NICE RCA CTC-40 combo!!

[JB5pro]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Pffft. Mostly, folks were not seeking the knowledge of embracing mankind before or after 1968. Don't idealize past times too much - there was as much crap going on then as there is now. There were bills, sickness, war, mortgages, love, hate, politics, good and evil, Bohemians and yuppies, straights and gays, peacemakers and hustlers...nothing has changed fundamentally. Just the styles and technology.

Personally, I admire they style and quality of the products from days gone by, but they were no indicator of an easier idyllic life. Don't get too wrapped up in it.

I think you make a very good point and I believe you are correct. I think what I was trying to say is that it seems as though a greater percentage of the population then were trying to do the right things by everybody as opposed to today's population seems to be more selfish than good for all. That is what it seems to be based on all that is in the media today versus all I can find that was in the media then. Also, I think many others would agree that the greatest generation of people were those who were adults in the '30's and '40's like all those that fought in WWII, etc. I know great people existed throughout all times including today but I am thinking in terms of what era had the highest percentage of people that were trying to become educated to do right by all. I certainly intend no offense to anybody. I intend compliments to all that deserve such. With that said I do think greater times could happen soon enough for all of us to experience and a site like Videokarma.org is helping in my humble opinion.
Thanks,
John

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

I have lived through 4 decades now and all had strengths and weaknesses, as far as products go this era of today likes purchasing cheap and have "new" replacements. Probably by going from manufacturing based society to service based society we have weakened ourselves a bit. Manufacturing was the strong point of this country, now we tend to sell out heritage and "take the money and run". Actually I think manufacturing will make a big comeback, in the 70's 80's driving a car was like driving a luxury recliner on wheels, today the interiors of cars look like an igloo cooler from the taxi cab/police car versions or the European style econo box vehicles. I think everything (including tv) cycles just like the weather. Speaking with a fellow from London he said European cars are considered junk there as to American cars, he said European styling in America still isnt as junky and cheap as the real deal overseas and is not even similar in quality. He said he chuckles at the American fabricated term "European Styling" he said most Europeans dont like their products over there. I think we are still doing good myself.

[andy]

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[AUdubon5425]

I am VERY familiar with the large cars of the 70's and 80's. Top Gear once tested an '88 Town Car to demonstrate the horrors of American cars of the 1970's. To accentuate their point they were driving on collapsed shocks. So it made for a good story but I would hardly take them seriously, especially after seeing that.

It was akin to test driving an old MG with the choke knob left out and proclaiming what a smoky sputtering POS it is.

[andy]

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[ha1156w]

I have kind of a theory on that choice of colors (yellow/orange/avacado/purple). LSD. Lots of it. Remember this was the Pink Floyd/Jimi Hendrix psychadelic era when everyone was imbibing in chemical experimentation. The decorators of the era were trying to "release their creativity" with every kind of pill they could get their hands on! So I'm told, when you're on LSD, everything is an "acid" color -- neon pink, orange, lemon yellow, fuscia green, intense orange-purples. Everyone latched on to it like lemmings.

I just bought a 1951 Truetone radio bakelite AM/FM at an estate sale that had been "Acidized" with a "groovy" orange/yellow/purple/pink striped grille cloth and purple-painted pilot lamps. Still trying to find a more appropriate fabric for the grille after reviving the electronics LOL

KX250: I had no clue they made diesels in that body style. I remember seeing the NUMMI Novas as hatchbacks but very few Corollas in the south. How long until Toyota gave up on Diesel in the US?

Originally Posted by DaveWM

The 70's were a very strange time for style from hair to clothes (double knit polyester leisure suites), and of coure kitchen furnishing (avocado green, orange tiles, lemon walls) and carpet (shag).

The funny thing was there was such uniformity in taste (everybody wore the same dumb outfits, the same hair etc...)

Of course today is no differnt in many regards to odd (too me)styles (low baggy pants, multicolor hair, body art) but it does seem more variety is used in expressing ones self.

I am sure that 40 years from now people will be asking young people today to explain the styles of today as well.

Personally I like the 40's and 50's the best, at least from the way people dressed and groomed themselves. This is my take from someone that lived the 70's as a young person, and I really cant explain the style of the time other than to say that eveyone was doing it.

