Detroit CL

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

This one was just posted -67 RCA
http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/atq/1526404130.html

[DaveWM]

I would be all over that if it was within a day trip distance.

[Robert Grant]

What a strange coincidence.

I was watching the beginning of "Apollo 13" (the motion picture drama) yesterday, thinking the TV that people are watching at a party looks a little like the CTC-38 I knew long ago, but not the same.

Now I see this set posted here - it looks *identical* to the set in "Apollo 13", certainly the front section (CRT, knobs, grille) is identical, if not the cabinet as well.

[jpdylon]

I just got that exact model set last week at a thrift store ewaste pile. Has a CTC-28a chassis. Mine unfortunately is missing the control door.

[Carmine]

That's a high-rent district!

Speaking of the Detroit area, did anybody get that Zenith hybrid that was around 8 Mile and Grosebeck? I was going to, but got busy with other stuff. Now the ad is expired.

[Jeffhs]

I don't know if any of you noticed on that RCA (although it would be difficult not to), but there is a huge cataract on the CRT. I don't know what else may or may not be wrong with the set, but because of the CRT damage it will need a new tube before it has even a chance of working again. I couldn't tell for certain from the photo of the rear of the set (the picture is too small and cannot be enlarged), but it almost looks as if the CRT neck has been broken or snapped off as well, which may account for the so-called "cataract" on the screen (if the neck was broken off and air got into the tube, what we may be seeing could well be a huge portion of the screen where the phosphors were literally blown away). As I said, whatever else may be wrong with this TV is anyone's guess, as the seller isn't saying anything in the item description as to the set's operating condition except "Tube isn't working."

Oh well. At least the seller stated that all the components are there so, if nothing else, this TV could be used as a donor set to repair another vintage set. On the other hand, if all that's wrong with the set is the broken CRT, a new tube may well bring it back to past glory. From what I've read here about this particular model, it was a good set in its day and can be again, with a new CRT, a recap and a good cleaning of the controls. Set the tuner on channel 3 or 4 to receive the output of a converter or cable box, and you will have a fine working vintage TV.

BTW, one nice bonus you get when you use a cable box or DTV converter with an older set is remote control, even if the TV did not have such as standard equipment, as almost all of these boxes made in the last 10 years or so have remotes. The remote will operate the basic functions of the box (which almost always has a switched outlet for the TV), such as channel up and down, volume up and down, mute, and power on/off switching, which is really all that's needed 99 percent of the time; modern TVs (to say nothing of today's TV broadcast signals) are so stable that the color controls on the TV usually need to be set only once, then they can be forgotten. Sylvania's GT-Matic color consoles of the 1960s had the color controls behind a locked door on the front of the set. The owner held the key; the color controls were set to the owner's personal preferences, then the control door was locked and forgotten. Charles (kx250rider) here on VK has a Kaye-Halbert set in a white painted cabinet that has only the volume and contrast controls and the channel selector on the front panel; the other controls are all on the rear apron of the chassis. K-H's design engineers must have thought these TVs would be so stable that the vertical and horizontal hold adjustments, to say nothing of the brightness control, would not require much adjustment after the set was installed, so they put the former three controls out of sight on the rear of the chassis. Was K-H the only television manufacturer in the '50s, or at any time during television's tube era, that designed their sets this way?

Note as well that most TVs made in the last 15 years or so have almost all the service adjustments hidden in software menus, so that curious set owners cannot alter the settings and cause serious damage to the set. My RCA CTC185, for example, has only two controls on the rear panel: the screen (G2) control and, IIRC, the focus control. However, these controls are recessed into the back and require a special tool to be adjusted, so set owners could not adjust them even if they wanted to; however, the TV can be seriously damaged if anything made of any conductive material is inserted into these holes. I have heard of new TVs with this type of control that are brought in for service because someone mistook these controls for A/V or video-game input jacks, and tried to plug an RCA pin plug into one or more of them. The result is almost always that the center pin will short some high-voltage point to ground, causing severe damage to the set--to say nothing of whatever the other end of the cable is connected to.

The rest of the service adjustments are in on-screen menus, or consist of a row of numbers across the center of the screen (the latter being the case in my CTC185 and possibly other recent-vintage RCA CRT TVs), that can be accessed only by means of a special sequence of front-panel or remote keystrokes generally only known to service technicians. This is also to keep curious people from fiddling with the settings and possibly (even likely) causing costly damage to the set. I read somewhere that even new flat-panel HDTVs installed in motels and hotels are configured when they are installed such that the color controls, etc. are absolutely inaccessible to guests of the establishments. The only adjustments that are readily accessible to the guests are volume +/-, channel +/-, on-off, and mute. The remotes are probably set up the same way, with the color, brightness, etc. control buttons (if any) disabled or taped off, or the sets having been ordered from the factory specifying bare-minimum remotes. About ten years ago, before I moved into my apartment, I stayed in a motel that had Zenith CRT TVs in the rooms, including the one in which I was staying at the time; the remotes were Zenith's "Concierge" series, which had only on/off, channel +/-, volume +/-, mute, and a button to access the sleep timer, nothing more. The control buttons on the set itself duplicated those on the remote, but I think the "menu" button may well have been disabled to prevent guests from altering the color controls. Today, that motel probably has flat panel HDTVs in every room, and the menu button has likely been locked out as well--with the remotes being bare-minimum ones.

[zenithfan1]

I think it's only a cataract, not a broken neck. The socket looks to be plugged into the end of the CRT where it goes. A "blow hole" looks more like a big hole in the center of the tube more than around the sides. Cataract removal isn't too much trouble. If the tube checks good, it's worth the effort. I'd definitely grab it if I were in driving distance.

[andy]

000

[radiotvnut]

And, there are probably more color TV's from the '60's in unrestored condition that suffer from cataracts than not.

[drh4683]

CRT is good, its just cataracts. Yes, the worse the cataracts, the easier the lens removal job. What is this one, a ctc-28? Someone going to save it?

[matt_s78mn]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I don't know if any of you noticed on that RCA (although it would be difficult not to), but there is a huge cataract on the CRT. I don't know what else may or may not be wrong with the set, but because of the CRT damage it will need a new tube before it has even a chance of working again. I couldn't tell for certain from the photo of the rear of the set (the picture is too small and cannot be enlarged), but it almost looks as if the CRT neck has been broken or snapped off as well, which may account for the so-called "cataract" on the screen (if the neck was broken off and air got into the tube, what we may be seeing could well be a huge portion of the screen where the phosphors were literally blown away). As I said, whatever else may be wrong with this TV is anyone's guess, as the seller isn't saying anything in the item description as to the set's operating condition except "Tube isn't working."

There is plenty of good information in this forum about cataract removal for anyone ambitious enough to try it. Also I think drh4683 might have some youtube videos describing the process. Anyway if someone on here gets this set I've got a good spare crt with no cataracts that I would part with.

[bgadow]

I never realized how many chassis' got that control panel. When I saw that movie I figured it was a CTC-40, since they used one like that too.

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

Originally Posted by drh4683

CRT is good, its just cataracts. Yes, the worse the cataracts, the easier the lens removal job. What is this one, a ctc-28? Someone going to save it?

I will be in that area doing a trade but probably drive right near it, but I am passing on it myself.