Re: Flat-panel Apple II ???

[Jeff Blakeney <CUTjblakeney@sentex.net>]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 08:49:56 GMT, Simon Williams
<DON'Temail@luddite.ca> wrote:

>That's a thought... lately I've been thinking about trying to build 
>some sort of luggable Apple //. Originally I just wanted to find a 
>lightweight monitor for my //c, but lately I've been thinking that
>A IIgs would be a good project... still the biggest hitch is finding
>a suitable (and cheapish) monitor. I've seen some 5" B/W CRT TVs for
>sale for $25, which have composite video inputs built-in, so I thought
>that would may be be an option... at least it won't cost a fortune to
>find out. But really a little flip-up colour monitor would really be
>nice...

Back in the early 90's when I used to do security work, I wanted to
take my IIgs to work with me for my 12 hour shifts on Saturdays and
Sundays so I set up this sort of thing.  I had a 5" B&W portable TV
that ran on 12VDC and I had a small 12VDC 1 amp power supply so I
decided to use it.  My TV didn't have composite video in, only a 1/8"
jack for hooking up an antenna.  I grabbed an RF modulator that I had
pulled from an old pong type game years earlier and wired it up to the
same power supply and to the TV.  I hooked my IIgs' composite video
out to the RF modulator and set the control panel to monochrome and I
was very surprised by how well it worked.  I could actually read the
Finder's menu bar in 640 mode.

That TV has since died but I haven't given up on that type of set up
for a luggable Apple II.  I have a 7" colour TV that runs on 12 VDC
now but it takes between 1 and 3 amps to run and is quite large and
heavy so I probably won't use it.

Radio Shack had some 5" colour LCD TVs for sale a while back for about
$400 CDN that I thought might work half decently too but I've never
been able to afford one to play with.

-- 
 Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the Apple II University in the
                 Apple II Community on Syndicomm.com
 CUT the obvious from my address if you want to e-mail me