CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

Nah, I was just trying to be a little bit humorous. Not taking exception to anything.

Actually, some tubes I HAVE gotten for free. But they're all visibly worn and will probably end up costing me money
to get them recycled.

It's just so easy to pick up one more tube when it's free and you can BARELY see the wear....I've got to stop that, it's costing me money!

modelaratrod · Joined: 26 Jul 2011 Posts: 168 Location: Denver, CO.

I'm interested. Smile

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I admit I'm kind of surprised at the relative lack of interest in this group buy I'm trying to put together.

I can almost predict what will be said a couple of years down the road.

Somewhere, between this and the other CRT forum(s), the few remaining active CRT enthusiasts will all decide to
get together for a final meet and toast to the dying memory of the projection cathode ray tube, and watch a movie
on the last set of fresh 9" tubes in the last running Marquee on earth, and someone will say, "Hey, remember when
the last CRT manufacturer, MIKADO SEISAKUSHO, finally said 'screw it', threw in the towel, and brought a final end to
projection CRT manufacture, back in late 2016 or early 2017? And remember when that guy, CJ, offered, just a
few months earlier than that, a chance to get in on a group buy of P19LUG tubes for peanuts, used tubes but just
barely, all pretty much like brand new? And none of us could be bothered to get off a measly 600 bucks for a complete
spare set of guaranteed great tubes? Were we a bunch of short-sighted fools, or WHAT???? Who here wishes that
he had got in on that deal, which never even happened because we didn't see into the future, and could not have predicted
that the EMPs from those sub-orbital nukes popped off when the Second Crusades went critical, would have blown the crap out
of every digital projector on the planet?, leaving only the CRT projectors still standing, but with no tube supply to support them
anymore? "

OK, that's a bit of hyperbole, but if you're wondering if maybe you want to buy some tubes, and have any wish to have a spare
set for the future, you know, just in case, be aware that the day IS going to come when projection CRT manufacture WILL end,
and though it's not here yet, the only two manufacturers still in the game that actually make P19 tubes are Mikado and Lexel, and I think only Mikado is providing tubes in quantity right now. The Clinton operation shut down a few years back, which is a shame
as they made a fine tube. But then again, Lexel and Mikado deliver a quality tube as well. The only issue I've seen with any of
them regarding tube quality is that I've seen some Lexel tubes that had some white phosphor spots in both blue and green tubes. But a white emission spot is far easier to ignore than a black dead spot on the tube face.

CIR Engineering · Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 10:48 pm Post subject:

I want to take three sets, but I am just not sure I need them... I've got at least four sets now and who knows how many more clients will want to retube. Most of my long term CRT clients already have a spare set.

I'm going to give this some more thought.

craigr

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

PM sent to acknowledge. Thank you for your interest.

We have commitments for five sets so far, and some interest from a few others. Seven more and the game is ON!

If I have not sent you a PM regarding your interest, please send ME one. I want to get your name on the list
so everyone who wants in can be contacted once we have the required 12 sets committed. (or more. We can always go for more than 12 sets.) I'll be acquiring a few spares as I can expect a couple of tubes to fail to test good enough.

Just say you're interested, that's all the commitment I need right now.

Nobody will be asked to make any deposits or throw any money in until I have commitments for 12 sets/36 tubes.

CIR Engineering · Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 11:15 pm Post subject:

Hey Chris,

Just to be clear, I am not committing to buying any sets just yet. I need to contact some clients and see who might be interested.

I have been contacted by several members regarding this group buy and what I think of it. To all who care for my opinion, I think this is a good opportunity and if you are interested you should opt in for a set of tubes. CJ has been on the forums for a long time and I think he has proven himself to be a stand up guy. If in doubt, buy a set of these tubes.

My $0.02
craigr

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

Just expressing interest is good enough for me, for now! No worries, I'm not going to ask for any real commitments
until I have people saying "I think I want in on this" to move 36 tubes / 12 sets.

There's a commitment, and then there's a commitment where you put your money up. I'm only asking for the first kind,
at this point. The second point requires 12 sets worth of stated interest.

huggy · Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 11:38 am Post subject:

How much do you think shipping is to Australia per tube, just out of curiosity Very Happy

Dave

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

Per tube or per CRT assembly? There's a difference of about 14 pounds between a bare tube, shipped, and a complete loaded assembly, shipped.

A bare tube, ready to ship in the fitted foam padding and double wall box, is seven pounds. I think it's 21 pounds for a loaded
tube with coolant and magnetics.

Box dimensions are 24.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 inches.

They'd ship from Florida, USA, zip code 32937.

With this information you should be able to estimate shipping costs yourself, wherever you happen to be.

huggy · Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 1:06 pm Post subject:

Yep sorry , shouldve been more clear. Bare tube, I'll work out the rest. I have a friend who has no spares ( I have 12 Mr. Green

) but I'm greedy and cant spare any lol.
I'll work the shipping out and see if its viable.

Dave

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

Air freight may be the cheapest way. I have found from experience that directly booking a shipment with an airline can be much cheaper than doing it through a non-air carrier freight booking service.

So, not attempting to be stereotypical, but if you're in Australia then I would find out what it would cost to ship these things via Qantas Q-Go air freight on Qantas and partner airlines. I take it to the Orlando FL airport and it goes on a Qantas partner flight, presumably to LAX, and at LAX it transfers to a Qantas flight heading to an airport servicing (hopefully) a location within reasonable driving distance for you.

