Mitsubishi BPC "spare"

[Reece]

A guy I know gave me another TV some time back which I repaired and this time had this Mitusbishi that he wanted $20 for. I bought it to keep as a spare in case one of my normal "house" TV's goes out. It works OK although it's missing the power switch, but the universal remote luckily was programmed enough to operate it and to get the on-screen menus. Here I'm running it from rabbit ears through a Zenith digital-to-analog box. It gets a decent picture for what it is. It's a model C3-27209, built in 1997. Says made in USA!? My question is: if it starts to go bad, and I'm crazy enough to go into it (which doesn't seem likely), what do these sets typically crap out on?

[zeno]

MGA used some Sharp sets and I think this is one of them.
Cant quite tell from pix. It really pissed some off when they
found out ! On average real MGA's were better built & better
pix & features but the Sharp more reliable & easier to fix.
+36
I dont remember any particular problems, just the usual stuff
that goes on this vintage set. Most of them can be fixed
without a fuss. Just post a chassis pix if it happens.
Made in USA should be assembled in USA. The CRT is prob. RCA,
cabinet may be US & everything else sent over for final assy.

73 Zeno

[Username1]

Woo Hooo ! Lucky you got a Sharp TV incognito ! ! Most likely last you a long time ! !

Pop the back off and get some clues and get back to us.... What's it say on the parts inside? What about the tube ! Com'on let us know ! Does it say anything on the pc board ?

[Jon A.]

Whoa, the seller made out like a bandit on this one.

[jstout66]

Hey.. if it works!
Zeno... As a consumer, I know I was ticked when I found out my circa 2003 Toshiba was NOT a Toshiba set. I know it has an "Orion" tube which made me foul when I found out, so I wonder if the set itself IS a "cheapie" Orion? The set was not a cheapie at the time, but I think all last gasp CRT sets were being outsourced in that era.
Didn't Sony even quit using true Trinitron tubes at the end? THAT would have ticked me off. At the time I got the Toshiba, I had purchased a Wega, and the picture sucked out of the box. so I did some online research, and saw that Sony's had some massive issues at that time, and Toshiba was rated better, so I returned the Sony for said Toshiba....

[zeno]

Originally Posted by jstout66

Hey.. if it works!
Zeno... As a consumer, I know I was ticked when I found out my circa 2003 Toshiba was NOT a Toshiba set. I know it has an "Orion" tube which made me foul when I found out, so I wonder if the set itself IS a "cheapie" Orion? The set was not a cheapie at the time, but I think all last gasp CRT sets were being outsourced in that era.
Didn't Sony even quit using true Trinitron tubes at the end? THAT would have ticked me off. At the time I got the Toshiba, I had purchased a Wega, and the picture sucked out of the box. so I did some online research, and saw that Sony's had some massive issues at that time, and Toshiba was rated better, so I returned the Sony for said Toshiba....

Yup the set is Orion A.K.A. Emerson. They sold a ton of them
especially combos. They had a very good pix but 95% that
came in were hit by lightning, a LOT of them! Worse part was physicaly
they border on unrepairable & the manuals were PDF's, almost
useless & added tons of repair time. We were a Sony dealer & the
Sonys were mostly junk by then. They were the only ones that
didnt relabel & maybe Panasonic. You just didnt know what you
were getting by then. IMHO the best JP sets were always Toshiba
or Panasonic not Sony to often.

BTW Trivia... Who knows Sony sold an all tube Color TV 19"
with a delta jug in a tin cabinet ? They did @1970. It was an
Admiral relabeled with video inputs added. Why Admiral is beyond
all sense.

73 Zeno

[jstout66]

THAT is interesting! And ya.. Admiral of all manufactures??? You would have thought Sony would have wanted a better manufacturer to outsource to! Perhaps the American brands told them to Eff Off tho? IIRC the first "true" larger screen Sony available in the US was the 17" KV1710 in 1975. I have one, but the tube is starting to go soft.
When I purchased my "new" sets in the 2003 era, I was totally unaware how far the decline in quality and outsourcing had gone. I knew something was up with Sony when the Apex crap flooded the market, as they were a "flat" screen, and it used to be you could only get that with a Sony, than the othe manufactures followed suit. I figured the patent ran out or something.
In addition to the Orion Toshiba, I have a JVC I'Art ( not sure if that's a real JVC or not) a 27" Panasonic Tau, and an Older 32" Toshiba "Cinema Series" that I know IS a "real Toshiba.....

[Reece]

Jon A., yep, seller made out on the sale but he had given me another one (which took some caps and resistors) so I didn't argue over $20: this one works OK and I didn't even have to open it up. And sorry Squirrel Boy, I just don't have time to open it up and snoop inside right now.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Reece

Jon A., yep, seller made out on the sale but he had given me another one (which took some caps and resistors) so I didn't argue over $20: this one works OK and I didn't even have to open it up.

Good enough. What kind is the set that needed caps and resistors?

Speaking of Toshibas, my mom has a 14" set from 2005 that works well and doesn't have the ugly look of most other sets from that era. It was made in Thailand. Model 14AF45C, chassis M3S127. A 20" version actually went fast when being given away, I tried to get it for mom. The Toshiba is in stasis right now though, she uses a 27" BPC Sanyo that we happened to have around. She has lamented the loss of a headphone jack though and has talked about bringing the Toshiba back into service.

[Celt]

Originally Posted by jstout66

Didn't Sony even quit using true Trinitron tubes at the end? THAT would have ticked me off.

It did me. I bought a 27" Sony "Trinitron" from Crutchfield in the late 90's.
Right off the bat, the audio was intermittent on it. I opened it up to see if there was a loose Molex connector before contacting Crutchfield's CS. That's when I saw it...a Gold Star picture tube! First hint was it was made in Mexico.
Needless to say it was returned on their dime for lousy quality control and deception.

[dieseljeep]

RE: The Admiral built Sony color monitor!
I think that set was built to accommodate the early Sony color VTR's.
In the later 60's, Sony had Motorola built, B/W monitors to accommodate their B/W VTR's.
IIRC, the Sony VTR's were reel-to-reel.

[Nick_the_'Nole]

Aside from the name badge, that Mitsu looks identical to the 27" Sharp I have, which I believe is also 1997 vintage. So it's a pretty good bet that it uses the same SN71 chassis.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by KV-1926R

Good enough. What kind is the set that needed caps and resistors?

Speaking of Toshibas, my mom has a 14" set from 2005 that works well and doesn't have the ugly look of most other sets from that era. It was made in Thailand. Model 14AF45C, chassis M3S127. A 20" version actually went fast when being given away, I tried to get it for mom. The Toshiba is in stasis right now though, she uses a 27" BPC Sanyo that we happened to have around. She has lamented the loss of a headphone jack though and has talked about bringing the Toshiba back into service.

I fail to see what is so bad about the Orion built Toshiba's.
I have been using one for about two years now and it's been absolutely flawless in performance. The audio quality is very poor, so I use a computer type audio sound system, plugged into the headphone jack.

[andy]

...

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I fail to see what is so bad about the Orion built Toshiba's.
I have been using one for about two years now and it's been absolutely flawless in performance. The audio quality is very poor, so I use a computer type audio sound system, plugged into the headphone jack.

So the Toshiba I mentioned is Orion-built? I didn't say it was bad, it was just put away in favor of the bigger TV. Mom doesn't seem to be bothered by a reduction in screen size, so perhaps I'll just clean up the Toshiba and put it back in place by the time she's out of the hospital.