Watch a 1961 RCA Victor COLOR Television CTC-11!

[hiryurhys]

Interesting watch - much appreciated :D

[sneekermeer525]

Dat waren tijden, zonder reclame.tussen de films door...!! alleen loeikie later..

[catman5169]

I think it was in 1964 when programs started being produced in color. Spike Jones had a variety show that was still in b/w. On his first show, as a parody of the NBC peacock, he had a penguin walking slowly up to the camera with a sign over his neck. It said: "This program is brought to you in living black and white"

[tetrodobeam]

Wonderful

[squirell1952]

THIS AM ERICANA PRONOUNCES "NINETEEN" AS "EIGHTEEN".

CAN HE NOT SPEAK ENGLISH PROPERLY.

[drh4683]

@squirell1952

And you cannot type in English properly. Why not format your commentary a little better before throwing stones. Instead of commenting on the context of the video in a respectful manner like most everyone else, you decide to discuss how I talk? If you turn up the volume and listen, I clearly said nineteen. But otherwise thank you for your utterly useless and insulting comment. I'll go ahead and block you now so I don't have to read your useless commentary in the future.

[mrbrandon71]

@drh4683 I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee your videos and I'm glad I'm not the only "geek" out here who loves all things old/vintage! You did a magnificent job of restoring this tele and FUCK SQUIRELL! What an asshole! Thanks for posting and I hope you post more! I am subscribing!!!! :-)

[TheSpeakerseeker]

a 10 year old tv collector loves your videos

[1FenderGuy]

@TheSpeakerseeker Same here even though im 13, im joking about the sex with the tv thing, i just collect em for fun

[keke1962]

In those days America was 10 years ahead of Europe

[jumanji0706]

How many vintage tv-s you have? I have only 4 first is ei niš from 1941, mojca from 1964 siemens from 1990, and samsung from 1993.

[MisterEvasion]

The condition of this television is remarkable after 50 years! We didn't get a color set until about 1970 - my dad was a tightwad. B&W was good enough for him. Fortunately, my close boyhood friend's family down the street had a nice color TV and I spent a lot of time over there.

[AugustoAAL1]

There's a way to restore worn out CRT's?

[quirpco]

How much did this set cost new?

[douro20]

Does that have a metal-cone CRT?

[nakayle]

These old RCAs used a 6BK4 shunt HV regulator. If you didn't replace them every two years they would let the HV get too high and break down the insulation in the flyback transformer. Good luck finding a replacement flyback these days.

[TwinMillMC]

That was an incredible treat and an excellent JFK speech. Thank you for this...

[xmaddict]

Damn DTV switch over. Before the change a TV could be used from 50 years ago or today!

[1FenderGuy]

@xmaddict i could use those analogs and have sex with em

[xmaddict]

Cool. So this used a sound rod set in a audio frequency for each function.

[altfactor]

The color footage of the Kennedy inaugural was filmed for the U.S. Information Service.

No network televised the address in color, although NBC did carry the inaugural parade in color in 1957 and 1961.

I believe that in 1965, NBC was the first to colorcast their complete Inauguration Day broadcast.

[mun63]

My parents had a set almost exactly like this except it had no remote or motorized controls on the dials but it was an RCA and it was a color set. You wouldn't happen to know what model that was would you? They were married in 1962 so it was probably a '61 or '62. My mom said that the only program they could find in color on tv one night when my grandparents were over was the Flintstones!

[jdpinbaytown]

Very cool to see this old set still working! Does anyone still make a CRT type set? ,You ever work on any Magnavox sets?

[MediaWatchDawg]

Are those original the "model tags"? After 50 years of heat and dirt, I think they would have yellowed and become brittle.

[1974Flyingsub]

Just OUTSTANDING Sir! Keep sharing these remarkable examples of U.S.A. craftmanship.

Thanks VERY MUCH,

Dan Gross, Saint Louis, Mo.

[MSCompuServ]

JFK was the last honest president we had in the USA.

