1968 RCA CTC38 Color Hybrid TV Analysis

vintage rca color console television

[@waltschannel7465]

OK, come on, you can't fool me. You got in your time machine that you hide in an abandoned mine, and pulled that back from about 1971. Beautiful set.

[@pyeltd.5457]

1968

[@Stoney3K]

Three words: PULL THAT TUBE if you really want to sell this one to the fish tank guys. Even if you don't use the set, that CRT is a perfect candidate to store for replacement. Fish tanking this set would be a terrible waste since the unit is almost new old stock.

[@elevatoroperator2021]

And Chassis

[@thetechgenie7374]

He keeping that one, he selling a different one.

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

This must be a very uncommon occurrence to find a TV in such great shape AND in perfect working order.

[@GE1463]

Yeah and people wanted to ruin and repurpose it.. Its scary how many crt's are ruined

[@cambo1200]

Glad this didn’t become a fish tank for dogs.

[@erikj.2066]

Or a dog bed for fish.

[@QuadMochaMatti]

Or a terrarium for the neighbourhood lizard people.

[@1956kirk]

@@8HumblePie Known to the state of birth defects to cause California.

[@danmackintosh6325]

@@8HumblePie Skookum comment

[@FlatBroke612]

FISH DOGS CANT MELT CRT TANKS

[@keithmaltbeyadventureswith6495]

Thanks for the video! That model was our first color TV back in 68 when I was 8 years old. I had it until 1993 and it still worked.

[@cat-lw6kq]

I remember going shopping with my dad and we brought home a set like that. I'll never forget watching my first show in color, The Wild Wild West.

[@scooterboi8761]

I grew up with this TV. My dad bought it in 1968. I was 13. I kept it until I was 25.

[@abc-ni9uw]

Yes you guessed it - yet another rainy day here in London England. Happy to see a video from you has Come up. Bloody heck that TV is immaculate

[@12345678989814]

My goodness what a clear picture awesome television

[@wlc1980]

Wow brings back memories! Thanks! My parents bought our first color TV in 1968, it was an RCA with legs that looks very similar to the one in the video. I’m going to look at old family pictures to be sure. That TV changed my life! I remember watching Wild Wild West on it and enjoying the cartoon images it would show at commercial breaks. We got about 10 years out of it before it broke down and turned into a tv stand for a smaller set. I still have a 1989 Mitsubishi big screen with wooden cabinet doors. It’s still in use in my basement 34 years later, amazing! It is perfect, the screen is not even scratched. My wife keeps saying get rid of it, but it’s a time machine to me.

[@dklucas1]

Back in the 60s and 70s the names of RCA and Zenith ment something because they were quality made in the USA tv sets

[@teacfan1080]

Zenith was all my dad bought and nothing else (during the 60's through 90's).

[@duanethamm4688]

Actually Sanyo Sears TVs had a really good picture. There touch tune tuners were amazing. I remember Sears having them on display in the middle of the isle near the electronics department.

[@dougbrowning82]

RCA is now a Technicolor (formerly Thompson Consumer Products) brand, and Zenith is owned by LG (formerly Goldstar Electronics).

[@ravisriram6746]

We had a black-and-white Zenith TV and a Zenith portable radio back in the 70's; the quality was excellent in both products. I especially loved the sound of the radio.

[@kleverich]

I swear my family had this exact set when I was a little kid. The UHF tuner knob and the adjustments under the door at the bottom right were the giveaway for me.

[@jtstacey83]

I love these old cabinet TVs. Back when tv was considered furniture.

[@moshezaharia4666]

Wow! the tv looks amazing! the picture is superb!

[@AnthonyLauglin]

We had this exact set when I was a kid..My dad only bought cheap used tvs..

[@hestheMaster]

Mine too. He had got this very slightly used RCA set in 1970 for 175 bucks and it worked for 20 years until the flyback failed or melted! Our first color TV!

[@johnnytacokleinschmidt515]

@@hestheMaster maybe a couple weeks pay in 1970?

[@kevvywevvywoo]

British colour tv sets of this period used a whole load of solid-state, sometimes all solid state. Engineers at the time thought the transistor would bring unrivalled quality and reliability to UK sets. Hybrids were considered the worst of both worlds, hot valves and cold -loving transistors in the same box. It's a credit to american design that I see so many USA colour tvs working with minimum tweakage 50 years on. I dont think any UK-built solid state tvs from the period would work at all, most of them would go bang if you plugged them in cold turkey. Respect where due!

