RCA 21CT55 B8802897 is Alive!

[Dave A]

I guess I should jump in here with my 21CT55. It is on Steve's list but not identified as mine. Steve, permission granted.

And pix will follow. Serial #BB8801607.

I picked it up about 6 years ago at Rochester from a guy that walked up to me and asked if I wanted to buy an old color tv. Sure I said. I took a trip to his house and there it was...running. Sold for $300. I got it home and was amazed at the picture. It was soaking in color, good registration, and good convergence. The CRT is strong and original. He said it came from the home of the local RCA distributor.

But something was wrong. The color was not quite right. Turn out that either the I or Q was missing. I forget which. The pic was very orangeish. And the recap was needed.

It sat for a while in line for work. From there it took a loooong road trip to Chuck A, John Folsom and some Pony Express help from Cliff Benham. Caps, chokes, etc. done. No room here at the house for a real shop. When I gave it to Chuck, I pulled the magnet, purity ring, and yoke so he could use the yoke. I marked all of the positions on the tube neck with a Sharpie. On re-assembly, it came back as close as anyone could wish for.

On the return it had to go to storage with the cabinet as my work for the World Champion Phillies got in the way.

I retrieved it about a month ago and put it in the living room for assembly. When I did get it back in place, it worked! But it is in need of adjustment from all the changes. I can get a pic but the horizontal is slightly off and not stable. The red seems low and I have to go after that. HV is rock stable and no blooming in sight. A new problem jumped up a few days ago. On power up, the pic is good for a bit and then drops to a smear of video.

Nothing is easy about this but it lives next to my CT100 (currently at Pete Dexnis for work and comparison for his efforts) and my Philco TV123 that needs two doorknob caps. A lot of history in my living room. And a lot of furniture to walk around.

I thought I had some pix from the arrival but I cannot find them in this computer. I will try to edit this post to show the current condition such as it is.

Another survivor,

Dave A