• Bad flyback? [Video]

    Jeremy g. • 07/09/2016 at 07:10 • 0 comments

    so Im kinda stumped on this one. I'm pretty sure it's the flyback making the noise, but it may also be the high voltage plug into the bulk of the crt.. I can't quite pin point it.

    I don't work on crts, I know there dangerous. Keep on hand in your pocket while working on them, this is know. I've been hit by one before and it does not feel good. I also proved all the grounds and the 12v line so I know those are hooked up fine.

    Anyone have an idea? Is the crt dead or is it just the fly back?

    Until then I will start in on the tiny crt again. And see what's going on with that one.

  • Big brother.

    Jeremy g. • 07/08/2016 at 07:13 • 0 comments

    so I managed to get my hands on pretty beefy view finder.

    I think it's around 2 inch maybe a bit smaller. Takes 12v and consumes 2.3W

    I can't seem to find a pinout for the 8 pin din connector it has. I do know two of the pins are ground including the outer shield.

    I though I found it but It wanted to draw more than I expected it too.

    If I'm right.

    P = V^2/R
2.3W=144/x
× = 64ohms.
I = 12v/64ohm
I = 191mA

    So at best this unit should consume around ~200mA.

    After some time... make sure you look at your multimeter... had mine on the 10A plug. It didn't like that, that's why it was drawing so much current. It was my meter doing it.

    So I found the 12v pin, set the current on the power supply to 300mA max and the unit draws ~220mA all while making a horrible bussing noise.. the caps are either bad again, this thing is from the 90's or the flyback is bad.

    I want to incorporate this unit along with the smaller unit into one clock. I did find a Diy driver online from http://tubetime.us/?p=304 I may end up building it just to make my life easier.

    Oh heres a pick of me dangerously probing the device :)

    Here's hoping I can get these working.

    Stay happy, stay healthy, and keep hackin.

  • Bad caps..

    Jeremy g. • 06/26/2016 at 21:30 • 0 comments

    Seems as though something in the control board has gone to crap. I moved the setup today and separated the wires to clean up the "harness" and put the casing back on the crt.

    Labeled all the wires, then proceeded to hook the crt controll board back up. Flip the power supply on and wohhh 1.2Amps!!! That's alarming I thought.. I quickly shut the PSU off and checked my connections... everything was fine.

    I can't quite figure it out. Although I haven't taken much time to debug it yet. The flyback usually has a nice high pitch whine that only my wife can hear, so that didn't happen (I can hear it when the unit flips on and then it goes away.)

    All in in all the unit from what I have seen only consumes around 110mA. Give or take a few mA. None of the chips seem to be effected, I connected the secondary ground and all the leds light up on the control board. So I am hoping that it's just an old cap that failed closed and is allowing current to pass.

    I'll replace the caps and post another log update when I figure out what is going on. I'd hate to think I somehow fried the little guy...

  • Synce issues fixed.

    Jeremy g. • 06/24/2016 at 07:43 • 0 comments

    Figured out the synce issues.. it helps if you input video to the right pin..

    Now we are stable. I ordered a samd explained board so I can start coding before my custom board gets here.

    This should be fun to port since this is my first foray into 32bit micro's.

    I'll play around with the code some more and get an actual time displayed, maybe put a fallout type slide screen on it. Or play around with some effects.

    Time to re read the white paper on i2c and pal television specifications.

  • Sync issues..

    Jeremy g. • 06/23/2016 at 03:20 • 0 comments

    Seems as though I am having some sync issues with the TVout library for the Arduino uno (current test board until my arm board gets here).

    Funny enough I left it on all night and it had somewhat synced sometime during the night. I don't have the best video and sync setup atm, I will fix that tonight and properly terminate the av line to see if that helps.

    I have also modified the library code as per the all mighty Google, I can get it to just barely stop scrolling but it won't stop.

    Small update while I sit and do nothing...