CRT video signal revisited

[Guest F14CRAZY]

To update you guys...

My CRT, err the CRT for the Electronic Control Center was having issues. For a while, sometimes, the bottom half would "sizzle." Then, it started going completely blank (digitizer still reacts). I pulled it out and took it to Home Electronics in Lansing (TV repair). The guy was pretty smart but never worked on such a unit. He spent some time touching all the connections with a soldering iron on the CRT assembly board, but to no avail. It actually ended up being worse, and was having horizontal sync issues (not readable).

So, last Friday, I picked up one pulled from a Rivi at Shroyer auto parts in Lansing ($150). I wanted one that worked cuz we wanted to take our Reattas up north for the weekend. Come to find out, this CRT is also having a vertical sizzle in about the same place. And, sometimes, it has like a horizontal sizzle. It's fine at other times though. My issues don't seem to be affected by bumps, heat, cold, etc; they're just random.

Now, I've got a better idea. I could return this CRT and have my old one rebuilt by the service on ebay ($150). I would be set for a while, but to me, these CRTs are just old and they're all going to eventually go bad. I've heard of the Rex service before, but I've also heard that the dude that works on them comes in every once in a while or something like that.

So, why not attempt to replace the CRT itself with a modern LCD panel? I would keep the Alps digitizer and all, so it would look pretty much the same, but without the curve or the burn-in <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. Now, I need someone smart...

I was digging through the service manuals at Reatta.net. In the file "89Reatta-42-8A-ElectricalDiagnosis.pdf", on page 194 (section 8A-83-2), there's a pin-out diagram for the CRT assembly. From what I know (I'm more into computers, mind you), the related wires are "video input", "horizontal sync input", and "vertical sync input". I'm thinking that an LCD won't need the sync inputs. Now, for the million dollar question...

What would happen if I tried soldering an RCA jack, or if it is, a coax connector, onto the video output wire and connected it to an LCD?

Thanks guys. WIll keep digging for any more info.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

I took another look out there and at the diagram...

There's the harness with the black connector and the harness with the red connector. I was thinking the red one (has 2 wires) was for power, but no, it's coax. According to the diagram, that's for the video signal (one of them) and the other is for the horizontal sync (the other).

I'm going to look at one of my dead CRTs and see if I can experiment with the connector, and perhaps, just perhaps, get a COAX OUT connector rigged up <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Guest F14CRAZY]

PIX ATTACHED

The first pic is the result of me soldering an RCA and cable onto the "video out" connector I pulled off a dead CRT assembly. The LCD (actually used for the Car-Puter) has an auto blue-screen so it won't show like snow or white noise, but as you can see, there's something there. Yes, it did change when I selected another "page"

The second is a zoomed out view of what I'm experimenting with.

Do I perhaps have the RCA cable soldered to the wrong terminal? I'm trying to use the "video out" pin but perhaps I did it to the "horizontal sync" one. I don't understand these diagrams very well.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

I just tried soldering to the other terminal, which SHOULD be the horizontal sync, but wanted to be sure...no video signal at all. It seems that if anything can be used, it'll be in pin 1.