Hall of Fame

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

Restoring a Vintage Color Television Set

THE SET

Hall of Fame

"The NBC peacock bursting into glorious color on a CT-100 is a thrill." Craig H. CT-100 devotee

Early Television

1. 23 October 1999 Well, it's happened. The first success from a loosely bound band of historical technology buffs with an interest in the painstaking restoration of a genesis artifact of color television. One of the 5000 model CT-100 sets manufactured by RCA in 1954 glows again in Living Color. But this time the NTSC-correct red-green-blue phosphor-dot trio fluorescence embodies Alley McBeal instead of the Bonanza boys. The set is history. Living history in living color. Steve did it, and not without overcoming formidable hurdles such as a 15GP22 full of air. A missing purity coil and magnet assembly. No rf strips in the tuner. And a destructive short in a paper cap or two. Anyway, the feat stands as an inspiration to me as is Steve's perseverance and all-around stick-to-it-iveness. Well done!

Here's the 15GP22 with a gated color bar pattern taken 1 November 1999. Check out Steve's latest accomplishment . In the summer of 2000, Steve began his own website devoted to early television. From his home page:

"The Early Television Foundation is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of television receiving and camera equipment from the early days of television."

Visit Steve's site

2. 28 December 2000 I guess the phrase "green with envy" fits here -- in a respectful, dignified way of course. Our second vintage color television hall-of-fame honoree goes to the owner of a vintage CT-100 found on ebay -- quite a rarity in itself. Although the owner of this stunning achievement requests anonymity, his digital photo shows a modern NTSC broadcast reproduced on the classic 15GP22 and CTC-2 hardware built nearly half a century ago.

3. 25 December 2002 It is with respect and a sense of privilege that I can acknowledge this, the ultimate achievement for protectors and caretakers of the 1954 RCA CT-100. View a few of the handful of operational CT-100s. [a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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