CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

Hi.
Finally, 13 yrs old dream of getting Barco CRT projector came true. And it is uber rare Cine 8 Onyx with only 105 hours on it, original box, all manuals and remote. Even original Toshiba AA batteries is still sealed in original package. Now I want to ask advice from forum gurus, what will they do with such treasure? I mean recommended screen size to minimize tube wear, maybe some components on boards needs attention. I've opened unit prior to powering it on, but havent found any traces of leaking / bad capacitors etc. Dear Curt, maybe you still remember those models? And second question - one of lens has deep scratch near the very bottom, is it still possible to get one? I remember seeing Curt's ADs from 2010 about lens from similar Zenit unit.
More pics of boards and internals will come tomorrow, forgot normal DSLR at home.

gregstv · Joined: 27 Aug 2007 Posts: 628 Location: Australia

Great score. I am jealous. This this should produce stunning pictures once all setup.
Maybe look at what needs to be done to add better lens. I did read somewhere that the corner focus on these is not the best.

gjaky · Joined: 05 Jun 2010 Posts: 2802 Location: Budapest, Hungary

This barco is a nice score, except for one thing: the lens. Somehow Barco decided to put this HD215 lens on the machine but is in fact a very cheap and simple lens. Yes, Zenith 900x uses this same lens, and that's it -it does not even have corner focus capability. If you are already to replace one of the lenses your greatest upgrade would be a whole new lens set, a HD-18 probably.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 3:12 pm Post subject:

Wow, I love the letter! Interesting that there were only 40 made. I think I`ve seen 5 of them total. Smile

Great image out of that unit, no question! I haven`t tried HD18 lenses on them, not sure if they will work. I would not go bigger than 2.4m wide or so, and make sure you use the most of the tube face without going over the edge. Keep contrast as low as possible, but at this point, even if you watch a movie a night, you`ll get 10+ years out of the tubes, and I`m not sure that the chassis will last that long..

Where are you located?

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

Added more photos. Curt, I'm from Moscow, Russia.

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

Removed also lens to clean from dust and made some photos.

Can anyone comment about lens replacement, one of HD-215 currently installed has scratch, so I had plans replacing them.

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

Also spotted marking on blue tube, it is P16LNP07BMB. I suppose mine Barco has MEC tubes, right?

**kal** · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 3:10 pm Post subject:

Where exactly is the scratch? If it not near the phosphor surface you won't notice it on screen. Example: a big scratch on the front (outside) of the lens won't be seen on screen at all. I had an older Barco that had a dime sized chunk out of the front of it and it didn't do anything to the image. This is due to the way lenses work (on the outside the entire lens surface is used - it's not until you get back near the phosphor surface that it starts to matter if there are any nicks or scratches).

FWIW I had this projector myself for years (a Zenith 1200 which is a clone of the Barco Onyx) and really enjoyed the picture it threw. Yes, there's no separate corner focus but if you only watch movies it's not that noticeable. More apparent with text and game/movie taskbars. I'd notice it (for example) when going through the menus on the PS3 or in the progress bar when watching a movie, but not so much when the movie was actually playing. IMHO it's not worth swapping out the lengths. I wouldn't (and didn't) bother.

More info here on this projector: http://www.curtpalme.com/Zenith1200.shtm

This too was written when I had the Onyx: http://www.curtpalme.com/Barco_Setup_Quick_Reference_Guide.shtm

I wrote the old greyscale for dummies guide while using this projector too: https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=10457.html

A lof of the CRT content I've written on this site was based around this projector so if you read around and read my early CRT posts you should learn a lot about the Cine 8 Onyx. I got to know mine very well.

Kal

**kal** · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 8:48 pm Post subject:

More threads:

Quieting the fans: https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=3606.html
(Not worth it - you'll create too much heat - use the stock fans)

Some info on the lenses: https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=15710.html

Kal

km987654 · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:16 pm Post subject:

gregstv · Joined: 27 Aug 2007 Posts: 628 Location: Australia

I have added a fan behind the green neck board. The switcher and RGB driver now the regulators run cool. Next I will do the same to keep the Horizontal / Focus board cooler. I used the same fan as the convergence board

**kal** · Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:17 pm Post subject:

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

Thank you very much for so much advices, already read all topics you mentioned.
Some quick questions:
1) http://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_4/images/zenith-1200X-projector-lens-focus-knob-scheimpflug-bolts.jpg - this photo shows proper bolts for scheimpflug adjustment? I'm afraid unbolting wrong bolts and lose liquid from LC.
2) Is IRIS system works properly for geometry adjustment? In my case it works very good for convergence, but always brokes geometry of projected image (I've set H/V offsets to 0 and focus of camera to 89).

**kal** · Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 5:56 pm Post subject:

I don't remember exactly which boots are to be used. The manual/on screen instructions should tell you.

I never used/tried IRIS. You can always do a better job manually.

Kal

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

**kal** · Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 9:10 pm Post subject:

Ah! That was many years ago. Smile

I'm not sure which ones need adjusting. Adjust a bit and see. You want to the ones that adjust the plane of the tube face relative to the lens.

Kal

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

Anyone know where to get Zenit 1200 training material and service manual? Want to check voltages on PSU and see how yoke adjustment is made.

km987654 · Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 11:50 pm Post subject:

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

RussianE39 · Joined: 06 Feb 2016 Posts: 8 Location: Far-of-the-world

I've tried searching, but found nothing for "Zenith 1200" Sad

Anyone knows, is usual Barco 808 chassis similar for such adjustments to mine Cine 8 Onyx ?