1966 RCA Solid State Black and White TV Analysis KCS153b

rare early solid state rca portable television from 1966

[@n8nkqrp595]

I came of age in Flint MI in 1970. Pop. 300K+, thriving city, median income one of highest in U.S. My dad an auto worker like everyone. 'Shop rats'. I was 10, began garbage picking, and building inventions using bulbs that tested good around the corner at Ryckman's Drugs. I 'kindly offered' my little sister 25 cents, the cost of a gallon of gas, to plug them in whilst I hid. (OK, I lied. The gas cost 37 cents). And yet... my family... and that of every friend I had in 1970 - had a B&W TV set, and they used all bulbs altho I do remember getting burnt and zapped at the same time off of what I later learned was a Selenium rectifier. I retired from Biomedical Engineering last year. My sister survived my 'formative years' thank God

[@dstoll7958]

Funny, been looking at the one I have sitting in the garage . It was my grandmothers and I remember watching cartoons on it as a kid in the early 70's. As everything my grandparents owned this is in perfect condition. Its case is all white and the bezel around the CRT is silver. I can send images to anyone interested in seeing it. Not trying to sell it, no. Going on the bench today- pretty sure last time I tried it it worked just fine. Update- the little RCA works just fine. Has an excellent picture.

[@rancherfarmerguy]

Looking for one to work on and use in my old home. Have several digi to analog boxes ready fer CRT TVs like mana from above!

[@danielmcnerthney]

"You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away" -K R

[@FrantasticFrantasy]

@@daleburrell6273 R.I.P. Kenny Rogers...

[@5roundsrapid263]

He picked the right time to fold them, for someone his age. RIP Gambler!

[@RoughJustice2k18]

The main chorus goes: You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away And know when to run You never count your money When you're sittin' at the table There'll be time enough for countin' When the dealin's done Kenny Rogers made Don Schlitz' song the most famous well-known country hit of the late 70's. May he R.I.P.

[@graziano_ebani9560]

Hello, would it be possible to send the PDF or link so I can download the diagram for this TV?

[@davidraezer5937]

Real bummer on the CRT. Maybe you will come across another set with that tube and be able to resurrect it later on. Thanks for the videos. I found an old portable TV I got for you to do a video but it turned out to be working. Was told it was for parts.

[@billharris6886]

Boy, that set brings back memories. Dad bought one of those in 1966 to replace the mid-50's DuMont that died a year before. I later inherited the set and kept it going until 1997, when I tossed it because I was moving cross-country. This was RCA's first transistorized set, and it showed. It immediately began having problems; those 750 mA top-hat rectiifiers would reliably short out each year. I ended up replacing the Horizonal output, damper diode, audio output, and 1 IF transistor. All the power transistors were germanium so, began to revert back to sand after about 20 years. RCA clearly did not know how to design with transistors: the regulated power supply used a resistor voltage divider tapped off the rectifier output as the voltage reference. Several of the sweep transistors were being seriously over driven, causing the base-emitter junction to reverse bias into avalanche. Interestinginly, the only solid thing on the whole set, was the CRT.

[@danmackintosh6325]

Much as i like the Philco puke-it radio, I'd have much preferred to see you pulling the CRT from that set, putting the Super Mack on it & tapping the neck with a screwdriver until either the cathode touched or the neck cracked off & gave easy access to pinch weld it back on.

[@dstoll7958]

I had the same Beltron Shango has and had some pretty good luck using it to blast CRTs when working in the TV shop back in mid to late 80's. Also had the same B&K and really didn't care for it much other than testing. Did not have the Super Mack.

[@chrisa2735-h3z]

This is one of the most beautiful TVs I've ever seen!!😍😍

[@bigalsmallengines]

❤ Love electronics from the year I was born! It will work. This TV no match for Shango! Cheers! 🍻 -Al

[@christopher88719]

YAY!! A Wednesday video!!

