It’s time for another CRT-based post! This time it’s a Matsushita 40CB4-based viewfinder from 1980. These came from JVC colour tube cameras, and are physically massive! I’ve already worked out the pinout on the multicore cable here & attached a usable connector. There’s lots of information on the bottom label
Following on from the viewfinder teardown, here’s the rest of the camera. This unit dates back to 1980, and is made almost exclusively of cast aluminium. Very little plastic has been used here & only for the bits that the user comes into contact with. This camera is based around
Well, it’s time for another viewfinder hack! I’ve been after one of these for a while, this is from an early 1980’s era Sony Trinicon camera, and instead of the tiny ½” round CRT display, these have a 1.5″ square CRT – a Matsushita 40CB4. Luckily I managed to score
Continue readingSony HVF-2000P Viewfinder Teardown & Composite Video Hack
Here’s the CRT & it’s drive board removed from the main chassis. Nicely modular this unit, all the individual modules (radio, tape, TV), are separate. This is effectively a TV itself, all the tuner & IF section are onboard, unlike in other vintage units I’ve modified, where the tuner &
Here’s the CRT circuitry from a tossed STVG-502 Karaoke Machine, which got a good soaking in Manchester’s brilliantly wet weather before I managed to get hold of it: I didn’t do a full teardown of this unit, since it was soaking wet & smelled rather badly of sour milk, so
Here’s the other TV that was picked up from the local water point having been put of to be recycled. This one is much newer than the Thorn TV, a 10″ colour version from Ferguson. The colour CRT used is an RCA branded one, 27GDC85X. Like the other TV, this
The old Panasonic NV-M5 has the standard for the time CRT based viewfinder assembly, which will happily take a composite video signal from an external source. This viewfinder has many more connections than I would have expected, as it has an input for the iris signal, which places a
Overview Time foe some more retro tech! This is a 1980’s vintage CCD-based VHS camcorder from Panasonic, the NV-M5. There are a lot of parts to one of these (unlike modern cameras), so I’ll split this post into several sections to make things easier to read (and easier to keep
Here’s a small flyback / Line Output Transformer from a portable colour TV set. Usually these transformers are vacuum potted in hard epoxy resin & are impossible to disassemble without anything short of explosives. (There are chemical means of digesting cured epoxies, but none of them are pleasant). This one
Continue readingCRT Flyback / Line Output Transformer Destructive Teardown
Here’s another Sony Flat CRT TV, the FD0280. This one was apparently the last to use CRT technology, later devices were LCD based. This one certainly doesn’t feel as well made as the last one, with no metal parts at all in the frame, just moulded plastic. Being a later
Here’s an oddity from the 1980’s – a CRT-based portable TV, with a very strangely shaped tube. Sony produced many types of flat CRTs back in the 80’s, with the electron gun at 90° to the curved phosphor screen. The front panel has the display window, along with the tuning
Going through eBay recently looking for parts for a couple of CRT-based projects, I came across these DC-DC converters. Apparently rated from 45-390v DC output at 200mA, these should be ideal for driving some of the electrodes (focus, screen, grid) in a CRT. Above is the top of the board,
I’ve had a couple of viewfinder CRT modules for a while, & haven’t done much with them, so I decided to make a very small B&W monitor. I ordered a small transparent ABS box when I made a large order with Farnell, that turned out to be just about the
Alas, my old trusty Hameg HM303 30MHz oscilloscope has finally died. I’ve had this scope for many years, an eBay buy when I noticed they were going cheap. It’s been replaced with a brand new Rigol DS1054Z, a 4-channel 50MHz DSO. This is a big jump from the old analogue
Here’s another viewfinder CRT, removed from a 1980’s vintage VHS camera I managed to get cheap from eBay. This unit is very similar to the last one I posted about, although there are a few small differences in the control circuitry. Here’s the schematic, showing all the functional blocks of
I recently managed to score a 3″ B&W portable TV on eBay, a Panasonic TR-3000G. As these old units are now useless, thanks to the switch off of analogue TV signalling, I figured I could find a composite signal internally & drive the CRT with an external source. Here’s the
Here are the viewfinder electronics from a 1984 Hitachi VHS Movie VM-1200E Camcorder. These small CRT based displays accept composite video as input, plus 5-12v DC for power. Here is the front face of the CRT, diameter is 0.5″. Closeup view of the PCB, there are several adjustments & a