Identify this RCA? - Videokarma.org TV - Video

Charlie · #1 09-25-2009, 04:51 PM

This is a set my younger brother and I had in our room around 1987. I would have been 18. The little squirt you see is our kid brother, Kennie, who is now bigger than Ronnie and I. He was always into our stuff while we were at school.

The set was given to us by an uncle that had bought a new set. We watched this set for a few years and it made an impressive picture (not so impressive in this shot probably due to the camera flash). It started to go out when a HV leak occurred... at the time I had no idea what it was and my mom would not allow me to take the back off. It sounded like a 22 pistol being shot off inside the cabinet. Probably would have been fixed easily I'm certain. My mother stuck it on the side of the road one day while I was at school... it was gone by the time I got home!

The VCR on top is a Teac MV330 (I think that was the number). It was a 2-head stereo unit... later upgraded to a Teac 4-head hi-fi vcr (I think an MV560). Used that unit for 12 years. I liked the 4-head unit because it had audio led meters... a cool feature on a VCR.

I was thinking the TV is a CTC38... or somewhere close to that. I'm not that familiar with the rectangular units. Any guesses from the peanut gallery?

Excuse the mess... Ronnie was quite the slob at that time in his life.

Sandy G · #2 09-25-2009, 05:30 PM

What a cute, happy child ! How precious ! Yr l'il bro, too, huh? I'd a-given him a bootin' for messin' w/my shoes, breaking them down by sitting all over them, or for tying the laces up in hard knots...And if he HADN'T done that, he'd STILL rated a Bootin' for something he did to my stuff, but I just didn't catch him doing...And give the OTHER brother a bootin', too, just for General Principles...Just to keep his ass in line, make sure he knew Who Was Boss...You gotta know how to treat underlings 'n' little brothers.....I didn't have any brothers, but I had a sister, & the odd slap or kick in the Arse made sure SHE walked the chalk...(grin)

Charlie · #3 09-25-2009, 05:51 PM

yeah Kennie was constantly in our stuff while we were away! I recall him diggin out my Goodbye Yellow Brick Rd album... just days after I bought it,,, and was covered in Lego's with various fresh scratches. Also pulled off all the slides from my EQA-20 equalizer.... didn't know they came off till that day! He was a pain in the ass while we were gone!!!!

Sandy G · #4 09-25-2009, 06:11 PM

Uhh, you all DO know I was Bein' Facetious above, doncha ? My sister is 4 yrs younger than I am, & if there was any Butt-Kickin' to be done, SHE was the one to do it...An' frequently did.

Findm-Keepm · #5 09-25-2009, 06:34 PM

Looks like a later set - perhaps a CTC39 or even one of the CTC4X or CTC5X hybrids. It could also be an early XL-100 (MA series modules). Some of the later sets had the triplers that liked to crack open and arc - surely like the .22 shot you describe. Can you read the wording to the left of the the little two-color rectangular badge above the tuner knobs (but below the two controls at top)? The wording is either TransVista, NewVista, or Solid State. Somewhere I have a escutcheon to model cross reference for the RCA's. I'll dig tonight and see what I have. RCA had 15-20 escutcheons each model year (clear, smoked, back-lit, you name it) and had the cross reference to determine which to order, as they all had the same 146XXXXX-050X drawing number molded in.

I'll see what I can dig up - anyone have RCA's Dealer floor catalog for 1969-1977? It would be a big help too - each model is shown in black and white, but was handy for ordering cabinet parts.

Cheers,

RobtWB · #6 09-25-2009, 07:05 PM

From what I can see in the picture, that set loks like a ~ 1973-75 XL 100.
I wish the pic were not so dark. Maybe someone with editing capabilities can brighten it up a bit. In any case, the controls look suspiciously like an early XL 100 set.

Here is a pic of my 75 XL 100.
Next to the red/blue color emblem it reads XL100 Solid State.

Behind the door, directly under the tuning controls are the aux controls for color, tint, brightness, contrast. Mine are fixed, but most came in a tilt out panel.

Charlie · #7 09-25-2009, 07:08 PM

Looks too long to be solid state. I do recall it having some tubes, and remember the set put out lots of heat. It also had the controls that pulled out behind the speaker... color, tint, contrast, and so forth.

I do not believe it to be an xl 1oo as this set had some tubes.

It's not that important if we dont figure this out.... that set is long long gone. I was just curious if anyone would recognize it at a glance. It was really a nice set. At that time, it was nicer than the family set we had in the living room... and quite larger.

***Eric H*** · #8 09-25-2009, 08:37 PM

I lightened it up a bit, and OMG, I cropped out Kennie.

It looks much later than a 38, the screen is too rectangular, early 70's for sure, if it had tubes it probably was Hybrid and right on the cusp of Solid State.

*zenithfan1* · #9 09-25-2009, 08:48 PM

That's an XL-100 from about 1974, I'd be willing to bet money on it.

damen · #10 09-25-2009, 09:10 PM

I would agree with the XL100 from around 1974 or so.

Charlie · #11 09-25-2009, 09:50 PM

Okay... I think you guys are right.

I went back and rescanned this photo... setting the scan-gear as high possible... trying to squeeze out the letters above the channel selector...

It appears that it say XL-100 Solid State. Still hard to make out, but it seems I can see the zeroes in the xl100, and the width of the following letters seem to fit if it were to say solid state.

I'm curious... what is the little square to the left of the volume control and adjascent knob???

I'm a bit surprised as I was certain this set had a few tubes in it. Of course, back then, having tubes didn't really stand out in the crowd as it was still common to have a tubed set.

Also, I thought RCA's blue/red badge had gone away by the time XL100'a came out. Seems that badge was short lived. I remember we had an 19" XL100 from 1980, and it did not have the badge.

In any case, the set was really great... I wish my mother wouldn't have put it on the side of the road. Could have lasted a lot longer with a likely easy fix. So what it sounded like a pistol going off inside... i've seen far worse failures that involved lots of smoke and lights as well.

Thanks to all that chimed in.

Charlie · #12 09-25-2009, 09:55 PM

RobtWB: Yes, those controls on our set were on a tilt out panel behind the speaker. Your XL100 is very nice looking.... exceptionally clean!

radiotvnut · #13 09-25-2009, 09:57 PM

From the looks of the control panel, I don't think this set is newer than '74. I had an AccuColor set that looked very much like this set and it used either a CTC53 or 63 hybrid chassis. It had a tripler for HV. I've seen similar sets that were lateled as "XL100 solid state" and "AccuColor Solid State". So, this is either a late tube set or a modular solid state set.

radiotvnut · #14 09-25-2009, 10:01 PM

There should be two buttons next to the brightness knob. An AFT button and an ACM (AccuMatic) button. The ACM button was for setting internal preset controls for color, tint, etc. The AFT is for automatic fine tuning.

There are several things that could have caused the "HV pop". leaking tripler, dirty HV anode connector, leaking HV lead, poorly grounded CRT, or an arcing CRT socket.

RobtWB · #15 09-25-2009, 10:07 PM

Thanks for the compliment on the sets looks - it is one of my favorite estate sale finds.
It still had the original literature in a plastic bag attached to the back of the set.
I had to replace the aux controls on the set, those stupidly designed slider pots, but other than that it is original, and has excellent color. Mine is the CTC - 58e chassis. The rectangular button is an AFT.

I looked at my '75 RCA Tech Serv Man and it still shows the red/blue badge on the 58/68 chassis sets.