[@bigjoeevblog1608]

I sure do miss the CRT ! Many years ago I used to imploded them, when they imploded they also explode in the second stage of imploding a CRT in short the glass sucks in the next step in milliseconds the glass flys back at you. All near it will get injured. By flying glass ! Awesome videos thank you thumbs up for not dumbing down knowledge. The most interesting thing about CRT is three color guns make a white screen..

[@dougbrowning82]

@Etienne We used to do that every time we scrapped a TV.

[@gerardcarriera7052]

My parents gave my brother and I this identical set (except the back was gray not red) for Christmas in 1965. We had it until 1983 when the CRT finally gave out. It was a very reliable set. The only repairs was the on/off switch arced and failed ( a big problem for RCA in their 1965 B/W sets and the HV rectifier tube needed to be replaced in the late 70s if I remember correctly. Wish I had kept it and found a replacement CRT.

[@ltr6541]

It looks like a playmate cooler with a TV built into it :-)

[@bobwigg761]

These videos help keep me sane (somewhat), thanks Shango

[@kennethbarker852]

nice i was born in 1966 great video to watch thanks.

[@Synthematix]

Damn you! i was half way through installing windows98 and then this video pops up.

[@mrbreeze732]

Keep em comina Im in lockdown

[@heath7766]

2 videos in one week, your on a roll. Im lovin these extra corona videos

[@williamsquires3070]

PNP - Pointing iN Positive, NPN - Not Pointing iN. That’s how I learned it. 😻

[@steviebboy69]

I was thinking the same thing arrow pointing in PNP, from memory with LED's I thought flat cat, the flat side of the LED was Cathode.

[@Madness832]

Points iN Proudly

[@arthureverett8220]

I found one of these in the trash back in the early 70s. Had to clean the tuner and all controls with blue shower it worked great but was stolen from my car 2 years later. It had that famous sine wave coil

[@connorm955]

The TV would make a good shelf queen. I have a TV that's going to need a CRT in a few years and i probably won't be able to find one. A 1976 Montgomery Ward Airline GAI-13106B, the Sams says there's a replacement Sylvania 19VBXP4 for it, but i can't find any online or anywhere. It blooms when the brightness is turned up past 10% and has a really bright dot for about 20 seconds or so.

[@mrjason9382]

Thanks for shareing

[@gardengnome4208]

In these desperate corona times we have to repair old equipment to remain sane

[@abc-ni9uw]

About time man

[@James_Bowie]

I gather that model is RCA's first version of a 'solid state' TV.

[@peterharmer4444]

Man been waiting weeks for a new upload super stuff more more more please top man

[@byrnejr]

Thank you for taking are mind off all this corona stuff. Be safe

[@JerryEricsson]

I had an uncle who was into Dodges, my dad was a Ford man. Uncle Ray used to kid dad with the old saying from the early days "You take some tin and a board and you got you a Ford!" Dad would get pissed, in fact I saw several times when this was enough to start a fist fight.

[@rsattahip]

Well, that was f***ing exciting, thanks for trying though.

[@air54plane]

I had a tv like that one, but mine was a all white cabinet.

[@Maxxarcade]

Too bad on that CRT. Hope you can find one somewhere. Also on that little radio, it looks like the solder is cracked on the slide switch. And maybe something like a nylon grommet on that screw could act as a pulley for the dial cord?

[@justincase3880]

For the dial cord, you could try putting the right size brass sleeve over the screw threads, to create a roller for the cord …

[@AudioMobil]

Ah...the B+K 467 is back again! Because of your videos I bought the same CRT tester since these were available in Germany too. I'm not sure if it is 100% functional but I uploaded a video were I tested a black and white CRT and it somehow did the job. Unfortunately it came with several adapters but no adapter to test the 1964 RCA roundie I was given a while ago.

[@christhurman9102]

I have this same set it works good,the CRT is a little tired but it still produces a good picture it was dead when I got it was just an open resistor

[@hannunorppa5590]

No doubt they went to the moon with this solid state electronics! (=retail electronic) Space electronics is something more advanced! Our family got the first color tv not untill 1972(Finnish SALORA) ❤

[@hannunorppa5590]

Solid state color. Tubes were used only in bw-televisions, There were a few hybrids, but they were just prototypes, statistics.

