Hello-

I picked up this Magnavox round-CRT set today. It came with two remote controls, one well-used and one brand-new, never used. The CRT may be a rebuilt replacement; it is a Sylvania RB21FJP22 (RB for rebuilt?). It tests very good on red and green, at the low end of OK on blue.

http://70.36.238.5/magnavox/closed_small.jpg

http://70.36.238.5/magnavox/open_small.jpg


The remote controls are apparently the "wheeze" ultrasonic type, much more basic than RCAs of the same era (but they never need batteries!). The two buttons at the top of the control panel apparently duplicate the functions of the remote control buttons.

http://70.36.238.5/magnavox/remotes_small.jpg

http://70.36.238.5/magnavox/buttons_small.jpg


This is my first remote control antique TV, and it should be a fun project!

what a great find!

I used to marvel at the lengths, some of these manufacturers would go to get around patents. They used to sell a "Whistle Switch" years ago the must've worked about the same way.

One system had a set of buttons mechanically linked to hammers that would strike ultrasonic chimes. Made a loud click, but young ears could not hear the aural data pulse. Had a 35-mm slide projector like that in the early '60s; anyone know if the system was used on a TV?

One system had a set of buttons mechanically linked to hammers that would strike ultrasonic chimes. Made a loud click, but young ears could not hear the aural data pulse. Had a 35-mm slide projector like that in the early '60s; anyone know if the system was used on a TV?

That was the system that Zenith patented around 1956, after the Flashmatic. Admiral and possibly a few others used it a little later.

Looks like it could be the original Sylvania CRT. The later Sylvania tubes used the resin that turned yellow. If you look at the label again, it's probably a RE21FJP22A.

yea that CRT has the same looking mold that my sylvania CRT has.

"Chinese Style" made in USA, now everything is made in China... :(

Nice set!

You going to give it a resotration? If so good luck.

Tom C.

Reading between the scan lines since the mid 2000's.

Cool looking set, wish I had one :yes: Good luck with getting it going :)
Cheers Glen.

I like that a lot, I wish a set like that would turn up here! Have fun with it!

'RE' in the crt type number stands for "rare earth" phosphor.

Nice find!

Thank you all for the good wishes and comments. I do plan to restore it, but I have two projects that I want to finish first.

Looks like it could be the original Sylvania CRT. The later Sylvania tubes used the resin that turned yellow. If you look at the label again, it's probably a RE21FJP22A.

Yes, it is indeed RE21FJP22 (but not a '22A), and not RB. I was not familiar with the prefix on a CRT number.

It has some Magnavox tubes, several Raytheons (one of which is marked Japan), and an Amperex from France that I can see easily. The flyback looks nice and clean. This set has what I have heard called a "backwards" chassis. I do not know if the HV box sould have a cover; there was a discussion of another Magnavox recently that I will have to find and read again. It has a date of 10/64 on it, and possibly the chassis is U45017. Now I need to chase after a Photofact manual for it.

http://70.36.238.5/magnavox/IMG_0485small.jpg

"Chinese Style" made in USA, now everything is made in China... :(
I was at a hobby shop recently, noticing that most of the car models are now made in China. On one shelf was a Chinese junk model (that is a type of ship, not a comment on quality). The Chinese junk was made in USA! :)

Pete,
The neat thing about the Zenith remote was that if we didn't have one handy at the shop we would jingle a key ring till until the tv responded. That way we knew the remote was working. Phil: yes:

Pete,
The neat thing about the Zenith remote was that if we didn't have one handy at the shop we would vigorously jiggle a key ring. If the set responded in any way we knew the remote was working. Phil :yes:

Pete,
The neat thing about the Zenith remote was that if we didn't have one handy at the shop we would vigorously jiggle a key ring. If the set responded in any way we knew the remote was working. Phil :yes:Phil, :D:thmbsp: Pete

The remote controls are apparently the "wheeze" ultrasonic type, much more basic than RCAs of the same era (but they never need batteries!).
How do they work?

Phil Nelson

they have a little bellows inside, and a couple whisles pushing down the button compresses the bellows and opens up a whisle. The down side is the bellows can get old and crack, and the seal of the whistle to the mech can leak.

I have one on a B&W maggie, works well. the remote unit had a shorted transistor, but it was easy to fix, a few low volt caps. The volume is just a voltage divider on a rotoray switch, the on/off on mine was tied to the tuner, it would go off when in the un used UHF. On some combos its a real challange just to understand how to turn them on and off.

How do they work?

