THE SETThe HDTV AdHere are the elements of an interesting CT-100 story brought together on one page.1. Since November 1999 this box information, or sidebar as it's called these days, has appeared on the restoration menu page. Who would have expected to see a CT-100 in a prime-time TV commercial? But there it was for about a second, a shiny CT-100 -- seen in an RCA commercial for High Definition TV as it segued into a flaunt of the old RCA track record for technological innovation. 2. Then Dave came on board and offered this tantalizing tidbit. 3-14-00 Just found your site. Over the years I have had the Westinghouse version and two CT-100's. The Westinghouse is long gone and one CT was sold to RCA in Indianapolis. 3. To which I responded -- Tell us more. Could it be the CT-100 in the new RCA ad for HDTV? 4. To which Dave replied: 3-15-00 Actually, my first set was traded to RCA in 1978. A local appliance dealer friend of mine in Rockford, Ill took it in on trade about 1975 and gave it to me. I used to direct his TV commercials at a local station. It was running when I got it and just needed tubes and adjustment. It would pick up Madison, WI (90 miles) on rabbit ears. Eventually, it burned up a vertical output transformer. I could not find one to save my life (or the set's) so I called RCA in Indianapolis to see if they were interested. RCA offered to trade me their first home VHS color camera, the RCA CC001 for the set and I agreed. A few days later, the local RCA Factory Service driver showed up and took the set away. I never saw it again, but I still have the camera. How crude that thing is now. As for the commercial, it's possible that it is the set, but I would be surprised if they would ship that thing around to a film studio. It would be just as easy for them to rent one somewhere. Prop supply houses are amazing at finding things. 5. Next, I heard from Steve, the first collector to respond to this site. 3-21-00 I was checking out your website tonight and noticed the speculation about the CT-100 in the RCA ad. I know where that set came from. When I was visiting the Thompson headquarters in Indianapolis last fall, they were in the process of taking the 15GP22 out of the CT-100 they have in their "Museum" (actually a lobby) so that the set could be shipped to Hollywood for a commercial. The tube remained in Indianapolis. 6. I forwarded Steve's info to Dave, who reacted by providing the closing chapter to this little bit of historical trivia. 3-23-00 I'M FAMOUS, sort of, I guess. I wonder if they would trade the 15GP22 back to me for the camera they gave me in the first place. It's historic now, too. If anyone knows of an e-mail address or phone number for them, I would love to chat with them. Your Famous contributor, Dave
Nice to know that people got a kick out of that commercial!
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