View Full Version : Latest addition - RCA TT-5


rld-tv01
03-28-2015, 05:28 PM
I received an email Mar 10th from a fellow collector here at Videokarma that a RCA-TT5 was for sale nearby in Long Beach CA. I exchanged emails for the last couple of weeks and had the appoinment to go over and look at it last week delayed to this week. After a week of worrying I went over this morning and made an offer and took it home. :banana:

stusnyder
03-28-2015, 05:42 PM
Nice, I would like to find something like that.

GaryK
03-28-2015, 06:16 PM
I received an email Mar 10th from a fellow collector here at Videokarma that a RCA-TT5 was for sale nearby in Long Beach CA. I exchanged emails for the last couple of weeks and had the appoinment to go over and look at it last week delayed to this week. After a week of worrying I went over this morning and made an offer and took it home. :banana:

It looks like a wonderful piece to restore and preserve.

vts1134
03-28-2015, 07:53 PM
Woooohooooo:tresbon:

rld-tv01
03-28-2015, 07:56 PM
Serial #1097

dieseljeep
03-28-2015, 08:31 PM
Serial #1097

It even states "Superhetrodyne".
They must've been thinking of the early British sets, that were TRF's. :scratch2:

rld-tv01
03-28-2015, 09:27 PM
According to Riders RCA provided an revision for the TT-5 tuning in 1946 allowing channels 2-6 versus the original 1-5. RCA also provided a decal to place over the old channel indicator. See new channel decal on face of the RCA TT-5 in first photo above.

Kevin Kuehn
03-28-2015, 09:44 PM
Wowee! What a neat thing to stumble onto. :thmbsp:

pearsonk
03-28-2015, 10:26 PM
Nice, Richard, see you at convention.............

Sandy G
03-29-2015, 12:25 AM
Ahh HATE Yew... Seriously, GREAT score ! Wish I could be so lucky !

electronjohn
03-29-2015, 08:37 AM
Nifty!

Gregb
03-29-2015, 09:27 AM
Sweet find!

Gregb

decojoe67
03-29-2015, 10:55 AM
Awesome find!
One of the most iconic pre-war TV's of them all. The great thing is that it's not a large, heavy unit like the console models. If you really want a unique set-up, place it on top of one of deco flat-top 1939 RCA consoles that were built to receive TV sound. Better yet, get them working together!

Phil Nelson
03-29-2015, 01:52 PM
Zowie!! Congratulations on this great find. I look forward to hearing more about the restoration.

Phil Nelson

vts1134
03-29-2015, 01:58 PM
Awesome find!
One of the most iconic pre-war TV's of them all. The great thing is that it's not a large, heavy unit like the console models. If you really want a unique set-up, place it on top of one of deco flat-top 1939 RCA consoles that were built to receive TV sound. Better yet, get them working together!

Is there such a thing as an RCA Victor console radio, sold in 1939-1941, with a top large enough for the TT-5 to be placed? I would love to see a radio that looked like it "fit" the TT-5.

This one looks great but doesn't make any sense because the television attachment is on top of a flip top lid.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/RCA%20TT-5/F6F114C1-6CD7-4AE7-9496-D3CBFF6B8290_zpstzjslznu.jpg

vts1134
03-29-2015, 02:07 PM
Richard it looks like you're missing the mask that goes behind the front safety glass. Was that not with the set?

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/RCA%20TT-5/07D709FB-5B9E-4A40-8580-8147F8745530_zps4bmgq47u.jpg

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/RCA%20TT-5/B7B94C6C-41DA-4BE8-ADC9-2411AD3E3D74_zpsij1b0cuq.jpg

decojoe67
03-29-2015, 03:03 PM
Is there such a thing as an RCA Victor console radio, sold in 1939-1941, with a top large enough for the TT-5 to be placed? I would love to see a radio that looked like it "fit" the TT-5.

This one looks great but doesn't make any sense because the television attachment is on top of a flip top lid.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/RCA%20TT-5/F6F114C1-6CD7-4AE7-9496-D3CBFF6B8290_zpstzjslznu.jpg
It would have to be console like the 13-tube 1939 K130 with a large flat top and front controls. It seems the credenza consoles didn't have the Vassos clean deco lines.
http://www.radiomuseum.org/images/radio/rca/k130_263036.jpg

decojoe67
03-29-2015, 05:22 PM
The 1940 RCA U-42 console is even more deco styled:
http://onetuberadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/LilyPons.jpg

rld-tv01
03-29-2015, 05:41 PM
John, I am missing the mask for the CRT. The owner took it out of the attic of a TV repair shop 20 years ago and put it in the attic of his house. He was not a TV collector but thought it needed saving 20 years ago. I am lucky it has the back. Maybe I can get the dimensions of the mask from yours later on. There appears to be a chunk of wood stuck under the front of the CRT. Probably to hold it up since the mask was missing.

I have two versions of this tabletop RCA T-56 radio with the television attachment audio input. My two radios pictured below:

rld-tv01
03-29-2015, 06:18 PM
I removed the CRT and took out the chunk of wood laying under it. Someone sandwiched two small pieces of plywood with partial circles cut out staggered at different heights to fit under the bottom front of the CRT probably since it was missing the mask. Looks to be a very old hack job.

pendulum
03-29-2015, 09:10 PM
Awesome find! Hope to see more pictures of it, I am always hoping I will get lucky enough to find a prewar set. Thanks for sharing!