Small BPC set found by the dumpster and back there again

[wa2ise]

Small BPC set (Baysonic I think it was) made in 1999 found by the dumpster so I grabbed it to play with. It had "snow" on the CRT when I turned it on, but no sound. Okay, maybe this is a set that mutes the audio if there's no signal present at the FM demodulator (like a squelch on a 2M handheld or a police scanner). Took the back off, and hunted around with another audio amp (an amplified computer speaker not connected to a computer), found some hiss. Then hooked up a video modulator to the set's RF input, and some audio to the audio and video jacks (couldn't scare up any baseband video at the moment). But the set went and died completely. Guess it didn't like the audio as video?, I thought sync circuits would just ignore the irregular pattern. Forget it, I pulled the main and CRT circuit board to salvage parts off of, and returned the cabinet with CRT back to the dumpster... You can get a number of high voltage caps usable for tube work from such sets.

[Electronic M]

Yup! I steal the board and yokes of curbed SS sets whenever I can. I usually take any good caps, power resistors and the HV lead off the chassis for parts to fix tube stuff.
Dead CFL bulbs on my campus also have a way of somehow ending up in my backpack. Those 10uf 450V lytics, and .047uf 630V dipped caps are great for tube radio and TV work.

[radiotvnut]

I just did the same thing to a Toshiba projection set that came from the dump, got stripped by me, and is going back to the dump. Actually, a friend found it, brought it to me repair repair, we decided it wasn't worth repairing, he told me to take out what I wanted, and he said he'd haul off the rest. I saved the speakers, the chassis, and all of the interconnecting wiring.

[Retspin]

Found a 13 inch RCA made in 1999 at the dump a couple of weeks ago. The power cord had been cut off and it had been in the rain of course but amazingly no moisture ever reached the chassis. I was trying to find a CRT to scavenge for another RCA set with a scratched CRT. I decided to wire up a power cord and see what it would do. It fired up with a great picture, even better that the one I was trying to fix! It's amazing what people will throw away these days.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1370308369.684526.jpg

[radiotvnut]

It's not uncommon to find perfectly working CRT sets in the dump due to people replacing them with flatscreen TV's.

[Reece]

Pitching good working sets is just unthinkable to me. On replacing a set with a new one, they could at least store the old one away to use as a spare when the new one dies, or for occasional use in a guest room or sick room, etc. Or it could be donated to an impecunious someone who needed a TV.

[Retspin]

Originally Posted by Reece

Pitching good working sets is just unthinkable to me. On replacing a set with a new one, they could at least store the old one away to use as a spare when the new one dies, or for occasional use in a guest room or sick room, etc. Or it could be donated to an impecunious someone who needed a TV.

Exactly!

[Sandy G]

I remember right before CRT sets basically became unavailable, you could pick up 5" models-Often w/AM/FM radio tossed in, at supermarket checkout aisles around here for as little as $10...

[Beachboy]

One thing that continually amazes me is how fast the public has embraced flat panel TV's and gotten rid of their perfectly working CRT models. Back when color TV was first introduced, it took many families 20 years or longer to finally migrate to a color set. In my mind, there was far more justification in going from a B&W picture to a color picture, compared to simply going from a CRT to a flat panel. People who bought flat panel sets a couple of years ago seem to be rapidly abandoning them in favor of even larger displays. Craig's List is flooded with used 32" LCD's, usually because the owner has "upgraded" to something even bigger. And we're supposed to be in a recession?

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Beachboy

One thing that continually amazes me is how fast the public has embraced flat panel TV's and gotten rid of their perfectly working CRT models. Back when color TV was first introduced, it took many families 20 years or longer to finally migrate to a color set. In my mind, there was far more justification in going from a B&W picture to a color picture, compared to simply going from a CRT to a flat panel. People who bought flat panel sets a couple of years ago seem to be rapidly abandoning them in favor of even larger displays. Craig's List is flooded with used 32" LCD's, usually because the owner has "upgraded" to something even bigger. And we're supposed to be in a recession?

I think people today place more emphasis on "keeping up with the Joneses" than they did back then and they are brainwashed into thinking that their life will be miserable if they don't upgrade to the latest TV or smartphone. Based on my experiences with selling used TV's, I could sell just about any kind of TV up until the mid 2000's. At that point, people got very picky about what they'd own.

As recent as the '90's, it was not uncommon to see 20-30 year old TV's still in use; but, most of their owners were older people who came from an era when it was very difficult to work for something and they are not quick to get rid of an item just because it's so-called "outdated". Much of the younger generation does not think this way and will simply run up more credit card debt in order to get the newest thing that's out there.

As far as B&W TV's, I know for a fact that 22" B&W consoles and metal cabinet table models were available at least until the early '80's and 19" B&W's were available at least until the mid '80's; so, that shows that there was a demand for such sets a good 20-30 years after color was introduced. I think the reasons B&W TV's held on as long as they did was because a lot of older people claimed that a color TV hurt their eyes and because back then, a basic 19" color TV still cost several hundred dollars while a 19" B&W set could be bought for $125-$150. Now, one can go out and buy a decent sized flatscreen TV for what a 19" color TV cost 30 years ago.

As for me, I watch so little TV that I don't care if it's B&W or color. Regardless of the set, I can still get a picture of what's going on and I don't think the time will ever come that I feel the need to spend hundreds of dollars on a new TV just so I can see more picture detail.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

As far as B&W TV's, I know for a fact that 22" B&W consoles and metal cabinet table models were available at least until the early '80's and 19" B&W's were available at least until the mid '80's; so, that shows that there was a demand for such sets a good 20-30 years after color was introduced. I think the reasons B&W TV's held on as long as they did was because a lot of older people claimed that a color TV hurt their eyes and because back then, a basic 19" color TV still cost several hundred dollars while a 19" B&W set could be bought for $125-$150.

I remember, back in the early 80's B&W sets being touted as a good way to watch old B&W VHS movies on. No color bleedover. But as VHS had a luma bandwidth of about 2MHz, and B&W TVs after color came out also had a low pass filter to kill the chroma subcarrier, they'd match pretty well. So if you were a big fan of 40's era classic movies, you were happy. Where's my Casablanca tape...

Today I saw at the dumpster a Sony flatscreen CRT, 16 by 9 aspect ratio. About 2 feet diagonal. No way I'd be able to pick it up...

[Electronic M]

If that sony is one of the models with the super fine pitch CRT, then I'd grab it if I were you. Those had the best CRT ever made resolution wise.