RCA 630TS from ebay, first impressions

[Jonathan]

Well, I get it in a big box. According to the fedex packing slip, everything weights about 110lbs. So I open it up and put it in the garage. The next day I dissasemble the cabinet. I remove the top, then the bezel. I remove the 10BP4, then remove the knobs and the chassis. I then tested the CRT in the Air King A1000 chassis (630TS clone) and the filament lit, but I got no picture despite how I positioned the ion trap. The plastic cap is loose. I forget how to tell if it lost it's vacuum, but it probably did. No worries, because the Air King had an RCA 10BP4 that works. Who can repair this dead 10BP4 that I have?

I then blew out the dust, fuzz, and spider wens from inside the cabinet and the chassis. I then cleaned the cabinet, inside and out to remove the dirt. It will definately require a bit of touchup, but it's in really good shape.

As for the chassis, it's complete, not missing any parts. It has an ion trap that consists of two electromagnets. The way it was held onto the neck of the CRT, something tells me it's going to be a pain to adjust. The one made of the perminant magnets in the Air King is easy to adjust.

With this set I'll take my time and take extra care so I don't make any wiring mistakes. Because I worked so hard on the Air King chassis, I think I'm going to keep it.

Also, the front bezel of it had a piece of glass covering it. Is this normal? The ones I've seen on the net never had this, like the one on Steve McVoy's website.

Thanks.

Jonathan