RCA Model 2000 TV on Craigslist in S.F. Bay Area
 

I have no affiliation with this ad.

RCA Model 2000 Color TV from 1969 -- Very rare! Only 2,000 ever made! - $180 (campbell)

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/atq/2479085280.html

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The set is back, at the same price:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/atq/2501580100.html

This set is not at all my style, and I don't have the room anyway, but I know others here have lusted after these. In fact, I remember a big angry discussion about one that got dismantled in the Midwest about a year ago. I hope someone is able to pick this one up.

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This TV is over 3000 miles from me (I live in northeastern Ohio), and I don't have room for anything that big either. It may have been a very big deal in 1969, but today most people wouldn't get so excited over it since nowadays all TVs have electronic tuning (VHF, UHF and cable), signal search tuning, remote control, and everything the G-2000 had. Plus, today's TVs put all the G2000's features, and more besides (including remote control, which this set did not have), in a set that fits in a table model cabinet, unattractive as today's cabinets may be.

I don't know if this set is still working after 42 years. However, even if it powers up and makes a raster, the chances are it will have most of the troubles associated with any TV made over four decades ago, including rotting wiring, defective capacitors, etc. This TV will require a full recap and probably rewiring before its new owner can even think of using it as a daily watcher. Plus, of course, this set will not work with today's ATSC digital television signals unless a converter box (if such can even be found anymore, over two years after the DTV transition) is used ahead of the TV's own tuner. This, of course, will render the G2000's search tuning unusable, as the TV itself gets set on channel 3 or 4 (whichever is not used for telecasting in the owner's area) when a converter is in use, and all tuning is done at the latter. The converter box will have its own remote anyway, so even though the G2000 does not have its own remote, the use of the box will convert the set to basic remote control of all functions (channel +/-, volume +/-, power on-off) except mute.

Jeffhs, I must say that I wonder if you understand the purpose of VK.

Just my 2 cents here, but...

The G2000 in question was a milestone in tv technology in its day. I personally know of about 12, now 13 in existence. The fact that this set was $2000 in '69 meant that only people with lot's of bucks could have afforded one as of 2010 dollars it would have been $11,757.74 which few if any would spend that kind of money on ANY modern tv for personal use. Also there are serious questions as to whether 2000 were actually made.

In my humble opinion, the comparison of a set like the G2000 to today's crap is ludicrous at best. No tv of this vintage can possibly compare to the features offered with today's plastic pig, junk sets. But I can almost guarantee that virtually none of these sets will be found 42 years from now unless new in the box from some closed down factory or in a landfill. Even if you did find a few, they would probably need a converter to use them as 42 years would have passed and the government probably would have changed the standard.

I am fortunate enough to have a pair of these sets and the matching stereo. Yes, I have replaced electrolytics....kind of a no brainer with tv's of this vintage. But the last time I checked, most of us in this forum did our best to preserve and restore sets like this....I could be mistaken, but that is what I thought VK was all about. Even roundies are still daily watchers for many of us.

So yes, they do work and they have incredibly good pictures that, in my opinion, rival any of my CCII tv's. Oh and just for the record, Ohio is around 2600 miles away from San Fran and the G2000 DOES have a factory remote.

As far as not being able to use the electronic tuner, yes I will probably keep these on channel 3. But I do plan to put together and in house OTA system to use these sets as intended. However, I fail to see how this diminishes what the sets were and are. A '69 Camaro is nothing technologically to today's Camaro....you even have to add lead substitute just to run it on today's gas (almost like a dtv converter...hmm) but that doesn't diminish what the '69 Camaro was and is.....a kick ass car and this is a kick ass tv.

If I had the time and funds to get out there, I would have three in my collection.

well poo poo

2 KV-3000R's and a G2000 for sale in the last month - and all 3 are thousands of miles from me

Could not have said it better. I also own two of them, and when time and finances permit--they will be restored too. And if this one was closer---I TOO would want it, after all--my screenname, which I use for a LOT of sites, not just this one...comes from this set!!

Hmm, 820 miles round trip, divided by 20 MPG at best in my "new to me" 96 Aerostar Van = $160 give or take for gas, plus the $180 for the set.

I'd be tempted still but the long drive is really a turn off, that and the "Room" factor, of which I have none left.

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For RCA2000 and RCAkid:

The point I was trying to make in my post was and is that, after 42 years, an RCA G2000 TV, like any other set made over four decades ago, will not work as well as it did when new unless it is properly restored, meaning recapping and probably rewiring, not to mention a new CRT, since the original is probably so weak by now as to be unusable. If an unrestored set this old, RCA's G2000 or any other, were to be plugged in and powered on, the chances are very good that the power transformer, to say nothing of other parts of the power supply if not the rest of the set, would go up in smoke after the filter capacitors shorted, which they probably would (if they weren't shorted to begin with).

