My RCA CTC 185A7 I mentioned in an earlier post has almost eight years on it; it still makes a very good picture. Only had it repaired once, for a problem with the antenna/cable connector (snapped off the tuner PC board). Other than that, the set hasn't been serviced, and is as stable as anything as far as color settings go (I haven't had to adjust the on-screen color controls for years--the auto-color system in this set is great). I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever with the on-board tuner, probably because the technician who repaired the RF port also resoldered the ground points around the tuner while he was at it. The only other problem with this TV, if you can call it a problem (I don't, because the picture is still as good as the day I bought the set), is that the jungle IC has some kind of defect, as the technician who last serviced the set told me. I don't know if it's in the color control section of the chip or what
but whatever and wherever it is, it doesn't seem to have much effect on the picture--perhaps because I have used the TV exclusively on cable since it was new (rabbit ears don't work very well in my area, a small town over 30 miles east of Cleveland). The cable signal is probably so strong that the TV's AGC circuitry might be compensating for the fault in the jungle IC.