23-11-2016, 02:24 PM
I own a very similar chassis, the radio in my RCA TRK-12/120 1939/1940 TV.
The TV is a 12, the radio a 120 (difference: 120 has no eye tube). The difference to the one
in this thread is that a couple of tubes are different numbers but essentially identical specs,
and mine has a separate power supply (to avoid magnetic problems with the CRT ...
which would have worked when TV was synced to our 60Hz line, but when TV here went
to 59.94 Hz ... very annoying 1/8 inch wobble, easily fixed with a photomultiplier
muMetal shield.)
It a fine performer with its big 12 inch speaker.
But as somebody mentioned, it lacks the AFC present in really truly top of the line
RCA sets of that period. This is a problem with mine. Its possible to get the
alignment of the gapped disk right, but it won't last well enough at the
top of the band. In the TV set its possible to reach the preset aligners with it
in the cabinet and running, and at 24 volts it won't bite, so I just reset
every once in a while.
As to the cabinet ... that photo simply shrieks "Poor Man's Art Deco". The TRK-12 is
clearly of similar concept, but it has more bars and they are rounded. See
http://earlytelevision.org/rca_trk-12.html
The radio is clearly visible.
I think the bars are supposed to be Art. The bars to the top
of the TRK-12 are actually ventilation slot cover-uppers.
This is my first post here.
Doug McDonald
The TV is a 12, the radio a 120 (difference: 120 has no eye tube). The difference to the one
in this thread is that a couple of tubes are different numbers but essentially identical specs,
and mine has a separate power supply (to avoid magnetic problems with the CRT ...
which would have worked when TV was synced to our 60Hz line, but when TV here went
to 59.94 Hz ... very annoying 1/8 inch wobble, easily fixed with a photomultiplier
muMetal shield.)
It a fine performer with its big 12 inch speaker.
But as somebody mentioned, it lacks the AFC present in really truly top of the line
RCA sets of that period. This is a problem with mine. Its possible to get the
alignment of the gapped disk right, but it won't last well enough at the
top of the band. In the TV set its possible to reach the preset aligners with it
in the cabinet and running, and at 24 volts it won't bite, so I just reset
every once in a while.
As to the cabinet ... that photo simply shrieks "Poor Man's Art Deco". The TRK-12 is
clearly of similar concept, but it has more bars and they are rounded. See
http://earlytelevision.org/rca_trk-12.html
The radio is clearly visible.
I think the bars are supposed to be Art. The bars to the top
of the TRK-12 are actually ventilation slot cover-uppers.
This is my first post here.
Doug McDonald
