CTC5 Special
 

After a long and drawn out restoration, my CTC 5 "Special" is finally ready for it's official unveiling.

I picked up the set last November from a very nice lady who lives just outside of Detroit. She was liquidating what was left of her father's TV shop items. The TV was actually used by he and his family until the early 1980's. It has the optional base to make it look like a console model rather than the table top set that it really is.

From what I can tell it still has the original RCA 21AXP22 crt as I can see the code date on it of Dec. of 1956. The tube was a little slow to come around, but it made a great recovery and seems strong on all guns now.

The actual restoration was pretty straight forward with no real surprises, but for me the most difficult part was figuring out the correct methods of setting it all up after the restoration work was finished. Lucky for me I had the RCA set up and servicing manual that spells it all out. And it's a good thing I had that manual because the CTC 5 is very different from the more modern later sets that I'm used to working with.

Trying to set up the color temperature was the first obstacle. And directly related to that was the difficulty I had with the brightness and contrast controls. They seemed to interact with each other. I just couldn't get it right no matter how hard I tried. I decided to take a break and pushed the project off to the side until I saw the article posted by Bryan (bgadow) recently regarding that very problem. I made the recommended modifications and it worked like a charm. The brightness now controls brightness and the contrast controls the contrast, the way it's supposed to work. And with that I was also able to get a handle on the color temperature set up as well.

The only other sticking point was the convergence. It's very different again from the more modern sets and takes some real patience and good old yankee enginuity. I've spent a lot of time working with the convergence and it's not perfect, but it's quite acceptable as it now sits.

I've taken some screen shots. They're not the best, but can at least give you an idea of what the "Special" color receivers are capable of doing.

Bob

Hey that looks great!!! Kudos to setting up that set too, I heard the early ones are a major bare too.. That cabinet looks good too!

Hi Bob,
As all your restorations have been, another fantastic job! All i can say is WOW!
-Tony

Glorious Lollipop Color...(grin) That set says in a low, steady voice that there HASN'T been all that much REAL progress made in color TV since the Fifties, in a lot of ways...

I can't get over the vivid color these early TV's projected. It's a knockout.

great job bob , another fine restoration you have done

'Kid, You did a fantastic job. The set is beautiful. You're a very lucky guy to have one i such great shape. Enjoy watching it! :banana:

nice set.good to see reds that are red.beautiful color and it really looks great!!!!thanks for sharing it with us.

Great job! That set is lucky to have you.

simply stunning! :drool:

Those convergence controls are really aggravating. I'm guessing that someone must make a special driver that will work better than just a small screwdriver on those shafts-the driver keeps falling off while trying to adjust things. Mine has drifted quite bit since the last time I ran it through the setup; that convergence system is prone to drifting with line voltage.

This does really encourage me to get mine in tip-top shape.

WOW! You did it again Bob! Beautiful job!!!

SUPER! Excellent picture! The 21AX looks spectacular. As I have said before, there is NOTHING wrong with a Special chassis. It allowed many more to afford color when it was new, and as the pictures show, it is a wonderful piece of engineering history. May you enjoy many hours of viewing pleasure!
Kevin

Give ya fiddy dollah for it...(grin)

Oh, come on! How'd you Photoshop those old pictures on the front of that set?

Oh DARN !!!!! Somebody's finally figured out my secret !! :D

...

I am very impressed.
Dan

Bryan-

I have a set of TV tweaking tools that includes one or two with a flat blade flush with, or slightly recessed inside, a hollow shaft. They work quite well on those adjustable coils and small-size slotted pot shafts. You should be able to find some from GC (if they are still around) or another supplier.

Here is a link to a few pictures of my CTC-5 Super with the same chassis. I still need to find and fix a problem in the color circuits that causes the ghost-like video.

http://216.101.184.5/ctc5/

Thanks, Chris, I'll do some searching. I have a pretty good collection of old diddle sticks but not one of those.

Usually color TV sets use a delay line on the luma signal, to compensate for the delay of teh chroma demod circuits. If that delay line doesn't have a proper termination resistance load, it could cause an echo (ghost).

Yes, looks like a delay line problem - check the delay line ground as well as resistor values in the video amp circuits.

Bob,

Outstanding restoration. My very first color set was the same RCA "Aldrich" Special model. I bought it used in 1962 and it produced a great picture. Like that rare optional base as well.

-Steve D.

Thank you for the tips. I will check the delay line and associated circuitry when I get back into the set. I will be happy if I can get it looking nearly as good as Bob's picture.

Yowza that picture looks fantastic, congrats on the restoration Bob. I think I'll go to bed now and watch something on my CTC-5 in my bedroom before I go to sleep : )
The contrast/brightness mod is on my to-do list.
Frenchy