Phil Nelson
Phil-

As Dave described, you push the button down and a puff of air comes out the front, I assume with a high-pitch sound component that activates one of two tuned circuits in the TV with relays to the tuner and power switch (and volume, somehow?). What is strange is that both buttons go down most of the way when you push either one, but I guess the correct one goes enough further to activate its air puff and not the other one.

the channel is just a relay that pulses the motor on the tuner (one direction only), the volume is a solenoid activated by a relay, it pulls a ratchet that spins the rotory switch on which is the beforementioned voltaged divider network of resistors, IIRC 4 (mute low med high). All this is mounted on the receiver unit, the audio from the TV plugs into the receiver. there is a switch that turns on the power to the unit (has its own PS on the receiver) and routes the audio to the rotoray switch. If the remote switch is in the off posistion the audio bypasses the receiver and goes directly to the amp.

the main volume control still works, like a master volume if the remote is active, even with only 4 levels it allows tayloring the output to personalize the low/med/high. When the remote is off its just like any other volume control.

Dave-

Thank you for that clear description of how this type of remote control system works. On my set, there is a spot on the back panel where the remote control on/off switch is labeled, but the switch itself is not there (nor is there a mounting hole). This set does have two other switches on the back: A "fast warm up" on/off switch (that was off when I got the set, probably helped the CRT live longer), and a "sepia tone" on/off switch (that would change the color temperature, I am guessing?).

thats the same chassis as my combo, yes it should have a top on the fly cage, but I doubt its any thing to work about.

the chorma board will need some new caps .01 on the grid of the 6GU7, I guarntee the one that sits between the tube and the power resistor is weak, the other two are prob ok. Will it work if weak, yes, did I change mine, yes. did I need to, yes but thats more a personality defect than a color TV defect :)

there is prob a couple .001 1kv caps that should be replaced, the one on the vert out transformer was bad on mine, the one the audio out transformer was not, replaced them both. I also like to replace the .1 on the grid of the video tube and the .001 that couples the horz osc to the horz out, just for good insurance againt leakage. This is the general same thing I did on my other RCT sets of that era.

Check those wires on the top of the chorma board (think there are two behind the 6GU7's goes to a couple power resistors jumpers on the board).

I have had several that were corroded and break, make is look like the screen drives were turn up on one color when this happens). I just use some tweezers and gently tug on them, if they are corroded they will snap right off, if they dont, then you are prob ok, as they dont get moved at all.

besides those coulpe 1kv tube caps I think the only other paper caps were the across the line cap at the power receptical and the black beauty that is used on the horz osc coil (mounted vertical). I replaced the accross the line with an X2 and left the horz osc coil alone after it tested perfect (I did not have a precison cap for that value handy).

all the normal gound stakes should be looked over and take a close look a the bottom of the video amp tube, it gets hot and the solder can look crystalized. I reflowed some questionalble looking joints.

Dave, I appreciate all the details of needed parts and things to check. I am looking forward to getting this set working, so I'd better get moving with my other projects too!

Chris, Find a book titled "Magnavox Volume 1 - Color TV Service Manual" by Stan Prentiss, published in 1974 by TAB Books (out of print). This had factory schematics, functional circuit descriptions, service and alignment procedures plus case histories for trouble shooting. These books were very helpful and were published for most of the manufacturers.

see this long link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00309ZH5Q/sr=/qid=/ref=olp_tab_used?ie=UTF8&coliid=&me=&qid=&sr=&seller=&colid=&condition=used

Good luck, that is a unique cabinet style from one of the best in TV-furniture. Magnavox of this vintage is usually an easy fix. drh4683 has a very good video on Utube to remove the cataracts from that CRT.
Dave 63

Dave-

Thank you for that clear description of how this type of remote control system works. On my set, there is a spot on the back panel where the remote control on/off switch is labeled, but the switch itself is not there (nor is there a mounting hole). This set does have two other switches on the back: A "fast warm up" on/off switch (that was off when I got the set, probably helped the CRT live longer), and a "sepia tone" on/off switch (that would change the color temperature, I am guessing?).