[metalmanin]

i had a 1956 rca color alot like that one it used a 21fjp22 picture tube.

[Templar2025]

Those Televisions were dangerious to work on,my dad was a television Technician for Packard Bell and he showed me the transformer in a metal box in a Admiral Television set once and how in a right situation you can arc the voltage on the transformer and really get a bad electrical shock, and i remember he always carried a Tube Caddy with him which had all of the small tubes he would use for replacement when he went on service calls.

[fromthesidelines]

RCA"s subsidiary, NBC, was the ONLY TV network scheduling a handful of color programs (including "BONANZA") in 1961; ABC didn't have the technology or financial backing for color telecasts until September 1962 [and only TWO shows were in color on their scheule that season- "THE FLINTSTONES" and "THE JETSONS"], and CBS refused to schedule ANY color shows (because they didn't want to help RCA sell their color sets) until the fall of 1965.

[Sheri451]

My grandfather would have FIELD DAY with that old television. He thought, and still thinks he is the smartest man on the planet. He'a 89 years old, lives with us now, he's torn his 2 thousand dollar hearing aid again. This makes the fifth time he's torn it up. He thinks he can fix anything he gets his hands on, he takes our remote control and screws it up daily. He stinks like piss and crap, he has to be forced to bathe, he never washes his hair. He eats the same salty greasy crap 7 days a week

[sheltv100]

I remember a couple of years ago, the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in Toronto, Canada once had a special feature called, "The History of TV." I love to see all these old TV set's like this one displaying all the old time TV program moments.

[guccamain]

is that recoreded on the tv or somthing? or is the tv hooked up to a vcr or something?

[2HornDogs]

I miss tvs that looked like furniture, its just feels cozy :(

[123demaio]

great AGC for such an old set. Great color

[MrXalexer]

You will need a digital converter box :(

[MrJoe915]

his voice resembles cleveland from family guy 

[ringo4422]

I grew up with the 1959 model of what looks like the exact same set except it wasn't remote controlled and had a large channel knob at the top and a small brass "Push to Set" Fine tune knob above it. My parents had it set up in their basement up until 1976. It was working fine and the cabinet was like new when we carried it to the curb. My dad believed in service contracts and remember it receiving it's 6th, yes that's sixth rebuilt picture tube. 

[efrem1]

We hope that you can past your knowledge of vaccum tubes and its technology to some worthy person odwn the road. Memories of this technology is going fast.

[musclescott]

As a kid back in the 1950s I remember a neighbor whose father worked for NBC in New York City. He was the first to have a color TV and we'd go there and watch cartoons on Saturday morning (Heckle & Jeckle, etc.). NOBODY could touch the controls but the father I remember if you changed channels you had to re-adjust the color (not that much was on in color on any station other than NBC-4). The big challenge was getting skin color (caucasion) right...not too green, not too red.

[gootenslog]

cool

[stratocat9999]

WOW! Nice set. I remember we were the first on our block in 1960 with an RCA color set (that would be pre-New Vista). It was a CTC10, manual tuning, same color controls as yours, and the multi color badge. I think the cabinet model was the Montecello, the colonial maple cabinet. I was popular with my friends on Saturday mornings, as they would show up to watch Sheri Lewis and Cap't Bob in color. (Cap't Bob ran Ruff n Reddy cartoons). You've got a great picture on that original tube!

[kyjimbo511]

This is a beautiful set, nice resortation!

As a child of the 50's I grew up with black and white tv. Color was so expensive for so long that we didn't get our first 19" table top color tv 'till the mid 60's. Color was such a big deal and for so long the picture tubes wrer round. Was it Motorola that first came out with the first rectangular picture tube?

[acfinney]

Thanks for preserving American electronic history. It was unsurpassed in quality and technicalology. I try to restore vintage radio-phonograghs. Never would I attempt to have a go at TV. I purchased a 1950 Hallicrafters combo and replaced the tube with a flat screen, as well as the turntable. However, I saved every piece. It actually has a printed circuit channel selector.

