RCA Stereo Roundie near Boston but for a price.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by compucat

The TV looks like it might be independent of the stereo as far as controls go. It looks like the same control panel layout as the set would have if it were not a combo. Were any made this way where the TV and stereo simply share a cabinet or does the TV use the stereo chassis for audio? At the very least there should be some kind of selector to prevent having the TV and radio on at the same time.

It looks very much like my CTC16 combo. As sampson159 said, the amplifier is solid state, and the sound system is independent from the TV's audio section. The selector does not allow the TV to be on at the same time as the stereo system. If I had owned my unit in the early days of music videos (1982-85), I would have modified it to allow simultaneous use. The NBC network had a TV show called Friday Night Videos, with stereo sound on a local FM radio station. These combos would have been great for videos with nice stereo audio, all in one "box".

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

...the sound system is independent from the TV's audio section. The selector does not allow the TV to be on at the same time as the stereo system. If I had owned my unit in the early days of music videos (1982-85), I would have modified it to allow simultaneous use. The NBC network had a TV show called Friday Night Videos, with stereo sound on a local FM radio station.

I remember Friday Night Videos on NBC, but never knew until now that the audio was also simulcast over local FM radio. I don't remember seeing anything in the local newspaper, TV listings, etc. at the time as to which of the 20 or so Cleveland FM stations was carrying the show's sound track. Was this done nationally, or only in cities with NBC owned and operated TV stations? If the latter, I am surprised that nothing was ever said about FNV's stereo FM simulcast (that I was ever aware of, anyway) in the Cleveland area, as the NBC-TV affiliate there (WKYC-TV channel 3) was owned and operated by NBC at the time.

Seeing the picture of the RCA TV/stereo combo being discussed here brought back memories for me, as one of my great-uncles had a console exactly like the one shown on CL. The television chassis developed serious problems, however, some years later (I don't know exactly when), so he just took out the old chassis and installed a new (at that time) Emerson 19" table model in its place. Another of my great-uncles had an RCA console with the same chassis; when its TV died, he just took it out of the cabinet and installed a new (at that time) Zenith color table model in place of it. In both cases the jobs had been done so well, IMHO, that anyone would have been hard-pressed to tell these were custom installations.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I remember Friday Night Videos on NBC, but never knew until now that the audio was also simulcast over local FM radio. I don't remember seeing anything in the local newspaper, TV listings, etc. at the time as to which of the 20 or so Cleveland FM stations was carrying the show's sound track. Was this done nationally, or only in cities with NBC owned and operated TV stations? If the latter, I am surprised that nothing was ever said about FNV's stereo FM simulcast (that I was ever aware of, anyway) in the Cleveland area, as the NBC-TV affiliate there (WKYC-TV channel 3) was owned and operated by NBC at the time.

It was probably available around the country, but I don't remember how it was publicized at the time. I do know that the FM station in Chicago that had the Friday Night Videos stereo audio was the NBC-owned rock station there, so maybe having the radio station owned by NBC was the key to simulcast availability.

One interesting side note about the simulcasts is that a rival FM rock station in Chicago bought commercials on the NBC TV station during the show, so their commercial's audio was played on the competing station. Soon after, the station with the simulcast was ready for this, and when the commercial came on, they dubbed in their own parody audio for the commercial, with things like a toilet flushing when the competitor's logo came on screen.

I still have several Beta Hi-Fi tapes of those music videos, including a couple of complete Friday Night Videos shows. They would be fun to pull out and play if I get a Beta VCR hooked up again.