[@pcno2832]

I wonder if the tube from some early 1980s B&W portable would work in that RCA set, maybe with some tweaking to compensate for slightly altered specs. I once fudged a tube from a SS portable into a 1949 set and it actually worked, so it's conceivable.

[@telocho]

PC No The neck got thinner and thinner over years, so your yoke won't fit and using the later yoke is so out of spec it will not work with the flyback circuitry. So a no go.

[@gamerslife4me938]

My CRT tv just died a week ago RIP

[@tomj4506]

Leave the checker on all night then rejuve. Check HV. IIRC this had a special anode lead with built in resistors. Saw a few in the olden days. Even then it was shot gun the 'lytics. All the big US co's made early SS sets. Zenith, Syl, Maggy, GE, West. Most were 12" & some 19 & 23". All were really built well, the Zenith is 100% hand wired. Only one run of 1000 built it is said. LFOD !

[@orange70383]

RCA steppin up their game defending the boarders with some home grown tech.

[@Rfk1966]

Philco - Know when to walk away, know when to run.

[@joebrock9784]

That's what was cool on 1976ty 9 and 70 what's the Pete green looking at Elvis's house for real

[@JefferyDuke]

Bummed out that the CRT was bad! Was looking forward to that one. :(

[@skuula]

Tried hard to find a substitute type - came up with nothing.

[@jasonmushersee]

transistors look like the feet on my washing machine

[@5roundsrapid263]

Verona crisis? Romeo and Juliet?

[@newjerseybt]

My Corona...

[@DreamGrandDragon]

Almost got worried we were going to have an airplane oh my goodness.

[@janosnagyj.9540]

How about getting a soviet Junost TV set or directly a replacement tube for that? I recall it should be around 12" as well, and if mechanically fits, then to adopt the electronics on a BW TV is not big deal... I won't be suprised if one could find even a brand new tube for that!

[@janosnagyj.9540]

31ЛК4Б is the tube type, well it has 11V heater... so "some" modification would be definitely needed :) And sure as hell, there are still NOS examples around :) www.avito.ru/sankt-peterburg/audio_i_video/kineskop_31lk4b_1246332528

[@janosnagyj.9540]

@@daleburrell6273 Of course, just like in case of anything else. It's just an idea from where might be possible to get a replacement tube...

[@RODALCO2007]

That set is an absolute nightmare to work on. Pity the tube is crook. Good repair on that little Philco radio.

[@bobbyd1582]

I have the same one up in the attic also it was working good but the picture was getting very dim n I haven't found that size CRT yet that hasn't been on its way out

[@arthureverett8220]

Maybe you can find a 12 inch crt in a black and.white monitor and modify it to work in that set. Black and white monitors were common in vintage computers. Most were 12 inch crts

[@crtsaretubular3940]

Mmm rca easy bake crt

[@michaelrobertson575]

You mentioned Sony at the beginning and I think that they got there before any other company in the world with their 9-90UB.

[@RoughJustice2k18]

It's a pity you don't have a similar type CRT lying around the place that you could use as a temporary substitute for the dud one in that TV to maybe show some kind of a picture, even if it's only channel 6 low-power analogue which may not be copyrighted.

[@rmchenryphoto]

I love your accent-speach pattern. Did you grow up in Kansas? I grew up in Wichita and you sound like most people who grew up in the 70s used to sound there.

[@hql400]

yea, thats a pity for this old tv, but sometimes the picture tubes of small TV are very common and standard ? I would expect if the deflection-angle ist the same, many other bw-tubes of the same size will fit.... I would save the chassis, especially the flyback ... perhaps you can get some if-cans to fix the other tv with the broken cores one year ago ^^

[@RoughJustice2k18]

Like that Sears B&W perhaps (I recall the set - Shango re-capped it which fixed a few deflection faults then made fun of infomercial presenter Eric Theiss' way of speaking for comedy value). Could be an ideal candidate as the tube in that set is OK.