[@dondesnoo1771]

Disagree best of both worlds mom had a hybred zenith one vertical tube 20yrs beltron the crt once .used to. Have tv shop .

[@effend446]

PAL system, if memory serves me right.

[@scottmorton1202]

I worked in TV repair in the late 60's, doing both house calls and bench work. This is exceptionally well-preserved for a set of that period, likely due to it's life in the desert. Back then, getting usable air signal in a place like China Lake/Ridgecrest was a real challenge. So almost certainly they were on cable.

[@walterbatman7949]

What a beautiful set!!! Love that “glow age”

[@Denvermorgan2000]

I’m glad you saved this set.

[@zx8401ztv]

Wow that's a really good picture and such a nice set, well worth the money.

[@808music3]

The great memories lys in with how much a Person enjoys a new gadget in front of his family for the first time when bought brand new. I remember as a kid that, our first Color Philips tv set was being offloaded from a large truck and into our home. The delivery man was explaining to us that change your 1930’ s electric sockets to the more modern ones, or else the tv will blow up. So we waiting the next day when my father replaced to more modern sockets. We will enjoy everything in Color. That was 1978. Lol

[@garymckee8857]

Thanks more history on electronics that I grew up with.

[@AiOinc1]

This is a beautiful set. If I had a way to get one shipped safely, I'd certainly get one

[@majordisappointment8692]

That was a great picture for that old of a set. Nice thanks

[@jimdonnelly5727]

Watched the same TV growing up. Needed a new picture tube every 2 years

[@billcook9313]

Parents had one exactly like that.got it when i was 4 yrs old circa 1969. Had it til 1986 still worked. Good tv

[@ercando11]

Great set!

[@craignehring]

Super solid Jackson er... Solid State IF The Hybrid begins. Nice find, love them room heater /X-Ray sets

[@Oldgamingfart]

"To live and delaminate in LA, the place to be.." 🎶

[@VectraQS]

Beautiful set. Props to you for saving it.

[@eamonhorahan666]

my grandmother bought this exact same set in 1968. only the rca guy ever worked on it. it lasted her 20 years before the picture tube went. replaced it with another rca..... which lasted until her passing in 2005 at 94.

[@davidarnette327]

Thanks for the education on ovarian cancer.

[@volvo09]

Don't talc that cooch

[@kennethevoy]

This video really helped me understand my new CTC-39. Thank you.

[@kennethevoy]

Mine also has no cataract, but it lived 51 years next to the ocean. As far as I can tell, it's an original picture tube that has never been out.

[@jm1551701]

I remember these sets when I was a kid, as long as you had good reception the picture was pretty good,

[@F40PH-2CAT]

That picture is better than anything out of the box from the 90s. The thought of how close this became to being made into a dog bed 😬

[@bob4analog]

I have the same exact model, still works great, except for a slight convergence issue. Yours is a beautiful set, looks Awesome!

[@passqualecaiazza7728]

This was are families first color tv. It was a 23" . This tv was played constantly for the first couple of years. Neighbors and friends were always coming over to watch it. It first went down in 1978, so we all started watching a black and white Philco, until my Dad saw that It's a Mad Mad Mad World was coming on. He went to the same place he bought this one. He bought a new 25"RCA color Track, with the agreement they would pick up the 1968 tv for trade. They never did. So, after a year I opened it up pulled all the tubes and tested them at a tester inside Thrifty drug store. I replaced $20.00 in tubes, This high school student had a color tv in the bedroom. By 1981 I bought my first new tv 25" RCA color track, but still used the 1968 for the bedroom. It lasted tell 1990. The 1981 I gave to an elderly person in 2003, as I started using my new 32" RCA. It died in October 2020. Moral is these tv's lasted along time and gave years of satisfaction. My newest one I just bought shows signs it will not last, near as long.

[@davidbrown8303]

I always liked the color a RCA got. Very awesome set it looks like you got a bargain.

[@teacfan1080]

Nice find! Hard to believe it's 50 years old and in that good of condition. You're right about the picture, clean & bright, great color. You scored big time on this one!

[@shawnstthomas4811]

Tinkering with vintage electronics makes living in the present a tad more tolerable... Nice set!

[@duanethamm4688]

You hit it on the head Shawn. No one in my circle appreciates things like this. I have to reach out to watch this and get a recharge. This was the first model I changed a flyback on.

