Mystery TV riddle solved!
 

Well I couldn't resist, knowing how rare an AMC-branded set was, so I went back and took a closer look... And what did I find?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/a46859b8.jpg

That's right... despite its super low-buck appearance, this is a CoLoR TV! I was so crammed in at the estate house I couldn't get a good look at the small controls. No color emblems on this set at all.

I couldn't resist, so I bought it. Here are a few shots...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/d9bb9b8a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/32810fb8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/4f99ea47.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/0d49b051.jpg

I believe the clue to where this set was sold lay at the bottom of the last photo.. Hudson's was a full-service, fancy Detroit department store (now long swallowed in mergers with faceless mega-conglomerates). The tag has a date of 1975, but I have to assume that's for service... Can't picture an all-tube 25" set at that late a date.

Since we're on a bit of a department store thread (another topic that fascinates me), here is a picture of the closest Hudson's store, where I would imagine it came from when new...

http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi...6250368&Ref=H5
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/attachm...1&d=1239143937

Also... I did what you're never supposed to do... I opened it up, blew the dust out, and fired it up. Probably hasn't seen 110v since before Doug was born.

Sound came up real quick. I swear I heard high voltage. Could not see any picture even after about 2 minutes of running. Upon shutdown, I could see the faintest image of a red-green-blue fadeout. Opinions?

BTW, the chassis is a Wells-Gardener with mostly original tubes.

The set has an instant-on feature (which was activated) :thumbsdn: So I suppose the tube could be toast. (RCA Perma-chrome). I'm leaving it plugged in in the hope the low voltage helps?

That said, I'd like to part with it if somebody wants it. I mostly saved it because I figured it could be the last one in existence! Whoever takes it gets the awesome cart. (Set also has provisions for legs)

I was going to ask if it was a Philco-Ford chassis, based on the knobs. Nice find!

Charles

Me likey...Ya done good, Carmine !

I spied an Imperial!

Naw, that's a Ford Escape and the trailer hitch from my truck...:D

Update
 

Well I let it "cook" for a while using the instant-on feature. Guess what? It had a full-screen, color picture with sound! Bringing in channel 9 from Windsor, ON.

Here's the bad news...

I started to notice the picture getting a little blurry, so ducked around the back and saw a faint wisp of smoke from the fly. Shut down immediately.

So I guess that's where the adventure ends. :no:

I doubt it's completely ruined, and restoring the rest of the set should just be a matter of some cleaning and caps. It's cosmetically very good. (just dusty)

Coincidentally that's my AMC box fan next it it in the garage.

Who would care to rescue this (almost working) rarity from the dump? I'd really like to see it saved, but there is really no room at the inn. I bought it on a whim.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...AyNzMuanBn.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...AyNzIuanBn.jpg

That a rare one! Its one of those TV's you'd see while looking through photofact folders saying "I've never seen one like this before". I'm sure more CT-100's are around than one of those. Nice metal cabinet.

I was born in '83, so who knows, its very possible its sat untouched throughout my life. Seems like the mid 80's was the end of tube sets being in somewhat frequent use though. I have a zenith ad from 1984 for service techs to use Zenith brand replacement tubes. The ad states something like "millions of tube type TV's are still in use today, be sure to keep your caddy stocked with genine zenith replacment tubes".

Not sure on this one, I might take it off your hands because its a metal cabinet table set and a rare one at that. Im about to put a bunch of sets up for sale, too many consoles, too little space.

does it use a focus stick rectifier or tube? cant quite make it out from the pic.

I don't think it uses a tube, but didn't really check, and I've screwed it all back together now.

Well Doug, you were the guy I had in mind for it. I do think this would be an easy fix... Hell, even I could probably fix this one.

Keep me in mind when u prepare the for-sale list. You do have a lot of good stuff!

Was the FBT hot? Could be blooming.. Check the horiz cathode current first, 214ma is optimum from what iv'e learned. Also willing to bet that there is a froblem in the focus tube socket. I ran into this in an RCA. Take the tube out and clean the pins. Could be the smoke came from there. Check contacts on the back of the focus tube socket too.

Love the gold casters. Every time i look through a sams folder I see random stuff like this. It must have been everywhere in the 70s but super rare now. How many units had to be manufactured for sams to even bother with it?

What crt does it use?

If it wasn't for the distance I'd have to grab this one. A great oddity. It sure doesn't scream "color", at least from the front.

Or too much HV, and it cooked the Focus Coil. My CTC-16's only problem. Smoke came right up through the HV cage and I'd swear it was the fly, but a charred 113999 Focus coil was the culprit. Same MO - was operating nominally, and went out of focus, started smoking....

BTW - no focus tube on the tube layout for this, so you may also have a bad selenium focus rectifier! Another easy fix. They like to char too - smoker sets would develop a layer of tar on the surface, dust would collect, and whammo, the focus rectifier releases magic smoke.

Cheers,