Got this 22 in the mail the other day. It works quite well as is but needed two 5GH8’s replaced. Neat little set.

Only two 5GH8's bad ?
Yours looks real good. Theses & the 19" cousins could work real good
but if they have any miles all the low level tubes can be changed with
small improvements as you go. Tube sockets were also lousy. The other
thing is the low focus jugs had to be real strong or the pix sucked.
Also gotta watch the PCB mounting tabs for cold joints.
Most of these went out not perfect due to the cost of changing a bunch of
tubes. It was a "just get it running" set like a GE. A fun memory to see a good running one.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

We sold a bunch of those, and they had a huge failure rate of the ss damper diode. The replacement was a beefier double-diode which held up much better. Be interest to see if this set is still running on the original(!) or the replacement. If original, it's a miracle. :eek:

Only two 5GH8's bad ?
Yours looks real good. Theses & the 19" cousins could work real good
but if they have any miles all the low level tubes can be changed with
small improvements as you go. Tube sockets were also lousy. The other
thing is the low focus jugs had to be real strong or the pix sucked.
Also gotta watch the PCB mounting tabs for cold joints.
Most of these went out not perfect due to the cost of changing a bunch of
tubes. It was a "just get it running" set like a GE. A fun memory to see a good running one.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I haven’t tested any tubes yet. The two I replaced were white capped.

We sold a bunch of those, and they had a huge failure rate of the ss damper diode. The replacement was a beefier double-diode which held up much better. Be interest to see if this set is still running on the original(!) or the replacement. If original, it's a miracle. :eek:

The diode thats in there now is a replacement from 1973, so not original.

I used to have one. They are cute and I sort of miss mine, but pulling and reinstalling the chassis is a comparable hassle to recapping a predicta... whoever decided to hold the tuner and control cluster section of the chassis to the cabinet front with deeply recessed nuts should have been demoted.

They shoulda been denutted and demoted.:tongue::lmao:

They shoulda been denutted and demoted.:tongue::lmao:

:lmao: You said it; not me!

At least 13 electronice tubes. Nice! :yes:

At least 13 electronice tubes. Nice! :yes:

19 I believe.

I had one of these that i bought from Doug Harland. He eventually wanted it back so i sold it back to him. What i liked about these is they had the same color fidelity that the old roundie's had. Good little set's!

I had one of these that i bought from Doug Harland. He eventually wanted it back so i sold it back to him. What i liked about these is they had the same color fidelity that the old roundie's had. Good little set's!
+1 Yes indeed! Better than a Porta-color but more expensive as well. I recall getting a bag of tubes from someone that had his serviced, and most were
5GH8A (used boxed - replaced with RCA) but there was a 2EG4 nuvistor, which I thought never went bad:scratch2:

Fairly reliable as well .... the 1968 model in my father in laws office waiting room was still going strong in 1989 when he shut the office down. Only minor tube replacments and tuner cleaning were needed to keep it going for 21 years. I should have grabbed the set, but it likely went to Goodwill.

jr

Seems that RCA took UHF seriously and the dial on a CTC22 was particularly good, among others like the CTC16X , 17X and later tuner variations and "sportable" 19" BW models.

It would have been popular locally, where there was only one VHF and six UHF stations back in the days before cable. Ill have to look around, there has to be one hiding nearby.

Unfortunately, they dropped the “slide rule” style UHF dial in 1968.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48053216208_f63e7302fb_z_d.jpg

jr

+1 Yes indeed! Better than a Porta-color but more expensive as well. I recall getting a bag of tubes from someone that had his serviced, and most were
5GH8A (used boxed - replaced with RCA) but there was a 2EG4 nuvistor, which I thought never went bad:scratch2:

I bought one of those with a bad damper diode. It was under a year old.
The original owner wanted a sizable price, so I wanted to see how well it worked. I took a 6AU4 tube, test clip leads and a 6 volt transformer to test it before I bought the proper replacement.
Man, what a picture! Replaced the diode, the new one was two clipped together.
I used the set for two years and sold it for $200 after replacing most of the 5GH8's
Mine was the more deluxe walnut cabinet model.

Why did these sets have such a good picture? It seems like the general opinion is that the CRT was hot garbage.

IIRC both these and the Zeniths first couple of 15" color portables used the 15NP22. It was a damn good tube if the emission was decent, the Zeniths literally made a picture like a shrunken console, and could run rings around portacolors and similar.

Daves gripe is that focus on those tubes would be lousy when those CRTs got old... I've never seen it happen but I'll take his word for it.

It is not that they couldn't perform they just developed a reputation for not dying gracefully.

That's a great looking little set! I might have to find one for my back room :thmbsp:

IIRC both these and the Zeniths first couple of 15" color portables used the 15NP22. It was a damn good tube if the emission was decent, the Zeniths literally made a picture like a shrunken console, and could run rings around portacolors and similar.

Daves gripe is that focus on those tubes would be lousy when those CRTs got old... I've never seen it happen but I'll take his word for it.

It is not that they couldn't perform they just developed a reputation for not dying gracefully.
The RCA's picture was as good as the Zenith. A 15" rare earth CRT was as good as you could get! Actually, the Zenith had an RCA CRT.

Unfortunately, they dropped the “slide rule” style UHF dial in 1968.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48053216208_f63e7302fb_z_d.jpg

jr

This exact set was our first family color set. I think we got it in 1967, and the first show we watched on it was Star Trek. Back then it looked spectacular. Very reliable. Never had to have it serviced in the 15 years I had it....and it got used a lot. I kept it until a got a color console set in 1982.

oops....double post....

I’ve been watching this set for about 2 hours straight, no problems. This thing gets REALLY hot.