No more missing rca model tags! A solution!

[drh4683]

As some of you know, missing model tags on any TV is a major pet peeve of mine, perhaps yours as well. Particularly on RCA's because it It seems that most RCA TV's of the 60's-70's have missing model tags, making it impossible to get information (later models starting around '73, RCA also put an identical model tag on the chassis making the missing back cover tag not as serious). Reproducing model tags for TV's certainly won't be profitable as reproduction decals etc. for classic cars, but somebody has to do it. Its all about making an incomplete TV correct and satisfying my annoyance of missing data and information. The '69 RCA CTC-38 I just picked up was the straw that broke the camels back, so its time I solve the missing model tag problem. I normally can determine the model by looking in brochures (if Im lucky enough to have one for the model year), then service manuals by matching chassis with the proper UHF and VHF tuner arrangement including the CRT size. Either way, I hate looking at the back of the TV only to see remains of a ripped off model tag. Today I decided to correct the problem and create a reproduction RCA model tag. I actually had some time to kill after work and stayed late so I could create a tag using AutoCAD, which is by far the best program ever created for designing anything you want. I use cad everyday at work, so it was no big deal to create this. I carefully took a model tag off another TV so I could take exact dimensions of the placement and height of the text. I have about 100 different font styles to choose from on cad, so I just experimented until I found the closest match to the original tag font. I attached a jpeg image of the RCA logo onto cad model space and then traced it and hatched it and made it into a block then scaled it to the size to the one on the original tag (for those who know cad, thats how I got the RCA logo so I wouldn't have to free hand draw it). It worked quite well. Its now saved as a cad file, and a replacement model tag can now be made in seconds and printed to 1:1 scale on a sheet of 8.5x11, or even poster board if you want to make it just like the real thing. The serial number font is not exact but very close for all practical purposes. Simply open up the file, and override the old text and type in the new. Its easy to get the serial numbers, which must match the back cover tag. Serial numbers on RCA are easy to spot as they are tagged on the CRT and also the chassis. If the CRT was replaced, the tag will be gone, but the serial tag on the chassis is most always present. The attached image shows the original tag from a 1970 model RCA, the reproduction of that tag which is used as the seed drawing, and then the new model tag for the '69 table set. I'll also make a tag for older "RCA VICTOR" models as well as the tag style changed to the block format in 1968/69.