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Another Good Thing To Have...

is a variac. And maybe an isolation transformer.
Some variacs have isolation built-in.
There are times when you want to slowly bring up a set particularly if you don't know much about it or if it has been sitting awhile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm (Post 3184907)

Having worked in my dad's TV shop for 30 years, here is the list of stuff I'd get first, arranged in most useful to least:

A Mirror - get one for the back of your bench and a portable one - handy for portables and the test jig. Use it enough, and folks just don't look right unless they are reflected in a mirror....:D Ours were broken back of diplay case units from the glass place, and our portable was an unbreakable one about 16x20 or so used in prisons....

You can get a free big mirror the first time you scrap a DLP TV! That's where mine came from, lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoogarXR (Post 3184980)

You can get a free big mirror the first time you scrap a DLP TV! That's where mine came from, lol.

Plenty of those around! I see them in the free ads almost every day. And to think, Brent from Corner Gas was over the moon about getting one in season 2 I believe.

My big mirror was part of a scrap heap from a home remodeling. :smoke: Last time I did a setup was before I had the mirror; bruised my arm up quite a bit as I recall from looking around front with one hand in the back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoogarXR (Post 3184980)

You can get a free big mirror the first time you scrap a DLP TV! That's where mine came from, lol.

Back in the 70s, not too many DLP sets around..:scratch2:...the unbreakable prison issue one came courtesy of a local DMV that was closed for a while to install handicapped access. The contractor did business with dad, and well......we had an indestructible mirror. One bench mirror came from a hotel furniture sale, and the rest from an auctioneer that had to clear out some broken display cases - the mirrored backs were intact, but broke when removing them. Voila - disjointed mirrors for our 26' long main bench.

I musta carried that unbreakable mirror on 500 service calls. Dad behind the set, me acting as an easel. :D I could follow his gaze and know just where to aim the mirror.
Dad carried two caddies - one with parts and tubes, and the other with tools and test equipment. One Xcelite P8(Pocket "8" / 1/4" hex nutdriver, not to be confused with Motorola's "Flat 8"..) in his pants pocket and an Xcelite R183 (sans the pocket clip - shock hazard...) in his shirt pocket along with one of those fantastic PTS Gray Diddle sticks. Between the three, 99% of sets could be opened, adjusted, tested for Horiz Drive, or knocked around to find an intermittent...

Not to hijack the thread. OP/Vintage PC: Be sure to check out the mid-60's January and December issues of Radio Electronics. Huge Color TV and general TV focus in those issues, with lots of good info. I prefer to use the search function at ARH ( http://www.americanradiohistory.com/...IDX/search.cgi )to find specifics, as I have most of those issues, courtesy of Dad.

EDIT: Bob Andersen has extensive experience aligning IFs - see his many posts for some insight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VintagePC (Post 3184970)

Neat, but not particularly useful for my current 21mhz IF set.

Then a VA62 with the EPROM mod is called for - the older tube alignment generators probably would work, but a VA62 can come cheap if it's local pickup. Around here, they have all migrated out of the area. I've not seen one locally on CL or eBay since 2010 or so - my eBay saved searches all yield >500mi away listings, and only Goodwill has had one close, but it was a basket case, missing knobs.