Solid State Television "Firsts"

[captainmoody]

Remember Motorola's "JA" Panel? They used it for the first time in most of their '72 color sets, It was a switching supply! When I started doing repairs in '78 I was fortunate enough to have been trained by my boss on it (he worked for moto until panasonic took over) Kept telling me that that was all I was going to see soon, Well he was right! By the early eighties nearly every set had one!
A lot of the techs back then had trouble understanding them at first.
Anyway, I started this thread to see what other "firsts" anyone out there might remember.....

[wvsaz]

RCA's use of SCRs and a commutator coil, instead of a horizontal output transistor, on the CTC40 chassis was a radical first! :eek: This chassis (from '69 - '70) was RCA's first solid state color chassis. Another first with this chassis (for ss color) was the use of a large PC board with components soldered - no plug-in modules like Motorola. :(

[captainmoody]

The CTC 40 was a Radical change in that respect, Also must have been pretty darn reliable too! We saw very little of them in the shop.

[andy]

They seemed to take a step backward when they went to the modular XL-100. Speaking of the XL-100, has anyone else noticed that some of those sets contained expensive looking ceramic hybrid modules in place of some of the regular PC board modules? They consisted entirely of surface mount parts, or regular parts that were surface mounted and the entire module were usually dipped in epoxy. Were these original, or sold for replacement use? If they were used at any time in the original production of the XL-100 (rougly 1971-1978) this would have to be one of the first exapmles of SMD technology in a consumer product. I might be able to dig out one of these modules if anyone wants a picture.

[captainmoody]

Yes, That's right, I remember those too. I still have some nos replacements somewhere, They were the R, G and B driver modules. They may have been replacements though, Even so, If they were, That was over 20 years ago. I remember Sanyo tv sets using similar smd stuff on their early eighties models for the vert out section. I resoldered a lot of those, The pins on the ceramic wafer would break away from the solder pads and cause intermittent vert sweep.

[Jeffhs]

Hi all -

I've been a member of Audiokarma.org for a few months now, and really enjoy it. Looking at the pics of all the old TVs and so on reminds me of when my basement was full of vintage sets years ago. Really enjoyed working on those old TVs, but the time came, as it does for most of us eventually, when I had to give it up. The first time was 31 years ago; the second, just over three. I live in a very small apartment now, so can't collect vintage stuff like I used to.

However, I am still very interested in audio, stereo and vintage equipment (radio and TV), and probably always will be. I am an amateur radio operator (like kc8adu in Dayton) and have been for 31 years (that's what the WB8NHV after my name in my signature stands for; those are my call letters).

Thanks again for a great website. I am proud to be a member of AK.org; I think you guys are great and hope the site stays around for a good long time. This site keeps me close to an area of interest that still means a lot to me, even though I am not in a position to collect vintage gear any longer.

Keep up the good work; see ya' later.