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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:48 pm Post subject: Please help a noob with a Marquee 8500 |
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First off, I am new to the projector game. Yesterday I opened my big mouth at work, trying to be a smart ass, and ended up inheriting a slightly used Marquee 8500 and a moderatley used ECS 4101 (only have to pay for shipping and should have both next week). I have since done some research on these and found this site. There is so much information it's a little overwhelming.
I currently have a very cheap Viewsonic 32" LCD that I use to connect my PC, DVD, Cable Box, and Nintendo Wii and an older Pioneer VSX-14 handling my audio. I would like to use the Marquee to replace the LCD, but at this point the only thing I could connect is the PC due to the 8500 only having a RGBHV input.
My PC is a little older and would not play 720p content on the viewsonic, so if I was to go the HTPC route I would have to build a new PC. I have access to Extron, Kramer, and Gefen (company I work for is a dealer) and I may be able to go external with a scalar. My wife also has me on quite a tight budget for this project.
I was looking at the Gefen HD Mate Scaler. At $349 list it may be a good fit. Anyone have experience with these?
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4173
Any help would be appreciated as I would like to have something at least jury rigged for the Superbowl.
Thanks in advance,
Alan
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draganm
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 8990
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: Please help a noob with a Marquee 8500 |
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alan cheap scalers aren't worth the plastic they are encased in. Here;s a better option, there's a Moome DVI input card on videogon for $100., plugs into the Marquee's expansion slot. Then get a $20. DVI to HDMI converter and plug your blue ray directly int oit. Whoila, instant HD and well upscaled DVD too. 
BTW, there is one thing you MUST do with that 8500 and that's check the P14 voltage to the tubes. don't wind up like this poor guy
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1101731
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Angus_rg
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 339
Location: A planet far, far away..... Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:10 pm Post subject: Re: Please help a noob with a Marquee 8500 |
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| draganm wrote: | alan cheap scalers aren't worth the plastic they are encased in. Here;s a better option, there's a Moome DVI input card on videogon for $100., plugs into the Marquee's expansion slot. Then get a $20. DVI to HDMI converter and plug your blue ray directly int oit. Whoila, instant HD and well upscaled DVD too.
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I used the first gefen and it looked great in comparison to non-scaled. I'm sure it won't hold a candle to a lumagen or AVR with a reon chip, but at the time it was the best cheap solution around. Since then, AVR prices have dropped significantly and you can get one of them Onkyo xx-606(or similar) deals for at most 50 to 100 bucks more; and they probably do as good if not a better job(and improve your sound to boot). The gefen looks great at upscaling a SD picture, but if your main source is movies, Dragnm's idea is probably the best way to go(with an hdmi switch from mono price if you have multiple hdmi devices). I got one because I wanted a cheap scaler for SD. Turns out I never watch SD short of an upscaled DVD; so it was really just a waste for me.
If you have multiple signals of the same type, they will probably require different setups(for contrast, convergence, etc), but the marquee will allow different setups the same input, so a decent KVM would work great.
If using a HTPC, a lot of people have said that VGA looks better than hdmi, probably because your doing RGBHV straight out, rather than YUV Digital to Analog RGBHV conversion(Your pic won't get down-scaled by using analog - See Curt's hooking it up section, I think it mentions it). I've I never done an a/b side by side test, but the difference is negligable.
I'm running Blu-Ray on my HTPC that way, and it works great. It can be a head-ache to set up(a separate monitor is a must). Splurge for a netflix streaming BR player(LG and Samsung have one?) and you've got an all in one for around $400 bucks(including the moome). Or get a $50ish AGP Radeon 3450ish card with built in h.264 decoding and get a cheap player/use the PC for netflix, even if the PC isn't powerful enough for blu-ray(I've heard many people say they run single cores with no problem using a hardware accelerate video card, but I've never tested.)
Before investing a ton of money, get familiar with a good setup. That will make the biggest improvement of all. With a decent setup; you probably won't care about any of it 10 minutes into the movie. I'm still relatively new, and learning a ton, and the best improvements I've had where when something finally clicked(Lens Flapping, Astig, etc).
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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My Marquee showed up at work today!
I have a little more information now. It's a Marquee 8501 ACON (missing the ACON camera though), model 38-P13085-AC, manufactured April 1998.
The LVPS is MOdel 10-172, Rev.5B and the HVPS is an X2532 (with a note saying 'updated to ECN#11312).
I have reseated the boards and given it the once over, but haven't powered it up yet. I know the first thing I need to do is check the filament voltage, but I'd also like to find out how many hours on this thing.
I'm excited to joing the CRT projector world. I've been having CRT withdrawl ever since I stopped working on old Cintel flying spot scanning Telecinies.
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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I just checked the hours;
CRT's On : 8057
Standbay: 115
I guess these are pretty high hours.
What is the best way to check the tube face condition. I've looked through the lens with a flashlight, but I can't say I'm seeing any burn (which I should at these hours). I've seen burn before on telecine tubes, so I know what I'm looking for (but on a telecine I could look directly at the tube face) . I'm assuming I have to remove the lens?
