a beat up old RCA roundie
 

Rescued was perhaps the wrong action to take.
The old beast that was posted over at the early television website lived reasonably close, so I went after it. It's a CTC 7 or 9. Miserable shape.
Probably should have offered to borrow a shovel and bury it for the folks that gave it away. Don't really know what the hell to do with the thing. Definately not a candidate for restoration.
Should be able to salvage the knobs, the safety glass and the CRT.

Too tired today. I'll post pix of this pitiful old beast maybe Monday eve.

I had a metal-cased CTC-9 in the shape you're describing, and I was about to throw it out when another AKer stepped up and said he'd save it... HE DID! So you never know. Mine was found at a construction site, banged around by tractors, concrete splattered all over it, and naturally been out in the rain for awhile.

Charles

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I'd be willing to take a chance on it if I weren't so far away.

I had emailed them about it but I guess you had already gotten it. I would be interested in taking it if you decide that you don't want to fool with it. I like basket cases. How is the CRT?

Glad to see this saved, it's like 300 miles from me. That is waaay too far to go for a basket case.

Here are some pix
 

What do you think? Restorable?

I have seen many radios in far worse condition that have been restored.

Don't know about this old monster though.

She is rough, although what the heck to do with the cabinet is the biggest challenge. No way to duplicate that "oak" finish. Maybe paint it a solid color. Didn't RCA have a -7 in black?

Haven't checked the CRT yet. May try that later tonight.

Tried to remove the knobs. No luck. Hate to try and force them lest they crumble.

Ideas anyone?

more pix

Good find, if for the parts alone! I have pulled 2 RCA roundies out of junk piles, a CTC-7, and a CTC-5 Special. The 7 had a poor cabinet, but:thmbsp: fairly good 21CY, and an intact, but slightly waterlogged chassis, and the 5 had a smashed CRT, and convergence components, as well as the def. yoke, but when I restored a DeLuxe 5, many parts came in handy, like odd value resistors, etc. I have a poor, beat-up 10 chassis sitting on a shelf just waiting to donate parts for repair of a restorable set.
Sometimes junk turns out to be "junque"!
Kevin

BTW, If you plan to restore it, let us know what you need. Maybe I can supply something to help. I don't have a "stockpile" of 7 parts, but I will help if I can. In the opinion of some folks, that was the first reliable RCA chassis, and the first to hold convergence adjustments after RCA finally got smart and used wire-wound pots for the convergence circuits, rather than carbon, which as other forum members can attest, increase in value, and literally burn up.
Kevin

It doesn't look too bad. I've seen sets in worse shape brought to life.

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I think it's worth restoring
 

Looks great to me.

Someone should save it. As noted above, I too have seen worse than that be brought back from the dead. At least, keep the chassis!

Definately restorable! It will take some work but it is doable. I recently acquired a CTC4 console. It is the Director model. It was in a leaky shed down south for years. The entire mahogony veneer cabinet has delaminated. ALL, yes ALL, every bit of the mahogony veneer and 80% of the plywood has delaminated. My only recourse will be to completely rebuild the exterior of the cabinet. I will be able to save the frame, but all of the mahogony cabinet ply panels will have to be replaced, including the top. Even the front will have to be re-veneered. I will restore it electronically first before attempting the cabinet.

I would suggest before you do anything cosmetic, you get the set running to your satisfaction. I have made the mistake of doing the cabinet first only to find out there are major impediments to getting the set opperational.

As far as the cabinet... I would do the black lacquer paint job and forget about the fake woodgrain. There is no way I know of to replicate it short of having a very tallented artist hand paint the thing and even then it will never look like it did as it came off the line.


Good save, and good luck

Yes, it's pretty rough, but I believe it can be saved. It's all there, and that's the main thing. I would check the CRT and check major components (yoke, flyback, convergence units, etc) to determine status of these parts and which, if any, will need to be replaced. It would be smart to get the set going electrically before undertaking any cosmetic work.