[@johnnytacokleinschmidt515]

@@duanethamm4688 It's peaceful fun although challenging. On with the VCR and the old TV shows. Or terrestrial TV with the digital converter box. TV Land, Grit, Antenna TV, Cozy, etc. I like playing the shows that were more in the period for the sets. It's fun. Of course radios, stereos, phonographs, speakers, shortwave, and test equipment is great too.

[@LMacNeill]

Wow! One of the best TVs I've ever seen on your channel. Fantastic condition, excellent picture, clear sound. Really great find!!

[@hattree]

That reminds me a lot of a Tran Vista color RCA set my grandmother had. I had it for a while. Hers was on a stand.

[@roadster45]

I had the exact model, when I was in high school, long gone, wish I had saved it

[@_Ramen-Vac_]

Think my dad's Zenith was a 70. That stupid thing ran forever. Next thing he got was a 1983 or so Trinitron, and never went back from Sony, till the Samsung lcd. Anyway, Zenith: Many Loony Toons. many movies, much Sanford&Son, Brady Bunch etc...

[@robozstarrr8930]

Was given one of these in late '70's ( metal box version)... trailered it from NY to AZ ( sitting on an partially inflated inner tube ). While attending ASU had PT job at Ability TV in Tempe...fun times. Anyway, fixed it up, rebuilt tube etc. best thing i did for this was to install a 230 volt muffin fan in the back to get the heat out and installed a "commercial audio killer" via photocell & hand held flashlight ( those were the days ! ) . . Muffin fan ran quiet & extended all the tubes life immensely, although i lightly shot the PT years later... in '91, dragged it to CA, ( AZ, well, great place to go to skool, retire or pursue a career at 7/11 ). ya, RCA really had it down back then. 29 years later only issue is my 12HG7 needs a light tap now & then...should replace it . . . now where is my tube caddy at? enjoy your vids, brings back memories.... Cheers

[@davek12]

That picture went from pretty good to perfect in a hurry.

[@bd764]

Amazing.This brought back memories. My parents had one of these.We used it from 68 to 82. I remember always playing with the knobs both on the front and back,to get the best picture possible.Amazing how far tv's have some.

[@josephtaverna1287]

Good afternoon Shango that's a beautiful set you got your hands on there hope it's not going to be made into a dog bed or fish tank what a waste you have a great day my friend until your next video take care buddy

[@quantumleap359]

Oooh, glowing vacuum bulbs, what a capper for a great video!

[@lutello3012]

Two hybrid TV videos posted in an hour, the other was a CRT/LCD sequential color.

[@teslakovalaborator]

Yepp, quite interesting.

[@treestandsafety3996]

Tre' interresant!

[@datassetteuser356]

Wow, this is in great shape and even the colors look pretty great for a TV from 68. The perfect setup for an Atari! Great thing you saved it!

[@survivalcomms]

That is a great set ! I need a vintage TV in my collection. Thanks for sharing !

[@erikj.2066]

I like how most of the sets from this era are a clean, almost timeless looking design. They don't have all the nonsensical bric-a-brac (fake handles, fake panels, fake carvings, etc) you see on the pressboard, and plastic consoles sold in the 70's/80's.

[@DanafoxyVixen]

A beauty right there, glad it could be saved. I dont live in America so cant adopt any from there.. and sadly where I am the whole fish bowl craze with very old TVs started in the 1990s when the wooden console sets gave way to plastic sets.. so very few wooden console sets survive and the ones that do are on the market for "antique heirloom" prices

[@Membrane556]

In the US I think it started with people turning old B&W Macintosh computers into fish tanks.

[@davidjames666]

My grandparents had that tv. In the 1990's, my grandfather took the guts out, and made it into a book case with sliding doors in the front

[@maxhifi1232]

That Toshiba 6GH8 is the one to replace if the TV loses sync. My CTC38 eats about one a year, that tube also gets extremely hot. Agree, RCA hands down best tube era color picture. I acquired mine under similar circumstances several years ago.

[@jakemichael8586]

wow the color on that set is perfect. what a well preserved set. play sum old 60-70s music videos wold be a real trip. wold be cool to have a early video game connected to it.