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draganm
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 8990
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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| aenglish wrote: | I just checked the hours;
CRT's On : 8057
Standbay: 115
I guess these are pretty high hours. |
for a Marquee chassis that's nothing. If it's truly a 98 model then the filament voltage should be fine. However I would check, folks have gotten older power supplies in newer chassis before and got burned. look through the side grill and see if there's a trim pot or small daughter board. If it's a daughter board then you have the newer Ultra style LVPS.
| aenglish wrote: | | What is the best way to check the tube face condition. I've looked through the lens with a flashlight, but I can't say I'm seeing any burn (which I should at these hours). I've seen burn before on telecine tubes, so I know what I'm looking for (but on a telecine I could look directly at the tube face) . I'm assuming I have to remove the lens? |
lenses help on with allen head cap screws, remove the lenses with a 5/32's hex-bit on an extension.
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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I just removed the green lens and I'm not seeing any burn. I've shone a flashlight accross the surface, but it looks good. Maybe it was re-tubed recently?
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Nashou66
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 16171
Location: West Seneca NY
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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| aenglish wrote: | | I just removed the green lens and I'm not seeing any burn. I've shone a flashlight accross the surface, but it looks good. Maybe it was re-tubed recently? |
I would say it was if it has over 8k hours with no discernible wear, Nice Score by the way!!
Get ready for the upgrade bug!!
What is you location by the way, maybe some one near by can help with the set up.
Athanasios
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Marquee Modifications and Performance Enhancement
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Curt Palme
CRT Tech
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 24396
Location: Langley, BC
TV/Projector: All of them!
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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Check the filament voltage, it should be OK with a 1998 build. It might even be an Ultra...
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Nashou66 wrote: | | aenglish wrote: | | I just removed the green lens and I'm not seeing any burn. I've shone a flashlight accross the surface, but it looks good. Maybe it was re-tubed recently? |
I would say it was if it has over 8k hours with no discernible wear, Nice Score by the way!!
Get ready for the upgrade bug!!
What is you location by the way, maybe some one near by can help with the set up.
Athanasios |
I'll try again with a better flashlight. The lightting is terrible in our warehouse.
I'm in Leduc, Alberta (just south of Edmonton), but I work in Edmonton. The projector is likely to live in my Edmonton warehouse for a while until I can get more junk cleared out of my basement and track down or build a screen.
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Curt Palme wrote: | | Check the filament voltage, it should be OK with a 1998 build. It might even be an Ultra... |
I'll check the voltage tomorrow, gotta take my sone to beavers tonight!
How would I tell if it's an Ultra? I don't think it is, but it would be nice.
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the_avguy
Joined: 16 Mar 2007
Posts: 91
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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| aenglish wrote: | | Nashou66 wrote: | | aenglish wrote: | | I just removed the green lens and I'm not seeing any burn. I've shone a flashlight accross the surface, but it looks good. Maybe it was re-tubed recently? |
I would say it was if it has over 8k hours with no discernible wear, Nice Score by the way!!
Get ready for the upgrade bug!!
What is you location by the way, maybe some one near by can help with the set up.
Athanasios |
I'll try again with a better flashlight. The lightting is terrible in our warehouse.
I'm in Leduc, Alberta (just south of Edmonton), but I work in Edmonton. The projector is likely to live in my Edmonton warehouse for a while until I can get more junk cleared out of my basement and track down or build a screen. |
I'm in Edmonton as well, nice score.
Does your buddy have any more. 
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marquee still in pieces, just gathering knowledge.
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:16 am Post subject: |
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| the_avguy wrote: |
I'm in Edmonton as well, nice score.
Does your buddy have any more. |
I think this was a one shot deal, but they'll let me know if another one comes up.
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the_avguy
Joined: 16 Mar 2007
Posts: 91
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:54 am Post subject: |
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| aenglish wrote: | | the_avguy wrote: |
I'm in Edmonton as well, nice score.
Does your buddy have any more. |
I think this was a one shot deal, but they'll let me know if another one comes up. |
haha, yeah probably but if there are more that would be cool, thanks.
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working ECP 4100.
marquee still in pieces, just gathering knowledge.
optoma ep729
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schmoe
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
Posts: 374
Location: Seattle, WA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:54 am Post subject: |
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| aenglish wrote: | | How would I tell if it's an Ultra? I don't think it is, but it would be nice. |
Hi Alan, welcome to the board. You mentioned earlier the model number is 38-P13085-AC. According to the ETech site that makes it a non-Ultra. Still a great pj to "inherit". Congrats!
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aenglish
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 78
TV/Projector: Barco BG808s (2002 build)
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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I removed the lenses this morning and took some pictures. These look pretty pristine to me, how about to the rest of you?
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7199 Time(s) |
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7198 Time(s) |
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AnalogRocks
Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26706
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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Good deal! You should get lots of life out of those tubes providing the projector hasn't been on in standby for many thousands of hours.
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Nashou66
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
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Location: West Seneca NY
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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Definitely low-hour tubes. FYI, there is absolutely no wear whatsoever from what I can see... If there's any wear it all, it usually shows up in Photoshop when you crank the shadow slider and gamma... I get nothin'. They look minty to me - no wear whatsoever.
Pick up a set of color-filtered HD144's and a set of Joust's adapter plates and that'll be one hell of a nice machine!
SC
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Angus_rg
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 339
Location: A planet far, far away..... Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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| ecrabb wrote: | Definitely low-hour tubes. FYI, there is absolutely no wear whatsoever from what I can see... If there's any wear it all, it usually shows up in Photoshop when you crank the shadow slider and gamma... I get nothin'. They look minty to me - no wear whatsoever.
Pick up a set of color-filtered HD144's and a set of Joust's adapter plates and that'll be one hell of a nice machine!
SC |
I'd leave it be for at least a few months. Get use to how beautiful that picture is then try and score HD144/145s. Then you'll really appreciate how nice they are.
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