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- - A Little Flat Tube Fun (http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=246309)

I guess that would be the tube in the center ?

Yes... notice the fat neck needed to enclose the deflection plates vs the skinny necks with magnetic deflection yokes mounted on them.

Fyi, there is a Sinclair set on eBay right now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINCLAIR-MIN...oAAOSwiONYLirh

not affiliated,
jr

Would that one have the electrostatic tube or would it have been in an older model ?

Yes, the set is the same model as the one that I got the electrostatic tube that I photographed out of.

jr

I ended up finding your threads after I posted last night and found them very interesting and helpful. My plan is to make an animated face for an old 80's robot, so perfect geometry is not required. I just need the image to show up in a predictable spot and be able to fill up nearly the whole screen. I will also be displaying some text/gui occasionally, so I want that to be somewhat square.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jr_tech (Post 2957951)

Since the demise of most over-the-air analog TV broadcasting, little pocket TVs have been hitting the thrift stores, eBay and CL in droves. Now, I don't have much interest in LC sets, but the little CRT monochrome sets have some appeal to me, in particular, the Sony "watchman" series, with the "flat" CRT.

These little Sony Watchman TVs used what was likely the only design of a "flat" conventional Cathode Ray Tube that met with any commercial success. The design of the tube is really quite interesting. As early as the 50s a couple of designs for "flat" CRTs were promoted...The Akin tube and the Gabor tube promised a "hang on your wall" TV, but, as far as I know no commercial sets were produced. Sinclair poked at a design in the late 70s, but Sony Beat them to the punch by introducing a flat tube set in 1982. These sets worked well and sold well! I think that at 10 bucks or so they are quite collectible.:yes:

Picture #1 is one of my recent finds, an FD-20A. Out of the box these usually work just fine!

Peering *into* a window to view an image is somewhat reminiscent of the viewing experience of the Philco "Safari" ... Picture #2.

I know of two different designs (and several sizes) of the Sony "flat" CRT. On the left is the most common which uses a curved screen and a magnetic deflection (8-735-950-). The CRT on the right (an earlier design) uses a flat screen and a mix of magnetic and electrostatic deflection (8-733-651-23)... Picture #3.

As might be expected, by projecting the electron beam onto the phosphor surface at odd angles, the geometry of the display is somewhat compromised... Picture #4.

I have an FD-40A (4 " curved phosphor screen) on it's way from an eBay seller, will post pictures if it works.

jr

I wonder how well these flat tubes would've worked as beam index tubes...

I have found that aliexpress is selling flat 4 inch CRTs with driver boards. They have 2 manufacturers, Tosho or sony. The tube looks to be well made. Mind you, it does need the end user to supply the brightness pot and the contrast pot. there is a little bit of distortion near the bottom, but i suspect that's down to the type of tube.

I have a FD-2B.
I'm looking for other models, but alas in the UK, there isn't that many around at reasonable prices.

Brian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devicemodder (Post 3231231)

You could of at least provided links to them. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIPS (Post 3233104)

You could of at least provided links to them. ;)

This? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...archweb201603_

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...archweb201603_

jr

Okay yeah those did not show up when I tried searching, sorry.

Otherwise that price is bang-in for messing around with them. :thmbsp:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIPS (Post 3233115)

Okay yeah those did not show up when I tried searching, sorry.

Otherwise that price is bang-in for messing around with them. :thmbsp:

My bad. Here's the link to the one in my pics. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...4e8b29114Yl4QR

I ended up buying two.
For whatever reason the seller you linked to refused to ship until I paid an extra $10 in shipping. In all I paid nearly $60 in shipping. The other dude I did business with (same tube but no bracketing) was a lot easier and cheaper to do business with.