Wingate, the end of a long road

[ohohyodafarted]

It must be close to three years ago now, that I acquired this wonderful 1956 WALNUT, Wingate Deluxe, from a Craigslist posting in California. I only paid $125 for the set, but getting it transported to Milwaukee was another $350. The seller said that it was working but when I received it the crt had gone to air. It took me another year to locate a VERY GOOD used 21axp22, for an additional $325.

I gutted the cabinet and had a local furniture refinisher strip and refinish it, for another $185, and I consider that a screaming bargain.

Then I spent about 6 months off and on recapping the set. But when the recap was finished I had this terrible ringing problem in the video. I chased that problem for another 6 months and finally discovered it wasn't a problem at all. It was just the long crt extension cable I was using to connect my 21axp22 test jig to the chassis. A lesson learned the hard way

Yesterday, I finally got around to putting the chassis back in the set and doing the usual convergence and set up. I do have to say that I love this CTC5 Deluxe chassis. I especially love the fact that all the convergence controlls are in the front behind the pencil box. And the fact that the convergence coils have a DC winding, and are supplied by adjustable controlls in the front of the set, makes convergence even easier, because you don't have to fiddle with magnet adjustments in the neck of the crt (except for Blue lateral)

I have always heard that the CTC5 was a dog and produced a crappy picture, but I can tell you that from this experience the Deluxe chassis is OUTSTANDING. This set is producing one of the nicest pictures I have ever seen on a set of this era.

I have recently acquired another CTC5 Deluxe with an excellent crt but in a lower end cabinet. It's the Whitby model. Some day I hope to get around to restoring that one, but I have to get my CT100 cabinets refinished and running first.

For a 1956 color tv, it dosen't get much better than this.

"Baseball, Hot dogs, Apple pie, and RCA" God I love this country! So glad I grew up as a youngster in this era.

Hope you enjoy the photos.



Rear view Back off


Front view doors closed


Front view doors open


Front view close up


Happy Dorthy


Yum Yum..Tasty apples


Scarecrow, Dorthy, and Tinman


The wicked witch of the west is comming


For my good friend John Folsom THE CAT LADY

[John Folsom]

That is just stunning, Bob!

[John Marinello]

Beautiful work, Bob. The Cat Lady photo is incredible!

[DaveWM]

Stunning, very very nice

[TubeType]

That's a great restoration, Bob. Your attention to detail is really appreciated.
Do you have any "Before" shots of this beauty?

[ohohyodafarted]

Sorry Terry, before shots are one of my short commings. I must work on that in the future. I guess I have more of a tendency to take before shots of the real "basket cases"

The before condition was not all that bad. The biggest problem with the finish was sun fade. It evidently sat where the sun hit it from one angle, probably for many many years, and the finish was very sun bleached on the top and one side. The fade was real obvious. So I decided a set of this importance, needed to be brought back to a more respectable finish. After stripping you could see very large differences in the color of the various pieces of wood. So I had the refinisher stain the light woods to match the overall color of the veneer panels. It isn't perfect but overall it looks pretty nice compared to when I received it.

New Walnut, has a brown color without much red. However as Walnut ages, it takes on a warmer tone with a hint of yellow. So the overall color is now like aged Walnut. Although it looks like honey maple in the photos, it isn't as golden yellow as the photos indicate.

[Tomcomm]

Dorothy never look better than on your restored CTC5! But is it as good in detail and coloration as your restored 21CT55, talk about an embarrassment of riches. You gotta get those two beside each other for critical evaluation. I assume the Wizard was off a DVD that seems the favorite of many serious VK members. I wish I had one so I can compare PQ with the rest of you. All I got is the Sister in my Ferris Day Off for extreme close-ups. Oh yea, the cabinet looks great also........Tom

[ohohyodafarted]

Hi Tom,

The 21ct55 has a better picture by just a bit. The 21ct55 is a bit sharper and the color seems more accurate. However, that could possibly be due to differences in alignment. The 21ct55 needs to have the set up re-balnced. There is a strong leaning to the red so the yellow is leaning to the orange.. But I have so many projects ahead of myself, that I have little incentive to correct the imbalance. Perhaps some day I will get around to it.

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by Tomcomm

I assume the Wizard was off a DVD that seems the favorite

I use the Wizard of Oz to show off because it has lots of bright primary & secondary colors. If I wanted to do a serious side-by-side "Pepsi challenge" (and test patterns were too boring), I'd pick something with more natural colors. Gone With the Wind is another three-strip Technicolor film. The very first scene has an extreme closeup of Scarlett O'Hara. If her fleshtones are dead on, I'll bet your TV's in pretty good shape. The contrast of fair skin and dark hair also let you judge light & dark.

Phil Nelson

[Steve K]

Wow Bob, that does look great. I'm one of the people who always hated the 5 but after seeing yours I will have to get mine back on the bench and see if I can get that kind of picture.

Steve

[Palvon]

Yes,yes that's a 'classy' piece of the past you have there Bob, and you deserve a little "praise" for it!!! Did you have any trouble with the "teeth" on the numerical dial?? I know we used to have some, and regarding front convergence>> you'll just love the front access on the Philco 123<< hang tight and don't give up hope! Blessings from Indiana.

[Steve D.]

Bob,

Welcome to the "Wingate" club. Absolutley gorgeous. picture on that set. And the French Maple finish looks fantastic. Your efforts really paid off. My Wingate has its original Maple finish well cared for by both the original owner and myself. I've owned mine for over 20 years and its always occupied a corner of my living room and I never tire of looking at it. Now if someone can just tell me how to repair that pesky catch on the pencil box door, I would appreciate it.

-Steve D.

[ohohyodafarted]

Did you have any trouble with the "teeth" on the numerical dial?

No Paul,
the teeth are like new. The set must have been a low usage one because everything was very clean. Probably a non smoking home. There was no grease or smoke film anywhere on the set. Just some dust.

[Phil Nelson]

Gorgeous. I can't see any misconvergence at all in the extreme edges, always a trouble spot for me.

Phil Nelson

[ohohyodafarted]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

Gorgeous. I can't see any misconvergence at all in the extreme edges, always a trouble spot for me.

Phil Nelson

The convergence controls in this set are just about the most responsive I have ever worked with. I like to use a cross hatch from my Leader NTSC generator. I always seem to be able to do a better job with crosshatch rather than dots. It's not perfect everywhere on the screen. In some areas of the screen I had to settle for a compromise and average the over all rather than have it spot on in one area and obviously out in another area. Overall that tends to give a very good over all convergence where there is no area that sticks out as poorly converged on one color or another.