Quote:
Originally posted by polaraman
Jeffhs,
I know what you mean about the CRT. I did not do that to the set. It was that way when I rescued it from the dumpster. It is real sad that had to happen. The CTC 15 that I posted had the same thing done to the CRT. I am going to remove the face plate and use it on another CRT. Got to save at least that.
polaraman [/B]
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Sorry about that. I didn't mean to imply you broke the neck off the tube. I was just pointing out that this was a good way to release the vacuum from a dead tube; that or else snapping off the center pin of the socket (in older tubes like roundies or rectangular tubes of '50s-'70s vintage) or crushing the center pin (in the newer, "modern" if you will, button-base tubes, probably, even likely, including the CRTs used in today's sets) to break the seal. In fact, it is all too easy to break the seal on button-base tubes, since the plastic used in the socket is so thin. The necks of these modern tubes are thinner than the older ones used to be as well, making it that much easier(!) to snap the neck off if one wasn't careful--especially in large-screen tubes where the guns are set back further away from the phosphors (the larger the screen, the longer the CRT neck will be, and of course the TV cabinet itself will be that much deeper from front to back). I once saw a DuMont set in a thread here or on ebay that had a 30-inch direct-view CRT; I hate to think how long the neck of the tube must have been. The set's cabinet must have been a monster as well, but then again most DuMont consoles, even TV-only units, were huge, as were most console TVs of '50s through '70s-80s vintage with 21" or larger screens. And these were CRT-based sets. Today's giant-screen LCD and plasma sets take up much more space in a living or family room than even the largest CRT sets ever did.
I am almost convinced that one needs a living room the size of Texas or even Alaska just to be able to sit far enough away from, say, a 60" screen to get the full effect. The recommended viewing distance for a 19-inch TV is, IIRC, almost six feet away from the screen; for a 60" or larger(!) LCD or plasma, the distance may be half again that much or even double or more. Perhaps that's one reason why LCDs or plasmas aren't too popular yet--that and the prices of the sets, which are still way up there. Don't forget the maintenance costs. Plasmas (and LCDs as well) use high-power projection lamps which cost about $400 apiece and which don't last nearly as long as the filaments in CRTs (15k hours or less for the lamp, depending on usage, vs. 20+ years for many older CRTs).
Some sets have user-replaceable lamps (RCA is one, IIRC), but many if not most others require that the bulb be replaced by a service person. House calls on standard CRT-based console TVs, not to mention carry-in estimates on smaller sets, can and often do cost an arm and a leg; I shudder to think how much TV shops get for repairing today's widescreen sets (almost always house calls due to the sheer size of the TV) out of warranty.
BTW, just out of curiosity, would the set with the broken tube (or the CTC15 you mentioned in your last or a recent post) have worked if you would have replaced the CRT, or were the chassis in both sets too far gone?