Converting TV CRT to video games

Projammer

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The company I work for is in the process of changing out several dozen televisions for LCD. Various makes/models/sizes.

Right now everything is sitting out on the dock waiting to be hauled off to a recycling facility. Would it be worth my while to grab whatever I have room to store? Can the tubes be salvaged and converted to game monitors by replacing yokes and control circuits?

Is there a guide thread somewhere on here that I couldn't find?

Thanks
 
What size are the tubes? 19" would have the most options but 25" tubes are becoming very desireable now as well.

Generally speaking you can salvage the tubes and a few other components. If the tube yoke and neck are compatable with an arcade model then it can be a drop in situation. Otherwise, as long as the neck is compatable, there is a bit of work involved in converging the picture. Any WG manual from the 1980's has a convergence procedure that I use for this type of thing.


Worst case scenario the tubes are not compatable but there are still other useable parts:

Neck socket
rubber yoke wedges
convergence magnets (not the rings, the strips or chevrons directly glued to the glass)
Assorted components from the boards
 
I haven't measured them or looked up models, but they look like 19 to 23. Mostly Magnavox, but some Sanyo's and Philips in the mix I think.
 
The company I work for is in the process of changing out several dozen televisions for LCD. Various makes/models/sizes.

Right now everything is sitting out on the dock waiting to be hauled off to a recycling facility. Would it be worth my while to grab whatever I have room to store? Can the tubes be salvaged and converted to game monitors by replacing yokes and control circuits?

Is there a guide thread somewhere on here that I couldn't find?

Thanks

try this:
http://www.8liners.com/datatech/monitor.html
 
If you like a little bit of ghetto hackery, a lot of '90s TVs will take a sync signal pushed through the A/V input to get the CRT to sync, and then you can splice in your RGB signals to the RGB lines going to the neck board in place of the composite decoder. You'll have to crank up the flyback and won't get it very bright before you see scanlines, but it's a decent poor man's RGB monitor for when there are no other solutions available immediately.
 
There is absolutely no reason for a TV modified with this method to not look as good as a proper arcade monitor. Simply make an RGB amplifier out of a quad op-amp if necessary.

Avoid all the flawed transistor-based RGB amp designs. They might have been good in the 1960's.
 
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I have several TV tubes in my games and they look great. Better than any rebuilt and rejuvinated tubes I have done.
 
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