Also the views of the vietnam war and the idea of women wanting more than just being homemakers had a lot to do with changing attitudes that exploded in the 70's

watch an eposide of Mike Hammer or Leave it to Beaver. I love the way everyone dressed and the homes and cars etc.. of that time (mid to late 50's)

I do know that there was a revolution taking place in the youth culture and the womens movement that I think drove change for the sake of change, just to be able to say look how we are rejecting the past.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Pffft. Mostly, folks were not seeking the knowledge of embracing mankind before or after 1968. Don't idealize past times too much - there was as much crap going on then as there is now. There were bills, sickness, war, mortgages, love, hate, politics, good and evil, Bohemians and yuppies, straights and gays, peacemakers and hustlers...nothing has changed fundamentally. Just the styles and technology.

Personally, I admire they style and quality of the products from days gone by, but they were no indicator of an easier idyllic life. Don't get too wrapped up in it.

I agree 100 percent. The present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are the 21st century equivalents of the Viet Nam war, we still have drug problems today (good grief, even marijuana is making a comeback), et al...in short, forty years later, I swear the '70s are coming back to haunt us. I grew up in the late '60s-'70s but am glad I can't go back, and frankly, I wouldn't want to even if I could. Too much bad stuff going on in my life at the time, especially between mid-1972 and mid-1975 (long story and OT). By 1976 things were getting better for me, but still, I'm glad I can't go back to that era. It wasn't all bad (one bright spot of the mid-1970s was the Bicentennial celebration in 1976), but the world still had problems, as it does today and as it always will.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I agree 100 percent. The present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are the 21st century equivalents of the Viet Nam war, we still have drug problems today (good grief, even marijuana is making a comeback), et al...in short, forty years later, I swear the '70s are coming back to haunt us. I grew up in the late '60s-'70s but am glad I can't go back, and frankly, I wouldn't want to even if I could. Too much bad stuff going on in my life at the time, especially between mid-1972 and mid-1975 (long story and OT). By 1976 things were getting better for me, but still, I'm glad I can't go back to that era. It wasn't all bad (one bright spot of the mid-1970s was the Bicentennial celebration in 1976), but the world still had problems, as it does today and as it always will.

I wouldn't mind going back if I could bum around and cruise on Route 66 and so on. I'd love to take my VCR (and a boatload of tapes), a camcorder, my digital camera and laptop and start snapping pics and tape TV programs. B-) I know we had a lot of problems then.

As to the 1970's, I was a kid then, the BiCentennial had a special place in my heart, 1976 was a tough year for me, I was 9 going onto 10, my parents divorced and I almost flunked third grade had it not been for a good teacher and my mother working with me to get over that. The celebration was like a vacation in my mind from those problems.

Hmmm, you got a good point there, it seems like we have been tossed back into the 1970's with all the events going on today, heck, Jerry Brown is running for governor of California, if he wins, I wonder if Linda Ronstadt will be the new first lady of the state.

We did have a local fast foodchain called "Winkys" in the Pittsburgh area, I'd love to go back and down a few "Great Ones" and "Big Winks" though.

[RCAkid]

Returning this thread to its original topic......I BROUGHT HER HOME TODAY!

The fellow that sold it to me had the stereo playing when I picked it up. Man that thing sounded great even in his garage. A bit of cataracting on the crt but the tv does indeed work. CRT looks like it may be a little tired but hey, it is a CTC-40 and she is home!!!!!

[peverett]

I would have to agree with Andy about cars. I lived through the 1970s and can repeat horror stories from the that era about all of the American brands. For example-a friend of mine had a 1970s GM car where the crankshaft in the engine broke in half at 20,000, miles-GM would only pay half of the repair. My sister and another friend had other GM cars-the door handles came out of the doors and the headliners fell down with in two years. I, myself have a 1978 Ford Mustang II(It goes to car shows now and wins all the time as there are so few of these left). It came from the factory with a bent rear axle, the water pump had to be replaced at 45000 miles, and the transmission coolant lines were incorrectly routed and crushed requiring a transmission re-build at about 50,000 miles. Once I got all the poor initial quality items fixed, it was ok(headliner and door handles still in after 32 years) until the radiator clogged up after many years and overheated the engine. I say ok, but it is a 1970s V8 with carb, so gas mileage is nothing compared to cars now. Another example is a friend of mine that had a Dodge-pulleys started falling off the engine before 50,000 miles. This is how Toyota and Honda got their start-this stuff did not happen to their cars in the 1970s.