[117025]

I can remember back in the days my Aunt & Uncle had an old Zenith TV that had a mic pickup for the remote control. Every time they they ran the vacuum cleaner, they had to shut the TV down. If they didn't, the channel selector would constantly flip through channels while the vacuum cleaner was running. I thought that was funny.

[SouthwesternEagle]

Whoa! I'm from 1990, and this is completely foreign to me. Never before have I seen such a television set! Keep it running! It is a piece of history.

[SuperSmasher97]

i love vintage tvs.i want one reay bad

[drewswift]

AND IT ONLY WAYS 700 POUNDS lol

[musclescott]

@drewswift

And it only was 11 feet deep!

[doogie812]

Your a geek! So am I. :) The CTC11 was my favorite chassis. Mine had a 21FJP22A crt. Way cool stuff dude!

Doogie

[TheFRiNgEguitars]

This set is identical to the set we had in 1960, (1960 model) with the "color" halogram and all. Ours did not have the remote feature, however. I know this must be a rare set, especially the few which have survived.. just try to find one on ebay or anywhere!

[kevykev38]

This is a beautiful set Doug. Nice color set.

This is my favorite set you have restored. Well one of my faves. I am slowly learning this art of restoring these TVs.

[blueskygal9]

i have a framed copy of kennedy's excellent speech - never was surpassed since.

[blueskygal9]

thanks so much! brings back fond memories for me. and yes, you have a cool hobby!

[lpeoples61]

I was born in 1961. My Grandpa was a TV Repairman during this era. I remember many TVs like this back in the early 60s out in his repair shop. I helped him "fix" them. Your choice of programming on the TV was perfect too. This would have been watched live on this TV. He liked working on RCAs but his favorite TV was a Zenith. He hated to work on a Curtis-Mathes. I can remember looking in the back of TV's and seeing the glow of the tubes. This brings back fond memories for me. Thanks for posting!

[fstemp]

We had one when I was a kid growing up. The hours we spent watching this thing!

[clazymon]

What a cool hobby! Thanks for sharing your efforts and this memory, not only the tv but the broadcast. It really added a nice touch to your very clean video post.

thanks!

[doogie812]

Way cool, and good job. Keep up the good work.

[0xXMRSXx0]

TV's now days arn't as beautiful and as well made as those older TV's.  In my room, I use 1969 RCA color TV, and it's still working fine.

[charliepc56]

Great Hobby! TV repair was my hobby in the 1980s, then CB Radio. I miss my TV hobby and might try to get started in it again, thanks to the inspiration I have found watching your videos. Thanks!

[123demaio]

convergance and purity look great , The contrast and luminance level are great as well for such an old set

[andrez03]

This is truly awesome! Thank you for contributing, drh4683! My DIVORCED dad bought an RCA Victor Color TV in Sept 1963 and during my monthly visits, we watched the Joey Bishop Show and the Latenight NBC Movie (pre-dated Saturday Nite Live by 12 years!) Such fond memories! He's DEAD now, Goddammit!

Thank you drh4683! You're VERY special! I LOVE YOU like a brother for contributing this gem!!!

[pillowbugg]

How much would these units cost in todays dollars? Also, what was the first year that color was available in televisions?

[wheelfan100]

At pillowbugg no it began in 1954 but with limited programing the first color set cost 1,000 dollars equivalent to around 7,000 in today's money.

[inkey2]

I was "given" a set like this (or similar) by a neighbor lady in about 1975. It was remote control and the knob turned mechanically with a "ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk" sound as you pressed the remote. Man, you did a great job restoring this set. It looks absolutely beautiful. On another note.....I really miss the aroma of hot tubes in a wooden TV cabinet. I remember if you left them on long enough there was that deliscious retro smell of hot tubes and wood

[gwugluud11]

LOL !

