How about the CTC 48?

[Chad Hauris]

Here is my CTC-48, 1973 model. I rewired the power circuit so the switch shuts off all power rather than having the Instant-on feature. Only thing I don't like is the slide controls, some of the levers have snapped off of them, plus they seem to be more susceptible to intermittents. RCA apparently made the tube type CTC-39 simultaneously in this exact cabinet style, although I have not seen any examples of it

[captainmoody]

I know how you feel Jason, My dad sold off for cheap our RCA CTC 27 portable set just after I repaired some solder connections on it. He was tired of the frequent repairs it needed I guess. He must have thought he should get rid of it before it wouldn't work at all!
I was so mad that he sold that set because it finally made it to my room a few weeks before and I got it going good, Besides with less use as I told him it would hardly need any repairs.
Turns out that he was also afraid I would fall asleep with it on and it would burn down the house, So one day when I came home from school and went in my room I found it was gone and a Sony KV-1210 was in its place! He thought I would be so happy to have his and my mom's old bedroom set! After all as he said, That one has no tubes and has never needed work...Bah!
Yuck! I thanked them for their kind action but started looking for another CTC 27 that week! It took something like 15 years but I found the EXACT model set with stand for 10.00 at an estate sale.
And that one is staying put!

[glen65]

Originally posted by captainmoody
I know how you feel Jason, My dad sold off for cheap our RCA CTC 27 portable set just after I repaired some solder connections on it. He was tired of the frequent repairs it needed I guess. He must have thought he should get rid of it before it wouldn't work at all!
I was so mad that he sold that set because it finally made it to my room a few weeks before and I got it going good, Besides with less use as I told him it would hardly need any repairs.
Turns out that he was also afraid I would fall asleep with it on and it would burn down the house, So one day when I came home from school and went in my room I found it was gone and a Sony KV-1210 was in its place! He thought I would be so happy to have his and my mom's old bedroom set! After all as he said, That one has no tubes and has never needed work...Bah!
Yuck! I thanked them for their kind action but started looking for another CTC 27 that week! It took something like 15 years but I found the EXACT model set with stand for 10.00 at an estate sale.
And that one is staying put!

Thats like having your parents select the stereo for your room when they don't know anything about them.

Originally posted by glen65
Thats like having your parents select the stereo for your room when they don't know anything about them.

Oh yeah. I know the stereo thing too. I inherited a 1968 Philco console stereo. It had a VM turntable and two way speakers. Pretty good, had a little thump to it. The phono broke and the console disappeared and a small tabletop unit was in it's place.

[glen65]

Originally posted by jasonlava
Oh yeah. I know the stereo thing too. I inherited a 1968 Philco console stereo. It had a VM turntable and two way speakers. Pretty good, had a little thump to it. The phono broke and the console disappeared and a small tabletop unit was in it's place.

Yep that's pretty much what usually happens.
Mom will usually give the line.
" But this one fits so much nicer in your room than that other one did"
After excessive use of the main console unit down stairs
dad finally wised up and gave me an upgrade.

Originally posted by captainmoody
Here is a washed out screen shot, The crt is original to the set with a mid 1972 date code and it still reads 9+ on my tester.

What are those two little push buttons under the channel knobs?

I'm trying to remember. I think one's AFC and what's the other one?

[jstout66]

the other one is probably "Accucolor". Rca's early automatic color control system. Mush like Zenith's Chromacolor & Color Sentry.

[captainmoody]

The buttons are aft and acm. We had an accucolor we bought new in '73 when were were living in Tucson. that must have been the CTC 39 chassis in it that Chad was talking about.

[Chad Hauris]

ACM is "Accumatic" used on the solid state sets and some of the tube sets, to set to a pre-set of color, brightness, and contrast, and provide some correction of tint.

Some of the CTC-39's have A/T which is accu-tint, usually a rotary switch in the middle of the control panel, it provides some kind of change in the chroma section to make tint setting less critical...it seems to change the picture to a redder tone.

The Accucolor system was only used on the tube type sets although I am not sure its exact m.o., I don't personally own any sets that are labeled as having it.

Originally posted by Chad Hauris
ACM is "Accumatic" used on the solid state sets and some of the tube sets, to set to a pre-set of color, brightness, and contrast, and provide some correction of tint.

Some of the CTC-39's have A/T which is accu-tint, usually a rotary switch in the middle of the control panel, it provides some kind of change in the chroma section to make tint setting less critical...it seems to change the picture to a redder tone.

The Accucolor system was only used on the tube type sets although I am not sure its exact m.o., I don't personally own any sets that are labeled as having it.

THAT's right!

I remember the AFT button being in and the ACM was always out. If you pushed ACM it was a preset, kinda like today's TVs with different modes (movies, news, sports) I don't use that either. I use a DVD that has test patterns.

[Chad Hauris]

On several of my RCA sets that have the ACM function (and other sets such as motorola with Insta-color, Hitachi APS etc.) I usually use the preset function and set up the service color, tint, etc. controls, as the front panel controls for the functions often have intermittants and the pre-set controls seem to function better.

It is a weird coincidence that the sets with the pre-set functions often have the most problems with the front panel controls, even after they have been cleaned.

Originally posted by Chad Hauris
On several of my RCA sets that have the ACM function (and other sets such as motorola with Insta-color, Hitachi APS etc.) I usually use the preset function and set up the service color, tint, etc. controls, as the front panel controls for the functions often have intermittants and the pre-set controls seem to function better.

It is a weird coincidence that the sets with the pre-set functions often have the most problems with the front panel controls, even after they have been cleaned.

Yeah, I remember the sliders in the tilt-out panel. One of them was broken but you could get it with a toothpick. Yes, they were finicky at the end of the set's life.

I wish I could find one around here in Louisana.

[andy]

I hated how the preset color setting was always wayyyyyyyyy to high. It doesn't seem to matter what brand, they always produced a cartoon like picture when the auto color was turned on. At least most provided some way to readjust the color level.

[captainmoody]

I had to clean and lube those sliders also on my set, They were so bad the color level wouldn't work right except at the high end and the vertical would go nuts when you tap the control.
The sharpness knob was broken off too but I had that in stock and replaced it.
I now have the tv set up as an every day user in my basement.

Originally posted by captainmoody
I had to clean and lube those sliders also on my set, They were so bad the color level wouldn't work right except at the high end and the vertical would go nuts when you tap the control.
The sharpness knob was broken off too but I had that in stock and replaced it.
I now have the tv set up as an every day user in my basement.

Awesome!

So I'm not the only one that remembers these TVs. If I had one it would definitely get overhauled and become a bedroom set.

I bet a great mod would be installing better stereo speakers to replace the dual mono speakers and a small amplifier behind it and it can become a neat vintage TV for DVD watching with good sound built in.