You are correct regarding the sepia tone switch. This switch was labeled "sepia switch" on some makes of TVs and serves to inject a soft blue color into a black and white picture. Some Silvertone color sets of the '60s had a front panel control labeled "Chromix" that did the same thing; however, the adjustment was so critical and sometimes confusing that most people just set it at midrange (neutral) and forgot about it. The sepia switch was often (probably more often than not) left in the off position because many people didn't know its true function, although the switch and its function probably was mentioned in the instruction manual. Many viewers didn't care about adjustments like this, as long as the picture looked halfway decent. There are people who will watch horribly misadjusted color TVs (I have known a few), not caring what the picture looks like as long as it is there. Today's color sets are built such that little or no adjustments to color or contrast, brightness, etc. are necessary; viewers need only turn on the set, select the channel they want to watch, and forget the rest. This was why automatic fine tuning (AFT) controls were designed into color TVs beginning in, I believe, the '70s -- because many viewers could not fine tune a color picture properly (most viewers did not realize that if the fine tuning is not set exactly on a color set, there will be no color), and automatic color adjustments quickly followed.

Magnavox's "TAC" (Total Automatic Color), Zenith's "Color Sentry", et al. were other automatic systems designed into TVs of these makes for the same reasons, although many times the picture looks terrible with these automatic controls activated; many times it is possible to get a much better picture by adjusting the manual color and tint controls until the flesh tones are correct, although again many viewers did not want to be bothered with those controls. The reason the picture is often better with the automatic controls disabled is that these systems, which were often little more than push button switches that activated preset controls, were probably adjusted at the factory using color bars from a generator rather than actual air signals.

What a beauty...and a RE phosphor tube to boot!:smoke:

Chris, Find a book titled "Magnavox Volume 1 - Color TV Service Manual" by Stan Prentiss
OK, I see there are a couple on Amazon now too. Thanks for the tips.

Magnavox's "TAC" (Total Automatic Color), Zenith's "Color Sentry", et al. were other automatic systems designed into TVs of these makes for the same reasons, although many times the picture looks terrible with these automatic controls activated.
Jeff-

Thanks for the notes. I have a book that may be "Color TV Servicing Simplified-Volume 3" (by Milton Kiver?), and it describes Magnavox as having one of the first color-"correction" circuits intended to push colors toward skin tones; this book is from the rectangular-CRT era, and I also remember reading about those one-button color systems in the early 1970s (way before I ever had a color TV) and how they made things usually worse rather than better.

RE in the prefix was for RARE EARTH.

'RE' in the crt type number stands for "rare earth" phosphor.

What a beauty...and a RE phosphor tube to boot!

RE in the prefix was for RARE EARTH.
Thanks for the notes on the CRT. I forgot, what is the general difference(s) between a rare-earth-phosphor tube and the alternative (sulfide?) ones? Is the overall brightness higher or lower? Is one or more of the three colors more or less true to the NTSC specifications?

They are said to have more 'correct' colors. It's not really obvious, unless you have a sulfide tube operating next to a RE one with color bars on the screen. Here's a shot of my CTC-7, with the sulfide Philco on top of it. The reds are a bit orange, the green a bit yellow which causes cyan to suffer. Blue seems about right though. Naturally, the Sony Trinitron monitor looks stunning.

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=171653&d=1316101963

Nick, within the limitations of my computer's display (Lenovo Thinkpad with LCD screen), I like the RCA best of the three screens in your picture. Typically, I have the biggest problem getting a good yellow bar on most monitors without messing up the others. Usually, it is too greenish, as I see the one on your Philco TV.

I am getting tempted to work on this Magnavox TV and put aside some other project(s) to do so! :)

i remember the philcos,magnavoxs, and the admirals all had those orangish reds back in those days.the only suitable reds were displayed by the very early rca s and the sylvania 25vdmp22.the zenith chromacolor crt had very good reds but the greens were a little off.most of our customers were happy with this,all they cared about was the contrast and color jacked up to the limit

In short, I think the rare earth red was a lot brighter but oranger. A trade-off. I guess at some point that became the standard phosphor for everything?

I always liked the sulphide screen tubes as their colors always looked like a "Technicolor" movie with rich colors esp the deep red it produced. Over 40 some years ago we installed a pea green faced (real sulphide) 21FB tube in a CTC5 set in place of the metal 21AX and what a picture!! We sold it right away.

Just noticed there's another pair of remotes on the bay, extras are always good...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-2-vintage-Magnavox-Phantom-antique-TV-remotes-remote-control-1960s-/170697603862?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27be5ebb16

I like seeing the R.E. phosphor crt's because they are examples of parts-quality we shall never see again in consumer electronics. Kind of like the Neodymium used in speakers which is being phased out, and the ultra pure cathode material used in NOS vacuum tubes. Too hard on the environment, so it is no longer used. Or in the case of Neodymium, it's in short supply.