The only area that I can say that 1970s cars are better than cars now is in the hubcaps. The metal ones used then last forever-the plastic ones used now are crap.

[zenithfan1]

Returning to the original topic, again I look forward to seeing pics of it all done, I'm glad it got a good home

[classictv80s]

Originally Posted by NowhereMan 1966

Hmmm, you got a good point there, it seems like we have been tossed back into the 1970's with all the events going on today, heck, Jerry Brown is running for governor of California, if he wins, I wonder if Linda Ronstadt will be the new first lady of the state.

No, Gray Davis would be.

[RCAkid]

zenithfan1 Returning to the original topic, again I look forward to seeing pics of it all done, I'm glad it got a good home

I will take some pics of it as soon as I unload it from the van. Been raining and don't want to take the chance.

With the exception of some rubs here and there, mainly on the top "lid" piece on the perimiter, the wood is in excellent condition. The set is AMAZINGLY clean. I don't know just how much time this set really saw. I haven't broken into her innards yet, but judging by the lack of usage on the faceplates, I would have to say it really hasn't seen a lot of time. Of course, the "instant on" switch was on so I would imagine that is where the crt saw most of its wear. But hard to say. We'll see.

One thing for sure, the stereo faceplate and the turntable along with the general condition of the cabinet make the thing look like it was in a time warp. Especially compared to the other CTC-40 combo I have.

One disappointing thing though was the fact that the speaker grill is molded plastic. Other than that, it is all wood, even the doors and the real brass hardware.

I am not normally a fan of the Mediterranian style, but I must say, this set is really GRAND. Almost seems like it belongs in a church or something.

At any rate, I am very glad it didn't go to the curb and worked its way into my van.

[RCAkid]

Well, finally got this big ol gal out of the van.

Thought I would take some pics in the daylight.

This thing sounds freakin phenominal and it is a HUGE ol buggar. I can only imagine what it must have felt like bringing this into the house for the very first time, brand new.

Very lucky, this set has been babied all its life.

I thought he CRT was a bit tired and was concerned that after a degaussing, still had some purity issues. The photos show this. What you may not be able to see is the slightly out of focus quadrant on the upper left side of the CRT. I noticed that the picture was rotated a little so I checked the yoke and it had slipped back a bit. After putting the yoke back in its place and turning a little, well, you can see a big difference in the color/picture quality in the two sets of Hawaii five-o pics. The first pics are before I worked the tuner a bit so there is some noise in the image. Now that the yoke is back in place, the picture quality is so much better. This is the original CRT and what I thought was a tired crt, just needed the yoke adjusted. I haven't checked the guns on the tester yet but there is a lot of travel in the brightness/contrast controls and the color is excellent.....so the CRT, the the first look, seems to be in decent shape.

I played the set for a full episode and it performed well. The TV fidelity is incredible....the tv sound passes through the stereo and with the rich bass and treble, you really don't even realize that it is not stereo....not that Hawaii five-o ever was.

You may be able to see in the pics that the vertical height seems it could use a touch up. Nervous messing with that on these sets, the last time I adjusted the height on my CTC-47 (g-2000) the vert transistor blew. It may have just been coincidence but a little wary of that. If there is anything I should know about the CTC-40 and the vertical circuit, please let me know.

There are a couple of issues with the tuner in that the number display does not turn, but that will be addressed when I go through the tuner and touch up the set.

I said in an earlier post that the Spanish/Mediterranian style was not something that I liked that much. I have to say, I was wrong. Seeing it in the house....that thing...well it just looks beautiful to me. I am so lucky to have it. I will go through it and check it out. clean her up and check all the caps. This one may end up being my daily watcher although that darn "master power" switch will be off. At least RCA put that one on the control panel instead of in the back of the set.

[DaveWM]

Nice, I think you will find the caps are all good.

Get one of those remote on off that you just plug into then it does not matter about the switch.

enjoy!!