[@hestheMaster]

RCA according to the guy my dad had fixing TV's back in the day ( early 1970's)said, RCA stands for" real crap of America". I remember seeing a couple of these all transistor TV sets sitting in the back never to be fixed because of all the inherent problems they had and the owners said they would get a newer set instead..

[@wurlitzergroup]

Having been in the TV repair business back in the day, I can honestly say that the main problem with the early solid-state televisions wasn't the TVs themselves, it was the service men who did not understand them and consequently bad-mouthed them.

[@tomfranco4866]

Maybe I wouldn't mind getting a hold of that set I'll try to find a CRt for it that set would go good in the collection

[@AMStationEngineer]

I wonder if Early TV has a gunset that will work/fit??, if they do, here's a definite candidate...

[@federicoramirez7369]

lol about the "it's been popped many times" comment

[@EngineeringVignettes]

Tube needs a new gun. Funny enough, back in my youth i rebuilt a few CRTs... after about 5 failures I finally got one working, and a colour one to boot. The tools needed are not that high tech, barring the system to fire the getter and the vacuum pump, but I'm assuming no possibility of getting new gun assemblies for tubes anymore... Too bad, nice solid TV.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Did you have a diffusion vacuum pump and an inductive heater to flash the getter?

[@a587g]

Too bad about the CRT. I've got a very very similar set, with the same knobs, handle, cabinet design etc, but all tubes. Was my grandmother's she bought new in 1966 when they built their summer home. I used it in high school and college (early 2000's) and it still worked fine and had a great picture. Haven't powered it up in 10+ yrs.. Always figured someday I'd do something with it but never have.

[@stevesus3295]

Do the Bob Anderson tap on the picture tube neck.

[@RoughJustice2k18]

Bob would probably do more than that - perhaps rejuvenate (lowest setting) a couple of times. Besides, he's wrestling with a Predicta Siesta at the moment.

[@truck9moon100]

I've been "popped" a lot too.

[@nicolaheyesheyes4632]

Please can you do some more blogs as everyone is in there homes and I love you channel me being a x tek thanks love nicola

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Try eBay. For the heck of it. Save search. You'll get emails of new sales. May not work, but worth a shot. Maybe you'll get lucky.

[@danmackintosh6325]

I know you'd likely not spend this kind of money, even less on a bodge fix, but there's an NOS 12" National CRT on ebay in the UK for £50, seller willing to ship international. Just a thought. p/n was 745W12K31GHJT

[@skuula]

Which part makes it harder to fit a different CRT - mechanical or electrical?

[@danieldyer1]

Probably mechanical, screen size, and deflection angle are critical for the tube to fit the case and the yoke to fit the tube.

[@dougbrowning82]

Probably a bit of both. Older CRTs had low voltage focusing, later ones had high voltage, from the flyback. Necks got progressively shorter and skinnier. And later CRTs had the yoke permanently bonded to the tube.

[@skuula]

Ok thanks.. I have messed only a little with this. I once tried fit the circuitry for a rounded edge tube to a flat-square one.. it worked but picture was well distorted..

[@gustavogoncalves3083]

Can't you do anything with the dead set? some cool project with the parts? I'm trying to have ideas diffrent from cannibalize the parts to suggest you

[@force311999]

wait to find a tube that will fit of mod the wiring for a normal 12 inch crt

[@mrjason9382]

Nice

[@JimTheZombieHunter]

"Needs a 12BN4" .. This in fact begs a 30+ year old question .. just how "interchangeable" are CRTs? (deflection yokes aside) I recall as a lad swapping out an era green computer CRT for a blue one - that worked, but an amber one wouldn''t (same pinout). Totally dark, always wondered why. I have a current project in mind that would utilize the red CRT from an old rear projection set .. Had been hoping to just drive it with the guts from a small B&W portable (the project requires an image, but not the hyper drive of a projection set), but recollections of the amber failure have made me set it aside. Inn theory you'd think that if you could light the heater, and rig the cathode and 'dag, that you'd at least see a rudimentary spot .. something to work with. Why is this not true?

