CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[banzairun]

I was growing tired of looking at (and listening to) my RG808s and finally have some time to spare.. so I picked up a couple more pj's and dug out my cache of them over the last week.. I want to get a pj on the celing again in the next couple weeks.

I have a couple 1208/2's.. one works perfect and the other is missing the SMPS, RGB in & V boards. I have a second working RG808S I'm going to part out as the tubes rank about a -0.0³. I know the boards are not interchangeable between the 808s and the 1208/2, but they are fairly similar.. has anybody converted them over or is it just too involved? A list of changes (traces cut/jumpers or component changes) is all I'd need, I'm plenty proficient. Otherwise I guess I need to track down the boards.. I'd trade the working RG808s boards if there is interest.

Also IIRC, I read that Eismann had a strange rev of software that would work with the earlier chassis but had the later features? Anybody used this? would it allow me to stick the RG808s RGBin board in the 1208 and use input 6 (component)? or is there any other way to do this at all? I have plenty of device programmers so I only need a binary file.. is there an archive of software available? Or at least, what is the latest rev available for the 1208/2? I have 5.33 in there now.

The 1208 has low hours and CRT's that are about a 9.5 so I would be interested in updating the thing a bit as it'll probably be a keeper.. and at least getting the second one working so I can pass it on as it has good tubes as well.

I also have a late 2000-build Christie M8500 Ultra/p43 with low hours and 9+ CRT's. I've been using Barco's for the past 10 years and was really impressed with the thing. I'm well aware that it's a superior unit to the 1208/2, and after using it for 10 minutes I can SEE that it is.. I was planning to stick with Barco and get a 1209s down the road, but the Marquee rocked my world a little bit.. So I haven't totally sold myself on which projector I'm going to keep just yet. All I know is that I'm not going to hang an Ampro.

I didn't have a problem setting up the 8500 and had it looking great in about 20 mins including setting the grayscale.. but after powering down (not unplugging) it lost the geom/conv for the same source I set up, though it remembered everything else so I didn't check the CLM batt yet. Obviously this is probably an easy one for you guys, do I need to turn ASR off or something like that? I catch on quick but this quirk caught me.

Has a rock-solid 6.28 on P14. Should I bother modding it?
I also need a lens bay cover for the 8500 and some sort of mount if I plan to keep it.. any original mounts floating around?

I have a 4200GX that works fine and has 9.5+ CRTs, but they seem to have unusable emission (all 3 are equally dim). HV is correct so I assume the cathodes are just worn from being left on with no source for a year or more (it was from a submarine simulator).

Now that we have tubular outlet I'm thinking I might just get a set of tubes for it, but has anyone had any luck with a rejuvinator? The phosophor is perfect and it would be a shame to ditch the CRT's. Otherwise, I assume I can just drop 09MFX3 or LUG's into the chambers? no mods necessary to the neckboards, etc? I could also use a blue sd146 for an Ampro 4000 that otherwise works great.

Sorry for such an ambitious post.. I might have to split this up into smaller bits!

Thanks!
Jeff

[Tim in Phoenix]

Hello

Your Ultra lvps has a redesigned filament circuit so there is nothing to mod for filament voltage.

.

[papalek]

The 4200 just needs to be turned up a bit. All of the AmPros that I have had look best if the signal is hotter than what you feed the Barco or Marquee. With the same signal your contrast on the Ampro will be in the 90s to get the output the same as the other two. Code 94 and 95 will adjust the sub bright and sub contrast. They should be at least 50. The sub brights are best if they are close to 50.

[Heywood Jablome]

I've had great success with a rejuvenator. So far I've cleared shorts and fized low emissions on three P19s and three P16s.
They DO require some understanding (which it sounds like you could come to pretty quickly) to not damage anything, tho.

[banzairun]

Thanks guys!

The 4200 surely needs the tubes to be zapped, good to hear a success story.. It's so rare to run across good tubes with low emission so I doubt this happens that often. I've had the contrast & bright maxed and it still has trouble throwing a pic. I'll double check the subs, but I'm sure they're dialed up a bit. I haven't touched the thing in 9 months probably so I'm a little fuzzy. I've used the Sencore CR70 & 700 before (mostly on Electrohome arcade monitors) so I can handle it. I tried calling around and no TV shop has one within 20 miles of here. Anybody in the NJ/PA/NYC area have one?

[Heywood Jablome]

I eBay'd mine for $113 delivered. Looks like it was sat upon by a large, large woman, but it worked fine and came with all the adapters. It was a CR-70 BTW.
I struck out trying to find a shop locally that had one... there was one TV repair shop, a RP specialist, that wanted the whole set... I said "familiar with the Electrohome Marquee 9501LC are ya?" then went ebaying.

One of the success stories with this CR70 was a red (IIRC) in an Ampro 3600 that had way too little emission for the G2 wheel on the neckboard to light up. A little Sencore lovin and the thing greyscales beautifully!

[stefuel]

[tse]

[banzairun]

I checked heater and G2 when I last had them out.. they were fine. I've repaired hundreds of monitors over the years and plenty of Barco's.. but these are just the first Ampro's I've dug into, and I've never ran across a projection tube that is a rejuvenation candidate so it's nice to hear a success story.

I'll just see if I can get a CR70 or 700 off ebay if no locals have one handy.. I was going to buy one a couple years ago when they were still ~$400 so thats good that they're fairly cheap now--I suppose they're not too useful in most shops these days.

[macgyver655]

What are the settings on your sub contrast and sub brightness? What is your G2 voltage? How about G1?