RCA Console Cabinet in Pittsburgh

[jwharris]

I was shopping at Construction Junction in Pittsburgh and came across this RCA cabinet. I don't know what it is for but I assumed it was a black and white console.

Anyone in the area, the website for the company is http://www.constructionjunction.org (no affiliation) and they are asking $75 which I thought was a little steep but someone who wanted this for other reasons would definitely pay that. I wouldn't expect it to last long.

[Tubejunke]

I think that the 21AP4 was a round CRT, which dates the cabinet at least to the early fifties and older. Not that it makes a difference now unless somebody is holding a chassis and tube that has no cabinet. With that being said, I think the price is way too high. I wish that it was all there because the tube lineup is that of a high quality set. There are twin low voltage rectifier AND damper tubes; the twin damper setup is a new one on me. I have seen Dumonts with twin high voltage rectifiers, and I think I have a Sparton with that kind of circuitry. Only the high end stuff had doubled components.

[jr_tech]

The 21AP4 is listed in my GE tube manual as rectangular, but it is a 70 degree deflection tube with a metal funnel... I'm guessing '53-'54 for the set.
jr

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

The 21AP4 is listed in my GE tube manual as rectangular, jr

Interesting, I based the assumption on the 21AP4 being a metal cone, round tube on the fact that the 19AP4 was round. Supposedly, a lot of people get let down buying old Dumonts and portholes with 19AP4s gone to air.

[jr_tech]

Searching through the old GE tube manual it would appear that several monochrome CRT sizes that became popular in the mid 50s were never offered in round versions; 17", 21" and 27".
jr

[Tubejunke]

27" ended up being the true survivor I think. Seems like that was the size to have in the 70s and 80s. If I remember right, most non-portable sets were 19", 25", and 27".

[David Roper]

21" was the standard for the better part of a decade, morphing into 23" when the corners got pushed out with the introduction of more sharply rectangular tubes in the early 60s. I think color 27" tubes were similarly the result of making a tube comparable to the 25" that had fully 90 degree corners.