when someone asks are such and such TV's worth anything. This sounds like a question a radio collector would ask because he is buying radios with which to make a profit. Old TV's are worthless for the most part, much like art. Like art IMO they are only worth something to people who find something interesting or attractive to them personally by the item. Hoffmans are fairly scarce and I'd like to have a Hoffman round screen color set from the 50's because my collection would be more complete with it, not because I could polish it up and flip it on ebay for a quick profit.

Thanks for the help on posting pix Rob.

I totally understand what you're saying about values. I have more Studebakers than functioning brain cells, and they ain't worth a Tinker's damn to most people. Anyone want to trade for a CTC 100? :p:

The way I see it, *IF* I were to sell a set it would be just to finance playing in this hobby more....am sure there are others who probably feel the same way. Personally, I prefer to feel with my hands. ;)

Anthony

Just a small point, the first production RCA color set is Model CT-100, chassis CTC-2. RCA actually skipped over CTC-100 in the 70's when that number would have come in the CTC series so as to avoid confusion.

I usually just hit the sets with the 110 AC straight for an initial test. Haven't had any trouble. When its a set with old paper caps (which CTC-16 is not) I will replace all of those old caps before the set sees regular use. Also I put a fuse in series with the horizontal output cathode for extra protection. If there is a cap across the 110 AC line terminals on the set I remove it, as it can short and not be protected by the set's fuse.

The only place you can sell round color sets for $$ is ebay, or maybe directly to another collector who really wants one, on a TV forum such as this. Lucky for us collectors they don't sell for too much at garage sales, etc!

Originally posted by Chad Hauris
Just a small point, the first production RCA color set is Model CT-100, chassis CTC-2. RCA actually skipped over CTC-100 in the 70's when that number would have come in the CTC series so as to avoid confusion.

I usually just hit the sets with the 110 AC straight for an initial test. Haven't had any trouble. When its a set with old paper caps (which CTC-16 is not) I will replace all of those old caps before the set sees regular use. Also I put a fuse in series with the horizontal output cathode for extra protection. If there is a cap across the 110 AC line terminals on the set I remove it, as it can short and not be protected by the set's fuse.

The only place you can sell round color sets for $$ is ebay, or maybe directly to another collector who really wants one, on a TV forum such as this. Lucky for us collectors they don't sell for too much at garage sales, etc!

Hi Chad, am familiar with the CTC-100 being the "first" color RCA set. Interesting point you raise about them skipping over that number come the 70's. Lincoln screwed up in this regard when they brought out the Mk III in '68 but mistakenly calling it that instead of the Mk IV......they had already built a Mk III 10 years earlier!

Anthony

Anthony- No they didn't. The "Chinese-eyed" Lincolns of the late '50s were so embarassing to FoMoCo by the late '60s, they purposely made up some blather about the '68 MK 111 being the "true" successor to the '56 MK 11. Some nonsensical shite about the MK 111 being a gin-u-wine "Continental" & the then disreputable late '50s tugboats being just plain old "Lincolns". Kinda like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin... Actually, they really used the 4-dr T-bird's chassis, with a heavily disguised body. By the time the MK IV rolled around , FoMoCo dropped all pretense, & gave it the T-Bird body. I'm still p*ss*d they dropped the 4-dr convertible. But I don't think anything would help the looks of that lumpen, steaming pile they call the Town Car. Maybe a small thermonuclear device...<grin>- Sandy G.