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Early Television

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The Set: Pete Deksnis's Site about the CT-100

Restoring a Vintage Color Television Set

Color Television Chassis

RCA CTC-1

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CTC-1 is rumored to have existed only as a developmental color set. No official documentation has surfaced as yet for this progenitor of over forty years of RCA color television. The CTC-1 was never marketed.

This word-of-mouth story about the CTC-1 first appeared on this site in 2001.

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Here's a slice of history surrounding CTC-1…

I am fascinated by the early development of Color TV. In my 20's, I worked for the RCA Service company; they still had a CTC-9 in their training facility in Long Island, NY. I had two instructors, W. Ted Excelide and Ernie Holob, who were trained by Sarnoff's original engineering team on the CTC-1 (never produced). I didn't realize at the time the real significance of their work (they were in their 60's by this time, around 1980), but I was interested enough to ask a lot of questions about the development. They were kind enough to share their experience with a kid who was not yet born when they did their most significant work.

Ernie explained that one of the problems with the CTC-1 was maintaining purity. The shadow mask had not been perfected at this time, and the vertical scan induced by the yoke would cause the mask to vibrate. One of the engineers was experimenting by changing the bias on the vertical output tube. As a joke, another engineer hid behind a wall (behind the set, out of the view of the engineer working on the vertical circuit). Every time the engineer working on the set made a change in the vertical circuit, the joker behind the wall would energize a de-gaussing coil, causing the set to go nuts. This went on for awhile until the culprit was exposed.

I think Ernie was the straight man in this situation.

Kirk Stankiewicz, CT
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