Picked up an RCA CTC97 - Videokarma.org TV - Video

zenith2134 · #1 12-06-2007, 07:54 PM

Found an ultra-clean ctc-97 set from April, 1980 in a thrift shop today. Its an XL-100. Has the ChanneLock Remote with 4-buttons, Volume up/down and channel up/down. Interestingly, Volume down turns power off on both the set and the remote. Seems like a cost-cutting move, no? Inside though, the set is solid as a rock: Metal chassis and plenty of heatsinking.

This model has an LED readout, so no OSD for the channel, but it doesn't matter for me since I have it on channel 3 permanently and use my DTV box channels.

Let me tell you, I am very happy my wega went this week, because this RCA has a great picture! Paid em 10 bux for it, because he was very proud that it was built in Indiana and I was impressed by that. Just wanted to share.

In these pictures, notice how the RCA logo with the Nipper dog is still used... seems strange because every other rca I had from the later 70s/early 80s never had this. Excuse the bad camera quality, the raster is a hell of a lot better than that, perfect focus.

radiotvnut · #2 12-06-2007, 09:14 PM

That tube looks to be in good shape. That's rare for the later delta gun RCA's. I wonder if it's the original. I'll bet the remote is an ultrasonic type. I've seen several 19" RCA's from this time period that the volume up turned it on and volume down turned it off.

What happened to your WEGA? Bad flyback of CRT, I bet!

radiotvnut · #3 12-06-2007, 09:16 PM

Wait a minute. The 97 is not a delta gun. Isn't that a single board 19" chassis with all the metal frame around it?

zenith2134 · #4 12-06-2007, 10:03 PM

Yes unfortunately its singleboard with tuner module and control module to the left; and HV assembly/fly to the right(as usual) with metal frame around the whole thing.

Too bad it ain't a delta set.

The WEGA originally was going into IK shutdown, so I jacked up the G2 voltage a tad and it stayed alive for the last couple of months.

Until the other morning. I turned it on to discover the blue was GONE. I opened it up, tried tapping the neck for shorts, but it appeared that the blue was totally blown. Just a piece of crap IMO, I am actually kinda satisfied that its gone.

zenith2134 · #5 12-06-2007, 10:08 PM

Yes the remote is ultrasonic alright. Here it is.

radiotvnut · #6 12-06-2007, 10:27 PM

You were very lucky to get the remote. I almost never get the remotes for newer set's, let alone set's this old.

I've got a 27" wega that will probably get tossed. It plays; but, the picture has "snow" artifacts in it. I would have swore the tuner was bad; but, it does the same thing with the A/V inputs. I could spend $25 on a Sams and who knows what on parts; but, I probably couldn't get my investment.

Anyway, hang on to the RCA. It's a better set than that Sony ever thought about being.

zenith2134 · #7 12-06-2007, 10:41 PM

Radiotvnut, I couldn't agree more.

The weird thing about this RCA is that the fleshtones look greenish at times. Some scenes it looks nice some scenes (Like Letterman which is on now) it has a greenish facial tone to it.

I cleaned and readjusted the rgb bias this afternoon when I got it home, and it has a perfect b&w pic, and I just did the drives (only R&G on this set) and it has perfect whites. I dunno why it wouldnt be fine at this point, I adjusted contr/brightness/color/tint at exactly half too. Looks great 90% of the time.

MRX37 · #8 12-06-2007, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Radiotvnut, I couldn't agree more.

The weird thing about this RCA is that the fleshtones look greenish at times. Some scenes it looks nice some scenes (Like Letterman which is on now) it has a greenish facial tone to it.

I cleaned and readjusted the rgb bias this afternoon when I got it home, and it has a perfect b&w pic, and I just did the drives (only R&G on this set) and it has perfect whites. I dunno why it wouldnt be fine at this point, I adjusted contr/brightness/color/tint at exactly half too. Looks great 90% of the time.

I had an RCA from 1978 with a weird feature. It had a light sensor located under the speaker. Covering it made the picture get dimmer, and sometimes there would be a slight greenish hue.

zenith2134 · #9 12-06-2007, 10:51 PM

Had a colortrak with the photocell too.. same thing it made the pic tinted. This one doesn't have it (that I can see)

vintagecollect · #10 12-07-2007, 11:51 AM

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bgadow · #11 12-07-2007, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenith2134

In these pictures, notice how the RCA logo with the Nipper dog is still used... seems strange because every other rca I had from the later 70s/early 80s never had this.

It seems this got reintroduced in the late 70s or so, and maybe was used into the mid-80s?

I've always seen these as being a solid bet. I remember many moons ago being sent out to find a good used tv for my sister's dorm room, and coming up with a similiar model RCA. Back in '92 that was a $100 tv at a used furniture store, and not a bad deal. She got a lot of life out of that set.

Chad Hauris · #12 12-07-2007, 06:02 PM

There is a little bit of info here about the Nipper dog trademark re-introduction.
http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html#oneeleven

It seems like for some reason RCA chose to discontinue Nipper a few years after his re-introduction because the Nipper trademark is owned by other companies in other countries (such as EMI or JVC) and RCA could not market products bearing the Nipper trademark abroad. This may not be exactly right but I know it had to do with the difference in the trademark's ownership in other countries.

zenith2134 · #13 12-07-2007, 07:13 PM

Interesting info, thanks guys

wa2ise · #14 12-08-2007, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Yes the remote is ultrasonic alright.

I used to work at the old RCA Sarnoff Lab, back when RCA was a real company. Anyway, I know the guy who developed the more modern IR remote, the one using a small microprocessor to create and transmit IR pulse codes. There was an alternate design done by some people at RCA's Indy design center, but that was using various analog audio and supersonic frequencies that would in turn modulate the IR emitter. Vaguely like a telephone touchtone DTMF system. Arguements over which design to go into production with iwent on. The indy guys decided to have a "shoot out" of the two systems (pairs of TVs and remotes, one using the micro, the other the analog scheme) in the parking lot on a sunny day. The guy I know said that neighter would work, but his did work flawlessly, while the analog one was going nuts, constantly flipping channels and cranking the volume up and down. And it turned out the micro version would cost less to produce...

KentTeffeteller · #15 12-08-2007, 09:03 PM

Hi,

RCA's better sets and the Zenith ChromaColor II sets are the pinnacle of American Color TV design. Well made in the USA and an era of quality build and picture we'll never likely see again. I love these sets as durable daily watchers. They make nice pictures even with Digital HD converter boxes.