Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!hogpc!houti!ariel!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!sri-unix!prindle@NADC.ARPA From: prindle@NADC.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.micro Subject: TV surgery Message-ID: <12106@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Mon, 17-Sep-84 15:41:31 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12106 Posted: Mon Sep 17 15:41:31 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 07:24:55 EDT Lines: 21 You can make an excellent B&W monitor out of one of those cheap ($75) 12" TVs (I did it with a Panasonic). An isolation transformer is a must - you can make one out of two Radio Shack 24 volt transformers (the big ones, about $6.89 each) tied back to back. By tapping in one transistor away from the picture tube cathode, adding bias and level controls, and feeding in the (truly hefty) luminance signal from a Commodore 64, I got a high quality, high contrast (adjustable) monochrome display far better than most monitors I've seen on display for more bucks. The secret of this cheap mod to the set (4 wires: GND, +10V, Luminance in, and Luminance out), is that the Sync and Audio still take the RF modulator path!! Sure, the screen shifts about 1/4 inch to the left (the sync is slightly delayed), but the display is great. I suppose you could make a similar mod to a color TV to feed raw luminance and chroma in, but you'd need a lot bigger isolation transformer, and more complex surgery; too much for me, I just bought a 1702. P.S. It seems a whole new industry has been spawned from personal computing. I have seen no less than 3 companies now advertising TV receivers without display (sort of like a VCR sans CR) to put the Hill Street Blues right there on your computer monitor!