I too would suggest painting the cabinet with black lacquer. And yes, I believe RCA offered this model in Gloss Black. There's no reason it can't be brought back to life, even if it turns out to be a long-term project, that's OK, it's being saved. Good luck and please keep us posted.

Gilbert

Have seen worse for sure! Looks like that tube (one of the HOTs?) was busted for fun. Or it couldve been an honest mistake during a move.

I would not worry about chassis rust too much, as long as the parts are good that's what counts.

Yep, I think it's restorable too. Once the rust is gone it will look great. I agree with Bob, painting it with a black lacquer will make it look awesome. Thanks for saving the 'ol girl.
Tom: That broken tube is a LV rectifier, 3DG4 IIRC.

Whoa, that thing is rough. But I would at least give it a try. Keep us posted about it's progress!

And if the tube was broken for fun, whoever did it would have trashed the CRT as well, and not just one tube in the back. it's close enough to the edge where it could easily have been wrecked.

I think you have a lot to work with there. Hopefully the CRT is in good shape.
The late production CTC-7 "Meredith" table model had a gloss black cabinet. Notice your set also has the optional UHF tuner. Here's the "Meredith" as shown on Ed Reitan's site:

CTC-7_Meredith300.gif
http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/Galler...eredith300.gif

-Steve D.

plug it in and see if it works.....
LOL

I'd just paint it in some cool 50s pastel color!

Hey, I forgot about this one. Is there any progress yet? Looks like a fun one that'll be a nice challenge.

No, no progress on this one. Haven't done a thing with it, not even checked the kinescope yet.

Unless someone wants this set, I'll probably send it to the landfill with a bunch of mid 80's junk I have accumulated.

I'd save it from the 80s junk.:D

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nice tv set. We will be working to put it back in place, but worth it!

Like I mentioned before, I will gladly take the set off of your hands.

Zenith used the twin 3DG4's in the 29JC20's. RCA used 5U4's on the CTC7 power transformer.

RobtWB,

Please check your PM.

Save the tube if nothing else. I have ctc4 set. It took years to get it looking
great. Those sets take hours of alignment. So many adjustments. Many set ups.
When they are done, only sex is more fun. I am working on a Kcs 47 (which is black and white). It was my Grandmother's - bought in 1949. I want to watch it again.
Anyway, it nice talking to you. len@hrsrecords.com

I picked up the CTC-7B the weekend before last (thanks Robert). The CRT emission came up after a restoration on my Beltron. I pulled the chassis to find the remnants of a mouse nest in the bottom. Fortunately they didn't seem to disturb any of the transformers or coils. They just chewed the insulation off of a few wires. I checked continuity on the vertical output transformer and the filter choke and they seem to be OK. The flyback checks out so I think the set is restorable. About 3/4 of the tubes are missing but that's no big deal. I will put this set in the queue for restoration after a few radios.

1x1 pixels is too small. Your pic isn't working:D

Try it now.

Hey Sean,

I found the knobs.
I'll drop them in the mail in the next few days.

Sure glad you took the set. I have too many project sets, and that set was at the bottom of my list.

Glad to hear that the CRT looks acceptable. I never did get the opportunity to test it.

You really have your work cut out for you on this one. It's gonna be awesome If you get it working again, it's fun to bring 'em back from the dead.

Yes keep up informed, nothing better than getting a roundie back up and running

Hey Sean,

Got anywhere with that old beast yet?

I've still got the knobs. I'll try and get the GF to drop thenm in the mail this week.

RWB

I got the chassis vacuumed out and that's about all I have done. I have one radio on the bench now that I'm trying to get finished up and had planned on starting on another console radio for my winter project but I might have to put the CTC-7 in front of it. I work with a guy who grew up in Marion and he asks me every once in a while if I have done anything with "that old TV". Plus I'm anxious to get it up and running too.