Long Live Halolight!

[miniman82]

She lives!

Thanks to all who provided input, schematics, ect.

Here's a few pics to drool over!



The cabinet is in fair shape, few dings but not enough to make me want to redo it.




Inside is pretty nice, but the doors are sometimes hard to open.




Set playing, lights on, Halolight set to dim. I still need to do a few minor tweaks to get the centering and linearity perfect, but all in all it's not doing too bad considering I didn't replace the filter caps!




Next, what everyone wants to see! Lights out, set playing, Halolight set to dim.




Lights out, set playing, Halolight on MAX! It really does get quite bright.




Here's the chassis.




Hope you guys like it, it's the neatest thing in real life!
BTW, thanks to Mark for letting me pick this thing up. I hope to get that Magnovox console, and start working on that soon. I broke my cherry on B&W sets, now it's time for the real deal!

[Reece]

Halolight is far out, love the lightning bolt "Zot" on the speaker grille. Really, really oughta replace the 50-yr. old electrolytics, though: if they short.....

Reece

[zenithfan1]

Great job! I've wanted to see that set work for some time now. You're welcome for the set, thanks for giving it a new home. Really glad to see the Halolight working. The doors are hard to open because the little metal striker plates are missing from the top and bottom of the doors, look for some on an old piece of furniture with doors that "click" shut. Those plates are what pushes in that little ball in the latch without wearing the wood out. You'll see the nail holes and cutout area where they go.

[compucat]

I know this is off topic but I really like that white 12" GE sitting on the floor.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by compucat

I know this is off topic but I really like that white 12" GE sitting on the floor.

It's my brothers, but I'm sure he'll let you have it if you pay shipping. It's solid state, I think. I'm sure he won't mind, since I just gave him a pair of Sylvania 13" tube color sets, also from zenithfan1 (Mark). I'll call him in a little bit, if you really want it.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

The doors are hard to open because the little metal striker plates are missing from
the top and bottom of the doors, look for some on an old piece of furniture with
doors that "click" shut.

Thanks for the tip, I'll start looking!

[rockin1150]

very cool, coming from a guy that aint very old.

[zenithfan1]

Hey, BTW, what was wrong with the Halolight? Also, there are at least 3 more sets at my house with your name on them

[compucat]

Originally Posted by miniman82

It's my brothers, but I'm sure he'll let you have it if you pay shipping. It's solid state, I think. I'm sure he won't mind, since I just gave him a pair of Sylvania 13" tube color sets, also from zenithfan1 (Mark). I'll call him in a little bit, if you really want it.

If the cabinet is not cracked, I'll gladly pay shipping. I really have a thing for 12" B&W sets and this particular model is one of the better ones. Just let me know.

[Dan Starnes]

Attaboy for sticking with it. Nice job.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

there are at least 3 more sets at my house with your name on them

That's cool, I hope the name on one of those is WINGATE!!!!

Just messin' with ya. I still have to grab that Mag console, but what other ones do you have in mind? Some of the other B&W's, I assume?

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

BTW, what was wrong with the Halolight?

You know, it's kind of a funny story. I was so close to taking the tube to a neon sign shop to have the electrodes and gas replaced, since it initially didn't do anything at all. I knew the transformer was good, and so was the control and resistors. I messed with it for a while then gave up, assuming the tube was past it's prime. When I set about working on it this time around, I was originally only gonna grab the tube and take it with me back to Waukegan to take to the sign shop, but I hooked it up on a whim to give it one last chance.

I'll be damned if the thing didn't blink at me! That gave me hope, so I removed the tube from it's plastic frame to investigate. When it was on the bench it worked just fine, minimum brightess all the way up to max. Put it back in the plastic housing, nothing. Strange??? Methinks.

I checked for 120 VAC at the Halolight connector, which I got.

If you could get the tube to come on at all, a simple touch of my finger in a certain spot would be enough to cause it to shut off, so I suspected static was playing a role. The plastic and the light were both pretty dirty, so I gave both a good scrub, then shot them with anti-static spray.

That's when it started working no matter what I did to it. I could touch it anywhere, and it wouldn't turn off. So I mounted everything back into the set, powered it up, and viola!

So, I guess the lesson learned for other Halolight guys is- clean the thing out???

I'm not saying my tube still isn't bad, only time will tell. But for right now, it seems to be doing pretty well! I let it run for a good hour, and when I came back it was still going strong.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by rockin1150

very cool, coming from a guy that aint very old.

Ummm, me or you? lol