One of the last knob tuned 19" RCA/GE TV's - Videokarma.org TV - Video

radiotvnut · #1 11-05-2011, 07:17 PM

My flea market friend was at a yard sale this morning when someone gave him this TV. He didn't want it and he knows that I like old knob tuned sets; so, he gave it to me. It's a General Electric from September, '87 and uses the CTC136 chassis. I've also seen these sets with the RCA brand and I've seen many of the electronic tuning (MTT tuner module) versions. The knob tuned version does not seem to be nearly as common as the remote controlled, cable ready version. On the back, the address is listed as the old RCA address and there's no mention of Thomson Consumer Electronics. This set must have been made during the transition period between the time GE bought RCA and when GE handed the whole RCA/GE consumer product line to Thomson.

When fed with a signal, all I get is a rushing sound from the speaker and the CRT does not light, except for a light flash when the set is turned off. I checked the CRT and it is good; so, this set is probably worth fixing. I didn't have a whole lot of trouble with this chassis. 95% of the problems I had with the CTC13x series TV's were with the MTT tuner module. The chassis itself seems to be very reliable.

After this chassis, the CTC14x series TV's came along and those sets had electronic tuners that were soldered to the chassis. As far as the major companies, I think '87-'88 was about the end of the line for knob tuned sets. I have, however, seen some cheap off brand knob tuned sets that were made up until the closed caption mandate in '93.

zenith2134 · #2 11-05-2011, 07:50 PM

That was a goodlooking set for the time it was made. It still has character.

Once garbage-picked an '87 RCA that was similar. It had severe keystoning and I didn't even open it up. This was in '05 or so when I didn't know too much.

radiotvnut · #3 11-05-2011, 11:47 PM

I played with it some more and it looks like all it will need is a good tuner cleaning and a minor greyscale and focus adjustment. The tuner was so dirty and the fine tuning was misadjusted to the point where there was no picture or sound. After rotating the tuner several times and playing with the fine tuning, I was able to get a picture on all channels.

stromberg6 · #4 11-06-2011, 09:58 AM

Yes, a nice looking set. I have a CTC-135, but it was made in Taiwan, and has a varactor tuner. Nice picture, though, and is OK in the guest room. The 133B is in the family room, and still performs well. Only a resistor on the CRT board, and an audio chip have failed in all these years. Waiting for "the big one" lol.

maxhifi · #5 11-06-2011, 10:09 AM

That TV is a keeper for sure (though, aren't they all?). GE bought RCA in '86, and Thompson took over in '88.

Trance88 · #6 11-06-2011, 01:13 PM

I found an almost identical model on the side of the road a couple years ago while I was away working at a summer camp. I didn't have room to bring it home so she sadly had to stay. I made a thread here about it too.
http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=239429

radiotvnut · #7 11-14-2011, 11:39 PM

Here it is in operation. It looks better in person.

Fritze-AR · #8 11-15-2011, 05:19 PM

This sounds a bit geeky, but those that are in the hobby of TVDX prefer the turret/click tuning sets for DXing distant low VHF analog signals (which are now primarily in Mexico, Cuba since Canada has shut down many--but not all of the analog broadcast stations). I've used several such sets of that type during the Sporadic E's seasons and the weak stations can be "fine tuned" and there is no "blue/black screen".

radiotvnut · #9 11-15-2011, 05:58 PM

Yes, I can see where it would be best to use one of these types of sets for analog DX'ing. On the newer electronic tuning sets, the screen will go blue if the signal goes below a certain level. I've even had the screen turn blue on very weak cable signals. Also, I think these old rotary tuner sets are more sensitive than the newer electronic tuning sets.

In my area, all LP analog broadcasting is gone and I have not been able to tune anything in from out of area; however, cable channels 2-12 are still delivered in analog and I can tune these lower channels in on a rotary knob tuned set. However, I'm sure the days of channels 2-12 being delivered in analog are numbered. Before long, a converter box of some description will be needed to view any channel on an older set like this.

ChrisW6ATV · #10 11-15-2011, 07:29 PM

That GE set has a nice picture for a basic color TV.

Regarding TV DXing, the set I use for my ATV operations (TV over ham radio, called amateur TV) would probably work quite well. It is a Sampo 17-inch 4:3 LCD set, bought for $500 at Costco back when that was a bargain. The set will fully sync and often display color on extremely weak signals, and like any good DXing set has the option to turn off the blue screen on weak or empty channels.

1993ctc175 · #11 11-16-2011, 08:00 AM

Oh yes, I have seen one in a Trade School very identical set but it have a 20" Rectangular Picture Tube. Very Similar to the one in the Pictures that radiotvnut have shown above. It was used in a classroom.

radiotvnut · #12 12-05-2011, 01:27 AM

Well, I had another CTC136 RCA XL100 land over here. This one is a 20" set from October, '88 and was sold under Thomson. This set uses a manual volume/power knob type control and a 0-9 keypad with LED channel readout. This was probably the last one with an LED channel display and manual volume control/power switch. This one has chroma; but, no luminance information. It's been a long time; but, I seem to remember a luminance driver transistor going bad in the early Thomson-era sets that would cause this problem.