[VA561]

First I would like to thank miniman82 for his post in the Curbside section of videokarma. His 11-23 post said as follows: Color Roundie Alert (Baltimore). I looked at it and I thought, thats about 150 miles from baltimore, I could do that.
My wife was out of town that weekend and didn't take the minivan so I now had a plan. I called the craigslist number and a young man answered the phone and said that yes, he still had the tv. It had been his grandfathers tv. I asked what shape the tv was in and he thought it was in pretty good shape as far as the cabinet and that he "thought" he was able to get "snow" on the screen. I told him to hold on to it until the weekend and I would buy it for the $90.00 he wanted for it. He gave me his dads number to try and get more info on the tv. The dad said that his father bought the tv new in 1960 and that everyone in the neighborhood wanted to see the tv because it was the first color tv set in that area. It was an RCA tv, the Randolph model with a CTC-10 chassis. He said his dad eventually wanted to get another tv because as he got older he was tired of having to get up to change the channels.

He said his dad had died about six months ago and was an engineer by trade and took meticulous care of things that he owned. On the following saturday morning I drove to a town near baltimore (glen burnie)and got there about 9:30. The grandson was waiting for me and showed me the tv which was sitting in the garage. My first impression upon seeing the tv was that this thing was a monster! It was a massive set to say the least. I didn't realize that 1960's color tvs took up so much space! I had brought a dvd player and rf converter and hooked it up to the tv. I turned the set on to warm it up and it did indeed have full raster. I turned my dvd player on and low and behold I was watching the Invaders on a 1960 rca color tv! I gave the grandson $100.00 and carefully loaded the tv into the minivan and headed home to norfolk.

As you can see from the photos, The cabinet is in excellent condition. I polished it and removed the front protective glass to clean it inside and out. I took the back cover off and saw a rca repair tag hanging by a string. It was dated 1962 but I could not read what was repaired. It has all rca tubes and an rca picture tube. Aside from some light dust it is in remarkably good condition. Here is where I have to make a decision. The set plays beautifully. I can watch an hour show or a movie and it runs great everytime I turn it on. The picture has great color, contrast is good and the brightness is good. I have no issues with the tv so my question is this: Leave it alone and enjoy it and wait until something breaks or start to recap the chassis and maybe cause a problem.

I am so happy when I turn this set on and watch the Rolling Stones in color on the Ed Sullivan show dvd I have. It is amazing. Its like the original owner just turned the set off last week and now I am watching it. I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Personally I am inclined to just keep watching this relic of tv history until something goes wrong but I wanted to get some feedback from my fellow vintage tv collectors. My only regret is that the owners wife went through all of her husbands papers when he passed and apparently threw out the owners manual and bill of sale. That would have been nice to have. I love this tv. It is my first and only color tv and to find a 1960 model in this condition is fantastic. All I can say is keep looking. You never know what will turn up!