timo_timboo_

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Valid concern. I made a little visual inspection from the inside of course, but didn't find anything. Now that I think about it though, I didn't check below the PCB.

Another person also mentioned that my soldering work isn't that clean, so I will probably open the thing again and check for bugs and redo my the cable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yes you're right, it really isn't the cleanest soldering work. I'm still practising a lot.

It is probably fine though, I tried pulling the cable apart where I soldered with quite a bit of force, but it didn't loosen a bit.

The TV also only consumes 52W according to the back label, so it should be fine.

On the other hand through, this really is a connection that needs to be really solid.

You're right, I should probably revisit it. I'll see when I have time for it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Well, I guess there are some people that really think that the few grams of copper inside the cable is worth something. Most people see CRTs as worthless today anyway, which is pretty sad.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Thank you :) I'll see how many hours it was used once I get the remote for it. It's probably not too much, since the tube looks pretty bright.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I see CRTs pretty rarily on the street. It's probably because they're getting rarer? But yeah, I know the feeling of seeing one and not being able to take it with you. I mean, I have already seen a few that I just didn't need, like 100hz sets or just rather low quality TVs. I don't have that much space so I never picked these up, even though I also didn't want so see them trashed. With this one, I just couldn't leave it there. It's a 21 inch CRT, so I somehow made space for it at home.

And yes, this was also my first time working on a CRT. It would have probably taken a few more years for me to build up enough confidence to open one, but finding one that needed repairs greatly accelerated it if that makes sense. I still don't really feel comfortable touching the electronics inside because every just tells you about how dangerous they are, but I hope it gets better for me in the future so that I can possibly do some more difficult repairs if needed.

 

This is were I found it. I only remembered to take a picture when I already put the thing into my car. It was laying tube down on the fridge.

This was also my first time working on a CRT. Was kinda scary, but nothing happened in the end. Not even a spark when discharging. Guess these newer sets all have a resistor that drains the voltage built in (this TV is from November of 2002).

The power cable uses a connector, so I could just remove the cable and solder a new one to it. Soldering it directly to the board would have probably looked cleaner, but I guess this worked well too. I simply cut off one end of a normal power cable and soldered it to what was left of the existing one. I planned on using heatshrink tubes, but they already shrinked while soldering. I just ended up using electrical tape instead. Not the cleanest soldering work, but it does the job.

This is how it ended up looking inside the TV:

I wanted to be on the safe side when turning the CRT on for the first time, so I did it outside.

It did power on, and looks pretty damn good!

As it turns out, the tube was actually made in the UK. I think that's pretty cool, since everything has to be made as cheaply as possible today. The whole thing seems very well built in general, Rubycon capacitors everywhere.

#

Of course I don't have the remote for it, so I didn't change any setting when taking these pictures. The black levels were still pretty bad, and geometry could be better as well. I ordered a remote to dial everything in, I hope it looks even better after that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

This is really interesting, thanks for your insight. I don't really know a lot about cars, but maybe I'll give it another try one day. I will definitely keep this in mind :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Absolutely. The Wii U modding community is really active, I feel like there's something new every few months. I love it!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

And that's fine too, I think. This is what gave the Wii the perfect backwards compatibility, allowing many more people to enjoy Gamecube games on original hardware without getting a Gamecube, which are way more expensive today.

And you know, the Wii is like a beast when it comes to sub HD stuff. It's the most powerful console that ever released that wasn't designed with HD TVs in mind. That lead to many Wii games just looking really damn good and clean. Seriously, Mario Galaxy on a CRT in RGB looks absolutely stunning.

But maybe they did go to far trying the same thing again with the Wii U.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I know I know, you're right. This is a rather temporary setup, I plan to arrange the consoles a bit differently so they're less in the sunlight.

Even now, its just during the evening, and my Gamecube, which is the most susceptible to yellowing, is already kinda yellow unfortunately. Same for the wavebird receiver.

But you're still right, I should put something over these consoles for now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Right? It feels like gaming peaked with the 6th console generation. Just a fun time to look back at.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah, having some evening sun shine into a room just gives it a great vibe. I just wish it wasn't 29°C in here

Anyway, thanks for commenting as well!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That VCR is from my parents, they don't use it anymore. I don't really have any tapes for it though.

We had the first 3 Star Wars movies on VHS, which was the reason I set the thing up. Unfortunately, these tapes have somehow disappeared completely, they are nowhere to be found.

So it's just decoration for now, but I'll definitley get some other movies one day. Thank you for your comment!

 
 
 
 

I know that this isn't a new mod or anything, but I just took pictures of the process along the way anyway. After desoldering the old battery, you can put in the battery holder. It's just a slight bit to wide, so you'll have to bend the tabs inwards. Just solder it in afterwards! And that's basically it. Put in a new battery and never worry about the systems clock anymore :)

 

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