CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

**Curt Palme**

I was given your web site by NEC. We have a Nec XG-1101 crt projector we suspect the red tube is gone...

Thanks NEC! Thumbs Up

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

Awesome!!!!! Long Live CRT and Curt's service business!!!!

Athanasios

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:21 pm Post subject:

NICE!

SC

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:26 pm Post subject:

All hail to the King! Laughing

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:36 pm Post subject:

I guess that looked like a pretty conceited post.. Wink

What I meant more by it was that at least NEC is referring people to this site instead of telling them to throw out the set and buy digital.

BTW, from the sounds of it, the tube is fine, the CRT video amp is toast.

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:28 pm Post subject:

I don't know about anybody else, but I knew that's exactly what you were saying. I think it's very cool that a big company has at least one individual that is bright enough to refer people to a resource that can actually assist them - especially in extending the usable lifespan of an existing piece of equipment instead of just telling them to toss it and giving them the 800-number for the sales department. I assume it's not "company policy", but it shows that NEC has somebody somewhere with a brain that can think outside the box.

NEC has a digital projection division, but doesn't seem to cater to the HT market - at least not with the current lineup...
http://www.nec-pj.com

SC

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

i'm glad you guys are doing ok with the site and have earned a (good) reputation. CRT forever Thumbs Up

stefuel · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:49 pm Post subject:

That's great for Curt but now I'm even more worried about Doug Baisey. He's the certified NEC repair guy around here and for the recommendation now to go to Curt seems to mean that Doug is no longer available Crying or Very sad

I hope I'm wrong

schmoe · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 374 Location: Seattle, WA

Yay to the Pacific Northwest economy - even if you are in Kanuck-land. Wink

I've been talking up your site a lot to my friends lately - first about HDFury and now about CRT pj's. I've said the words "Curt's site" so much I feel like we've been buddies for years. Smile

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:41 am Post subject:

schmoe · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 374 Location: Seattle, WA

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:02 am Post subject:

a projector? Just wait. You'll end up with at least 4. Smile

schmoe · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 374 Location: Seattle, WA

oh man, that sounds like a ticket to a divorce. I finally saw a crt pj in action this weekend (seen them before obviously way back when in the hi-fi stores but never really payed much attention). I knew they were big, but DANG!! Can't imagine having four of them.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:22 am Post subject:

Should I post a pix of my shop or storage or parts area for schmoe to show his wife, and say:

"SEE, I'M NOT THAT BAD!' Wink

(pix of my place have saved a couple of marriages from what I understand.. Wink

)

rod · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:56 am Post subject:

You should have seen my wife's expression when I opened the hatch of my van to show the 1208 in it's case. "ARE YOU F**^&% NUTS?". and then I bought a second 1yr later just to confirm it. Second one came in handy though once when I blew a board and had to send out to Curt for repair. Other than that it just takes room up in the garage.

Curt, I took the post from NEC as a pretty good reference. Good on you! Good for Nec too for recommending it. Someone there shows pride in their company (NEC) and puts customer service over making another buck. too bad he'll get fired now for recommending you to fix a CRT. haha

schmoe · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 374 Location: Seattle, WA

Going OT here, apologies, but y'all got me curious. What's behind the "stereotype" of pj owners having multiple pj's? Is it a spare parts thing? Or, pj1 died, time to buy pj2? Or I love pj's so much I need one for each season? Or is it not really as common as the last few posts made it seem? I'm willing to accept that my home theater will involve a certain level of involvement over time, but if that means having to buy multiple pjs.... I dunno... may have to re-think my strategy a bit.

rod · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:27 am Post subject:

it was a no brainer for me. I needed a blue tube for my first one (still ok but a little bit of uneven wear). started inquiring about cost to rebuild or by new. another 1208/2 came up on ebay at that time so I bid at the cost of rebuilt tube and won it. When it arrived it had perfect tubes so I just used that one and kept the orig for parts. In all honesty I get Curt to fix anyways so I'm not 100% sure why I keep it around. I guess it's handy for contingency but really I could never just throw it in the garbage - just can't do that with anything electronic and working. It's a terrible sickness to have.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:30 am Post subject:

Schmoe, to me it's all about the servicing. I saw my first CRT years ago, probably in 1983 or so, a curved screen Sony, with MTV playing on it via composite video. I was hooked. Not to mention the fact that I got one of my own (Barco Data with worn out tubes) about a year later, then I was working on early Ampros at a DJ installation company that I worked for until. 1988. I then went on my own and installed buckets of Zeniths all over BC.

When I found eBay and started buying the higher end data grade sets, it was all about..'what kind of picture can THIS one throw?', and 'How is this one made?'. I made up my mind about a year into CRT projector stuff (well before this website came about), that I wanted to put my hands on virtually every CRT projector ever made out there, and even bought ones that I knew I'd never sell, just to say I'd seen one.

So you don't HAVE to buy multiples. You just end up doing so. Smile

Usually what happens is someone knows someone that knows someone that knows that you have one of those 'big beast things' in your home. The conversation then goes: 'well sh*t, I still have one of those in my basement, he can have it if he wants it' and so it goes. Very Happy

I personally don't get heavily into tweaking sets as I've had to explain many times. I do the servicing, guys like Ken Whitcomb and Doug Baisey and Terry and many others can get the last ounce of performance out of a set. I dive into the sets when they die and I get the 'can I get it fixed for Superbowl?' calls.

I'll openly admit to spending hours on a board that I am losing money on, just to figure out why it failed. I then know for next time, when it turns into a 5 minute repair. I've done that lots of times.

As for NEC, ecrabb nailed it. It's nice to get the recognition for one, but it's also cool that someone there knows that there are still CRTers out there.

I called Barco simulation a couple of weeks ago to see if I could get my hands on a split pack. The guy I was talking to also knew who I was, and I know Barco was sending people to the site once they got out of home theater.

Despite the US economy, I just marvel at the amounts of money spent on things like HT back 5-10 years ago. While the industrial surplus market is drying up and has for a while, now the HT end users are pulling out high end Runcos and such, and a lot of times those are in better shape than what I've bought surplus.

Again OT, I parted out a Barco 708 today, one of the 25 I got a couple of months ago. It set a new record for Barco longevity...59,700 hours. Not quite the 68,000 hours that a MArquee had run that I got in last year, but pretty close.

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:28 am Post subject:

Heywood Jablome · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 1548

It's a testament to the concept of Community Support (in addition to Curt and Kal's hard work,) which the Open Source software community has enjoyed for years and which Software Theologians (MIT Media Lab, etc) have postulated would be extended to hardware.

Call us pioneers!

As for Schmoe's question about collecting... In my case it was a purchased BG801, followed by a very serendipitous freebie (identical model, separated by 11 in serial number!) that started me down this blind path.
An upgrade opportunity (from ES focus to EM focus in the form of a pair of 9PGs for $50 each) got me out of Barco into NEC... a couple of miscellaneous pickups (Runco 933, Barco 1208/2, Barco 708) and now a pair of Marquees (9500LC for under a grand, and a recently acquired 8110 for parts.)
Perhaps the appeal is logical: spare parts are cheaper in whole-set form... Perhaps illogical: the knowledge that the price/performance of surplus CRT projectors is unmatched.
In my case its' a mix of logical and illogical... I pick up new stuff so I can have something new to learn. That includes other expensive hobbies such as boating and now I'm looking into valve (tube) audio and audiophile speakers.

--Edit: I forgot entirely about the pair of RetroData 801 chassis I picked up for $300, intending to use for parts for the BG801... One is still intact and currently residing in my dining room while the living room is re-finished.)