Investigate the cost of this if you wish. Or I will, if you tell me what airports are close enough to you that you would be willing
to drive there to pick up your tubes.

I can say that several years ago I shipped a crated Marquee via air and it was HALF the cost of ground transportation, as I remember it. And it was so easy. I filled out one form and delivered it to the freight terminal, signed some paperwork,
gave them a check, and that was that.

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

Rocco said he might be interested.

lhpardue · Joined: 31 Aug 2010 Posts: 6 Location: West Virginia

I commit to two complete sets of the p19LUGs.
Will send funds when you are ready to proceed.

Larry

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I'm counting INTEREST in 11 sets.

Just one set to go!

If you have expressed interest but have not actually said "I'm interested in X sets or tubes" at this point, if you are actually interested in making this happen, please state your interest with a number of tubes/sets you are interested in, and if you are
not interested in an RGB set, specifiy what you do want.

Like I said earlier, there's commitment and then there's commitment with money changing hands.

I'm asking for commitment, but you are under NO obligation to proceed until we have made an agreement via private message
between you and me.

Even then, that's just a solid expression of interest. Real commitment comes only when you decide to send money.

I will not ask you to send money until I have enough definite requests for sets to make at least the 12 set minimum order.

All money paid will be refundable upon request until such time as I have locked down the deal and set a time to go get the
tubes. Which is a day's drive to get them, and a day's drive to bring them back.

I will be purchasing an extra set or two just in case some tubes end up not being good. A few spares are advisable.

So if you've said you might want some, please (re)affirm your interest at this point so I can get the count right on the number
of sets that people have said they want.

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I've decided that I myself will buy one extra set to make 12 sets. So let's see who steps up.

The day has come. State your commitment.

When 12 sets are COMMITTED, and only when 12 sets are committed, then I will confirm that the deal is still on
with the tube source.

When they say yes, then I will have to ask you to put up your share of the money.

When all buyers of 12 sets (OK, 11, since I'm pitching in for a set) have stepped forward
then you ALL have to pay up before I make the trip.

My direct email address is
cmjohnson@cfl.rr.com

Please contact me if you are interested in participating.

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I just want to be clear about one thing: You're only buying the tubes. Shipping of the tubes to you will be a completely
separate deal. I do not charge more to pack and ship than it actually costs me.

I use VDC approved packing methods so the tubes have a very good chance of arriving undamaged.

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

Be advised, I will also be offering neck card conversion services (Marquee only) for using your Marquee neck cards with LUG tubes.

This modification still permits you to use the same neck cards with LCP tubes.

The modification consists of the following items:

1: Remove socket 6 and drill out the hole to accept the G2 lead thru it. (LUGs have G2 on pin 6.)
2: Remove 330K resistor connected between pin 7 and ground and replace it with a 4.7Megohm resistor.
3: Resolder the joints on the two large resistors on each side of the card.
4: Move the heater wires to the back side of the card to reduce 60 Hz noise in the video chain.
5: Replace the two electrolytic caps on the board with two 160 volt rated, 47 uF, 105 degrees C caps.
(At this point most cards are old enough that the caps are due for replacement due to age alone.)

If you are buying tubes from me, send me your cards to be modified and I only charge shipping.

If you are not buying tubes from me, I charge 25 dollars per card.

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I've only had two "interested" parties actually contact me and assure me of their commitment.

You're going to have to do better than that if you want this deal to happen. No way am I going to make the effort for
just three sets of tubes, even if the source would agree to sell just three sets.

I'm setting a deadline for this. June 30th is it. That's a month from now. If I don't get firm commitments for a dozen sets
or more, (actually 11, because I'll pick up one set) then the deal is off and will NOT be offered again.

If this deal happens I'm going to have to take a seven or eight hour road trip to get to the source, spend a few hours selecting and loading tubes, and spend another seven or eight hours getting back. I'll take two days out of my life to do this and drive farther than I like to in order to help you guys out. I hope you'd appreciate that I'd make that effort for you.

But if you don't want to get off 200 bucks per tube for this (most likely) last, best chance you are ever going to get at getting new
condition P19LUG tubes, then I won't have to deal with that long drive, which is a real pain in the butt. That'll make my life easier.

Blended909 · Joined: 01 Jun 2016 Posts: 1

LOL, drama llama much?

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I'm just telling you that this offer won't be available after a certain time. I'm not waiting forever and people who have expressed initial interest need to let me know if they are STILL interested now that I can at least THINK of getting the ball rolling.

This isn't a charity. I'm putting time and effort, and, yes, some of my own money into it, hoping to do the community a good turn
and in the process make a few bucks to cover my EXPENSES that will be incurred by the effort I must make to bring this to fruition.

The way I see it, you've got a 22,000 dollar projector hanging from your ceiling, new tubes cost 2000 each, I am offering tubes
that are new in everything but name alone for just 10 pecent of that, and if you plan to keep using the thing long enough to want to retube it, or you have worn tubes right now and would like to upgrade for really not a lot of money, then you should be giving some consideration to joining in on this deal.

I'm busting my hump for you guys for what will work out to a not very impressive hourly wage for myself, after counting the time
and effort and driving time and related expenses that I'll incur by doing it. But I'm not going to push it for very long. End of the month comes, the deal's cancelled if it's not moving. Part of the game is knowing when to quit.

If you're not interested in joining in on the group buy, why are you even here making comments?