Re: IIgs Monitor Repair

[ferdimh@gmx.de]

On 8 Jan., 23:47, Polymorph <polymorp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> By the way, it has become pretty obvious during the course of
> performing this repair that the Apple II Monitor FAQ may require some
> revising. As I stated in an earlier post, one of the suggested
> solutions to a problem sounding very much like mine was to replace the
> filter capacitors. Now, it would seem that performing this action
> would do very little to fixing this problem (as I found out the hard
> way). Does this sound like a fair comment, or is it just that my
> problem was a little different from the "normal" problems associated
> with this monitor?
>
Well I think you just misunderstood it. The FAQ entry describes low
brightness and bad focus which gets better. This indeed can be caused
by bad caps.
But you problem is not normal. HV divider problems are usually more
erratic, and this is also said in the FAQ.

> Maybe with some agreement from you experts, we could have it revised
> to include some alternative solutions. This will probably be more and
> more relevant as time goes on, as more and more monitors will begin to
> fail.
>
> What do you think?

There will be another problem coming up: Even if we are able to keep
the electronics running we can't stop the picture tube's aging
process.
Sooner or later the picture will be dim and blurry.

We really need to watch out for alternatives. Maybe transplants are
possible, but we should watch out for replacement monitors.
If you live in Europe, you can use your TV-set because they're fitted
with SCART connectors here. And most picture tubes used in PAL TV sets
are even sharp enough for the 80-column-mode.
One could add RGB inputs to a TV-set, or one could try to convert RGB
to YUV and connect it to a TV-set.
I'm working on a VGA adapter board for the //e, but I don't think this
can be adapted for a GS. It would be possible if there's digital RGB
video available.
Sooner or later we'll have to use LCD monitors on our good old Apple ]
[ gear.

Ferdinand (who hopes that his 23'' CRT monitor will last forever)