THE SETGestationIn the winter of '62, the Cuban missile crisis was over--as was my one-semester trial foray into the quest for baccalaureate distinction. I had already begun what were to be my last two semesters in a formal pursuit of technical knowledge. And it's when, one day between January and April 1963, I happened upon a card posted on a school hallway bulletin board. [FOR SALE COLOR TV MAKE OFFER] I called the number, went to see the device, and found an unoperational RCA CT-100 taking up space in the basement of my fellow student's parents northeast Philadelphia home. He had been given the set by an uncle. The guy still wouldn't say how much he wanted, so I offered him forty-five bucks. His eyes grew bright, betraying his delight with the unexpected magnitude of my designing offer. An unanticipated bonanza from his point of view. A treasure from mine. He quickly accepted and we closed the deal.I hauled that prize 12 miles in the trunk of a '62 Thunderbird hardtop, back to my apartment. I remember that massive mahogany cabinet sticking out over the trunk lip. So maybe it took two trips: one for the cabinet (with 15GP22, see below) and another for the CTC-2 chassis. Anyway, when I got it all home, sure enough, the set was dead except for audio. It took me little time though to find a bad damper (6AU4), pop in a new one, and begin a thirty-six year love affair with an exotic beauty.
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