[@rexoliver7780]

I used to have a TV something like this one-was my first color TV I owned.My mothers neighbor gave it to me.Was in Wash DC Humid there.Mine had the tubed sound stage.The neighbor next door to us had the SS sound strip.Their chassis was in an RCA console Hi-fi.The TT was damaged by his kids.Had to replace the cartridge and some of the tubes in the TV section.Used to fix TV's back then-70's.The humidity in Greenville NC is VERY humid compared to LA.My sister lives in Westlake Village-near LA-not so humid there.When you drive the area you feel the temp changes and humidity change while going thru LA to Westlake.

[@luisreyes1963]

Always a pleasure to look at antique electronics, especially old TVs & radios.

[@JimmyLaskowski]

Rca , always the best , nice furniture piece latter years.

[@hotboiorlando]

also the first tv i see that the camera doesnt blank out on thats cool

[@bg147]

I know this model. My grandpa had one and we may have as well. My dad started work at Zenith Electronics in 1970 as a general plant manager and we had a different set each year... Corner tv, Zoom, Space Phone, and my favorite which was white with a molded/flared base and very 70s. I have our old stereo receiver on eBay right now and had no idea anyone would want it.

[@1956kirk]

That's a nice find, between how nice the cabinet is and the fact that it's working so well and with such a good crt is rare these days.

[@BONETTIAGAS]

I love your vídeos, congratulations; I lived in Brazil and i restored many Philips TV KL1 hybrid television.

[@dstoll7958]

I do think that is the best picture I have ever seen on one of those . Most Excellent!

[@brianbloom1799]

That tv is beautiful, Thats a keeper. I would used that everyday

[@cjmarsh504]

That type of TV are great for gaming

[@ronk9830]

This was my family's first color TV set. I put a magnet on the screen and it had a discoloration in that spot for its remaining years.

[@Xplasma1]

Beautiful set! I would really like a 60's Roundie, like a CTC 16. You know something common and thus easier to get parts for. I don't really have room for it but if one fell into my lap I would make room.

[@joeblow8593]

14:00 + Man that's a hell of great picture for an analog TV

[@steviebboy69]

Yes it is for sure and to be Colour as well, down under here in Australia, it was about 1976 or so till it come here.

[@duanethamm4688]

Every aged Hi-Lite RCA 25" tube I had never looked that good. The round 21" tubes from that vintage looked awesome but not the 25". This one is a rarity.

[@rickd650]

Dad bought a new set in 1970 that looks virtually identical to this one- might be the same model or very little change to it, not sure. Used it well up into the 1980s. Our first color set, and seemed so big! Also had the service contract with it, the first few years- when a tube would fail, in would come the RCA rep and get out his cheater cord and go to switching tubes until he got it humming. I think maybe one time he had to pull the main chassis and take it with him for repair, for a few days we had just half a TV. I remember these were hybrids- later on I would be the one to yank the tubes and go to the drugstore or Radio Shack to test them, recall seeing some transistors in there and on the tube diagram if I'm not mistaken. Great looking set and beautiful cabinet really love seeing it. Brings back lots of memories. I spent many many many Saturdays and prime time evenings on the floor in front of our RCA.

[@rickd650]

Looking closer at it, the legs were different but that's about the only external difference I can see

[@gerardcarriera7052]

I'm surprised it doesn't have the "new" RCA logo introduced in early 1968. I did see the 68-48 date code on the CRT sticker so it's a late 68 production.

[@pcno2832]

4:16 Seems they were putting it on Tubes by that time. I've always considered that ugly logo the beginning of the end for RCA. I was dropping stuff off at the dump recently an saw that they still put the Nipper logo on the backs of 1990s consoles, so Thomson must have been trying to maintain ownership of it, but by the early 2000s, they were using the 2-dog theme on their adds, so maybe someone other than the Chinensium company that owns the brand owns nipper at this point.

[@watershed44]

@PC No Actually at this point Curtis International owns the rights to the RCA name and Nipper and son. Unfortunately all they do is contract with a Chineseium TV manufacturer and put the RCA name on it.

[@dougbrowning82]

@@pcno2832 Technicolor, the owner of the RCA brand, is a French company. In the 1990s, they were manufacturing products for N. America in Mexico. Since 2000, production has moved to China.

[@focus82grothm.84]

Very nice set, I like it. 😀 Strong CRT. 👍 Super Food? Hmm oh well. Great picture of the RCA on my 9 year old Philips flat screen via Chromecast with actually decent picture on most media's. Nice video. 👍

[@gns423]

My family had a1969 model. Basically the same model, just a different cabinet, and it had the new (for 1969) RCA logo. It was our first color TV. Cool video.