[DSM1G90]

I remember seeing JFK's inauguration at my uncle's house on his RCA Victor Color TV that January of 1961.. That was pretty neat to see a color TV .. and it was very expensive to have. (Dang, seeing the price of HDTV units nowdays reminds me of this comparison..)

[PappyCaligula]

Yes, some of them were over a grand in 1960 dollars. One thing I didn't like was the fact the RCA's sets had a greenish hue to them. Actors had to wear special color tv makeup and there were special lights. All the sets sorta' looked artificial and very poorly focused back then.They were color alright. It wasn't until Zenith came out with the black-matrix 1969 that color looked better. Color cameras were huge too. Sony came out mid-70's though and the Trinitrons blew everyone away until today.

[inkey2]

to pappyCaligula: oh my gosh...I REMEMBER THAT. My grandfather owned a TV and appliance store from the 1930s up to about 1980. His premier brand was RCA. He had a top of the line set at home. What I always noticed was that even the black and white shows had a green edge around everything in the picture. I had no idea that quirk was exclusive to RCA. I just assumed that all old color sets did that

[PappyCaligula]

I remember seeing a Sears color tv in 1964..IT had the "green" tint to B/W and the face colors were almost purple-red. AND the focus was so soft almost to be blurry. Yellows or anything close to that color were exaggerated. It was hard even on my young (then 10) eyes. A bad antenna made watching color unbearable too. That's one reason b/w sets still sold. They were easier on your eyes. Blame RCA for THEIR mucking-up for consumers!. BTW, RCA sets are on-the-bottom of consumer ratings now.

[roscodawg]

Actually, Pappy Caligula, watching a black and white program on a color television was easier on the eyes than watching it on a black and white television. RCA televisions back then were very good with the exception of a poor rotary tuner. It needed to be cleaned often with a good contact cleaer or you would have problems. RCA quality was good for it's time but went downhill after the 1990's when Thomson Electronics from France bought it out.

[bobparis]

@DSM1G90 I don't think it was broadcast in color. This is film, not videotape.

[jrocco36]

Very cool. Reminds me of my youth. My father had a TV shop and I used to get the junkers and try to repair them.. my first Color TV was like this one.. I think it was from 1966 had the CTC 16 Chassis.. remember that well. I was the only 12 year old that had a color floor model in his bedroom.

[savammy]

ah the snow and white noise when on a station not available.memories

[peugteobike]

that's an amazing set you have there.I'm a big fan of tvs like these

[Jo0ngle]

I seriously love the fact that it has motorized controls via remote. The clutching technique you just described, is fascinating.

[bumperstickerguy]

Looks like the color's a little washed out, and the faces are a bit pinkish. Very much like I remember my parent's first color set in 1965 (I got my first color set in 1969). The first show we watched in color was "My Three Sons." NBC definitely had the best color. The three best were "Whackiest Ship in the Army," "Bonanza" and "Star Trek." My wife and I got our first HD set about two months ago. Boy, we've come a long way!

[gwugluud11]

I remember my parents thought you could harm a color TV if you watched black-and-white programming on it.  They also thought that in a stereo hi-fi, one speaker was for bass and the other one was for treble. 30 years on I'm STILL thrilled to be free of their ignorant rube asses...

[Herdfan91]

My dad believed the same thing during the 60s and 70s. During the day time I wasn't allowed to watch the color set because of that. Now he watches B&W movies on TMC on his color set! When I remind him of what he said, he tells me to shut up.

[Nivicoman]

@gwugluud11 Are they still ignorant to this day?

[gwugluud]

@Nivicoman I don't talk to them much, but I'm sure they're still hicks; that trait doesn't just pick up and leave somebody. Also my mom resisted getting a touch-tone phone for as long as she possibly could, because she claimed that non-rotary phones "didn't sound as good". I'm talking about it was THE NINETIES before her and my stepdad got a non-rotary phone. Oh, and, Lord, as a teen I got interested in learning guitar, and they didn't want an electric guitar in their house.

[MrDavearama]

@gwugluud -shut the fuck up.