[@simonmorris3964]

I get unusual jobs like that when you test with 2 different testers to confirm I'm doing it correctly then I plug it back into its circuit and confirm the old way that it's definitely dead only then faced with overwhelming evidence Do I get it.

[@XMguy]

You jinked it!

[@Raul_Gajadhar]

Quitter, what you joined AA or something? Get a test CRT to at like Bandersentv, he did some work on an Admiral 24C11 where he used a tiny roundy CRT to do his testing. Don't mind me, this Verona restorations and lock down has me wound up, besides I know it's just your hobby and entertainment. Love when you spoke how the plane flew over almost then and there.... That is some serious 'Goat Mouth' lol.

[@stevencarlson5422]

I say give it a few hard whacks to try and rejuvenate it lol but that probably won’t work either a set like that might even be worth getting that tube rebuilt kinda a cool set

[@joeblow8593]

Too bad that guy in Iowa (that refurbished picture tubes) retired

[@andershammer9307]

I had one of those but never got it working.

[@andershammer9307]

I just bought one which has a good raster but no sound. I got a buzz at the volume control.

[@tabasco1998]

I was watching the jeffersons but this is better

[@theannoyedmrfloyd3998]

Not worth swapping the CRT?

[@Toasty_Gaming]

It is, but finding one is the hard part

[@VectraQS]

It’s a classic case of unobtainable parts. You’d have to find another TV to get the part. Even in computers this happens, I have a 1987 Toshiba laptop that takes a proprietary memory module. It’d be easier to just buy a better version of the same machine, and mine is the base model.

[@ronaldspencer547]

Just need someone with a PhD to repair the crt!!!

[@armike669]

Did you throw it away, I think it’s worth the new crt seeing as how rare it is

[@justincase3880]

Station experiencing technical difficulties .. plz do not adjust your set …

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

4:35 F

[@TheLightningStalker]

It's looking at me 😬

[@davidjames666]

🌈Please show is the broken wire inside the tube, and spin it around, and weld it. I can not be the only person who repaired incandescent lightbulbs using this method. I did not use a charged capacitor to weld it. I would like to see at least the broken wire!!!!

[@chrisglaister9303]

13:39 Drawkle crawfish mcvliblebisor.

[@tomki6asp]

Torrance Airport noise

[@tomfranco4866]

Come on Shango we know you better than that man in the next video get a CRT for that set

[@PapiDoesIt]

Needs a new geezle-dobbler.

[@bestamerica]

' old time TV was handmade job and little machine... new time TV is a mostly computer robotic make and little handmake

[@petepeterson4540]

kicking a dead horse

[@cptyler150]

I love the Comment " this thing is just DEAD!!!!" how else do you fix a tube that does not respond.

[@josephsirois2353]

No cathode emmitorator , 😔

[@Retep4565]

The schematic at 03:05 clearly shows that the CRT should be necked, with the electron gun is still attached it's obvious why you don't see a raster. That and the fact that you didn't replace all caps.

[@sirmugman]

i think its dead, your trying to brin back to life a kfc bucket there shango066, i think its sadly a museum piece as in "sadly not working but look at how rare this is" that or that's not the orginial tube,

[@kd5ozy]

It's bad......REAL BAD!!!!!

[@rsattahip]

Tough, your TV is not a virgin. I've never had a virgin, someone else got mine, but 15 years in Thailand has helped make up for it.

[@nicolaheyesheyes4632]

I shango I hope you are well please stay safe love nicola trans girl from the UK

[@justsumguy2u]

That's a real shame about the RCA, it's a very cool set with 60's era styling. Maybe someone would buy it as a prop?

[@cassandrajoiner9933]

Props get treated very badly. With no backing screws it would be thrown out rather quickly.

[@justsumguy2u]

@@cassandrajoiner9933 Yeah, but how hard would it be for him to pop some screws in it? Even if they gave him $50, it's probably more than he paid for it

[@RoughJustice2k18]

@@justsumguy2u He could use some pan-head wood screws like that Motorola he came across a few years ago.

[@jdmccorful]

Things aren't what they use to be! Better luck next time.