[@audiobuff77]

I really hope that most of these working TVs do not get repurposed.

[@davewm9589]

Was wondering about that interlace issue and the effect of the AGC. You may want to check the AGC voltage at the tuner with a scope to see if there is any hash left from the horz. Could just be a weak AGC filter cap. Hash on that AGC voltage can do odd things to the signal.

[@leroyjenkins09]

I watched the whole thing. Great video. I got to the end when he shows how good the set got after the agc adjustment and was just watching when 14:20 hit and he sliced the steak right on the grill as a demonstration of the knifes sharpness and the tv had such a good picture I noticed the knife cuts on the meat already and the steak was pre sliced!

[@jrs0007]

deceptive advertising - just like the huge looking meat patties in fast food burger commercials

[@garp32]

Awesome find! What a beauty.

[@repairitdontreplaceit]

what a cracking picture

[@ajwindmeyer2272]

I REALLY WISH YOU WERE CLOSER! I have a very rare 1951 Bendix set i wish you could restore for me. The cabinet is mint, and never was powered on after 1960!

[@westelaudio943]

Fish tanks, ugh, I hate this hipster "upcycling" hype. Yes I'd love to pick up a lot of sets but not everyone has as much storage space as you Shangster, lol

[@rich_edwards79]

Yup, here in England the same thing has happened to all the lovely veneered 1920s and 30s furniture. Hipsters buy it for £20, spend an afternoon painting it battleship grey or duck egg blue, glue wallpaper inside the doors / draws and bung it on FB Marketplace for £300. In 10 years time there will be videos galore about how to clean crackle glaze from an Art Deco sideboard.

[@MyDailyUpload]

That set looks very familiar. My parents had a RCA console TV stereo with record player and the controls are pretty much the same. It had an ultrasonic remote so it was really cool set for the day (late 60s).

[@eimearslee8367]

Did the RCA ctc-38 ever have a remote control?

[@dirkbonesteel]

That is the exact same as the first color TV we got when I was a kid. Pretty cool

[@micmac99]

Around 1981 (I was in the 5th grade) our family found one of these RCA New Vista Color consoles at an estate sale. It was fun watching my favorite 60s sitcom reruns on it. A plant was placed on top of it, and when I was trying to move the set backward on the living room floor one night, water from the plant pot spilled into the back and shorted it out. If it was a brand new 1981 set I would have been on punishment until the year 2000 but we didn't pay too much for it. It then sat in the garage for the next 10 years until we finally got rid of it.

[@1L6E6VHF]

My parents sent the four of us kids to a movie theater in the neighborhood. When we returned, my parents were watching color TV. A CTC 38, Not exactly like this one - dull chrome trim. I think it was a GL759WK. A color TV was my most wanted toy at the time. Turning people green was a blast! Sadly, all those tubes stuck to their sockets on a flimsy printed circuit board that flexed when a tube was pulled doomed it to a relatively short life - about 12 years.

[@jacoblewis1242]

My childhood family TV. It was identical. I was 12 years old my family and I used to sit around together and watch TV shows like get smart and other shows of that time period. The CRT was about shot when we got another one that was also a RCA. my mom favored RCAs and wouldn't have anything else.

[@therealthirst8099]

Such an excelent set. I've never seen a set of that age that looks nearly brand new.

[@jeffreywhicker8947]

Wow, my Mom had that exact same model, looked just like yours, & when it conked out, she repurposed it as a nick nac cabinet, & i had thought that was unique but now i learn that was a very popular thing to do!

[@crbielert]

That thing looks minty fresh

[@ericsantos7893]

Wow it's in excellent shape that TV is. I would love to take it off your hands hopefully I could.

[@stevexray6253]

All those tubes lit up are beautiful!

[@MsCori76]

The cabinet is in great condition for its age. Xxoo

[@Pisit2799p18]

Wow, This is most beautiful and best condition 60's TV in this channel!

[@Trance88]

Hot damn! That TV is beautiful. I'd love to have one of those as my main set.

[@Papadishes]

The RCA CTC 38 was a very good TV I had one in the 1970s as a kid

[@JacGoudsmit]

That is one applelicious TV.

[@brianmoore5498]

beautiful set..trip down memory lane.

[@MonsterMidi]

My family had one of these! I remember it well! Looked just like it!

[@dowen1511]

dang that rca 38 is a gem 👍 love that thing wish i had a place for it.

[@dougs184]

That's a keeper, wonderful old television!