[Boeing744andRCAquad]

@gwugluud11 Obviously they didn't understand that color TV's were built to show BOTH color and B&W programming, thanks to RCA, the company that created the DOT-SEQUENTIAL Color TV system that made TV's compatible with both types of programs. And of course, NBC, the network that pioneered the use of the NTSC dot-sequential system.

[jazmaan]

Wow! Color TV! An RCA Victor Color TV! I know what I've been missing now! WOW!

Seriously, I WANT ONE!

[saganhill]

Nice, Nice, Nice, Did I mention its a very nice set. Someday I hope to restore an old color set. Im working on an old 1953 Dumont right now.

[atlantic1952]

Really great set and remote control on a color TV in 1961, wonderful. Its a real shame the USA let it all go to China....

[ratsouffle]

What was the microphone pickup for? Was the remote control ultrasonic or something?

[treborrekrab]

I am curious to know if this is a VHS tape or DVD of film. It's quite possible that NBC broadcast the January 1961 inauguration in color and saved it on videotape. NBC had lots of color programming by then besides Bonanza. There was Tennessee Ernie Ford, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, and others. NBC had daytime game shows and soaps in color. They wanted something on in color in the day for the engineers to calibrate to when a new color set was delivered to a customer.

[MerleOberon]

Where's Jackie? Great color set!

[butchfoot]

We still have our 1961 RCA largest combination and still use it, very nice color and sound, it took 4 men to deliver it.

[peugteobike]

Is Tv set for sell?if it is how much?

[uploadJ]

Wow ... thanks for the demo AND the bit of history.

[DellMan94]

lol exactly :D Why cant they make more electronics in America like they used too

[chrisstv1979]

I have a 1965 round tube color TV that needs to be restored. Where could I get it done at? I live in Moorhead, Minnesota?

[thegalaxybeing]

This is a really nice set. Fantastic idea showing Kennedy's swearing in! I put that around Jan 20, 1961. I'm surprised it was in color. I saw my first color TV in 1961. It made quite an impression as I still remember it after 47 yrs. I saw it in a TV store window in Plattsburg, NY. The Lennin Sisters wearing yellow dresses and a sky blue background. I was 5 at the time. Our first color TV was a Muntz. we got it in 1964. It was also the first set I could watch UHF on. Thanks for a cool video!

[sean2015]

Kennedy's inauguration was *filmed* in color, but was it *broadcast* in color as well? Most TV shows in 1961 were still in B&W. There would've been nothing to see in color other than the NBC peacock logo and "Bonanza".

[LHUPA]

I would like to see a roundup of your entire collection in order to explore it in one video to appreciate the awesome models you have!

[craig1974]

Just look at his Picturetrail gallery.

[cubantoro]

Talk about a quality, american made product... from an age we will never see again! Hard to believe that RCA is nothing more now than a brand name tacked on to a Chinese made TV set. Thanks GE, for dismantling an an american icon.

[jefferyb304]

I think those controls had really neat sounds.

[Trance88]

Woah!! A Remote only TV from 61?? wow!! This set must have been the equivalent of today's big screen plasma TV's.

[kirbykallen]

A great job!

[retrochad]

Very nice picture! I remember reading about a model which had a single remote control motor and magnetic clutches to transfer the power to the appropriate function....this may have been a CTC-7. It seemed like it somehow had more functions like maybe even the brightness was remote controllable.

[drh4683]

Yes, I recall now that you mentioned it. Its a single motor and there is a network of gears throughout with clutches. This model works the exact same way. I'll actually be pulling the chassis again as I remember putting two caps in parallel in the HOT circuit back in '03. I hate running caps in parallel if I dont have to, and now I have the correct one to put in (.018uf) so I'll make a video of the chassis then.

[batterymaker]

What battery does the remote take? Maybe I can figure out how to make a repro.

[batterymaker]

Check AudioKarma--I'm looking into the remote battery as I type this.

[ess1898]

You do wonderful work!