I did not realize that the G2000 already had a remote. I didn't see one with the set when I looked at the photos, so I thought (wrongly, as it turned out) that this series did not have a factory-installed remote control unit.

I would not have said what I said about the G2000 failing to operate properly with today's ATSC digital TV signals if it were not true. This set's search tuning was designed to operate with NTSC television signals, so if it were hooked up to an antenna and the channel up or down scan button pressed, the VHF tuner would scan through the channels forever because there would be nothing to lock on to. This is why I said that, to work with today's ATSC TV signals, the set's digital tuner would have to be set on channel 3 or 4 and left there to receive the output of an ATSC->NTSC converter box. (Think of the old UHF television converters which had outputs on VHF channels 5 or 6 -- same principle.) The use of an ATSC->NTSC converter box ahead of the TV's NTSC tuner, of course, renders the set's search/scan tuning unusable, as all channel tuning is now done at the converter box or with its own remote.

Well Jeffhs....you confuse the crap out of me. NOTHING prior to the year 2000 will work over the air. The will require a converter box. So DUH! A set from '69 will work no better OTA organically than my 2003 JVC D Series will. But with a few transmitters, that can be remedied and the sets can still perform as intended. The fact that no early tv can work as it was intended since the DTV conversion stinks. But the fact that the G2000 with it's CTC-47 chassis was capable of electronic tuning was, especially for '69, a big thing. The fact that there were no tubes in the set beyond the CRT was huge! As you know RCA fell back to the CTC-40 which still had a HV tube. And the fact that the picture of a G2000 looks as good, if not a bit better in some cases as my JVC D-Series is pretty mind blowing.

The issue here is the dismissal of the G2000. Now I have no idea how this set has been treated or the environment it has endured. But I suspect that she is not in all that bad of shape either. The original point you laid out, to me anyway, is basically why would anyone want this set and it won't perform like today's tv's.

It is a no brainer that NO vintage tv is going to perform as it did when new without restoration. Even the best CCII or System 3 with it's programmable tuner will not function any better in today's world. The most expensive and best NTSC set in the world won't function OTA today even with all of its computerized tuning capabilities. So the comparisons with today's tv's still alludes me other than to dismiss a set that was significant for its day.

Your original arguments are akin to saying that the CT-100 just isn't going to perform as well as today's sets and you won't be able to use them on anything but channel 3 or 4. Does that make the CT-100 a piece of junk? No....it is what it is, a piece of tv history. Although the G2000 and CT-100 don't come close to occupying the same status.....the G2000 shouldn't be dismissed as just another BPC tv either. This is the impression I have taken away from your comments. If misunderstood, I am always open to being enlightened.

Your arguments about capacitors and crt's and such are valid for ANY vintage tv. However, I would like to point out that both my G2000 sets have their original CRT's. One of the G's was a daily watcher up until 4 years ago....it's CRT is still quite strong, but compared to my other G, which was never owned and brand new, there is a definite difference in the picture quality, but it is not that significant and still as clean and clear as a CTC-16 picture.

If you don't like the G2000, just say so. I understand that. Not everyone likes the Eames era styling. Many don't like the Avanti either...but, like the G, it looks pretty damn awesome.

As I said before, if I could save this sweet ol gal, I would in a heartbeat. These were special and there aren't many of them out there. I dare say that there are probably far fewer than the CT-100 and there aren't a heck of a lot of those and I would be proud to have both in my collection.

Cool set! I have never seen one. Couple of questions:
1. Do the doors push back into the cabinet when open?
2. What is the logic used; TTL, RTL, early microprocessor or what ?
jr

Found this on perhaps the earliest micro-P... the 4004 in 1971:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_4004
So this TV was really leading edge technology....amazing!

I think it is TTL type logic, I know there is a quad NAND chip in the control ckt. for the tuner. A 7400 series or such. The tuner control has to have 5V. ALL of the time--to work. no MPU--just SSI chips, diodes and transistors.

BTW--the smoked doors DO fold back into the sides of the set.

It's amazing what you can do with basic IC chips and components. IIRC, there is one guy out there that made a computer based entirely on 7400 series TTL IC's and even hosts a webiste on it.

As to digital converter boxes, I still see them at Radio Shack, I think they are the Data Stream model, IIRC.