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Any way to make my B/W screen amber?

ardsleytank said:
Well, here goes.

I called. The lady asked me what I was replacing, I said it was a RCA 12VCLP4, then she asked what I wanted to replace it with. I said, with a VDC1204DP31BE or a VDC1201DPDBBE. (Green, and Amber) She then told me that neither are interchangeable with 12VCLP4, nor are either of the VDC tubes interchangeable with each other. When I asked her why, she said they had mechanical differences, which I believe means the mounts are different.

So, I looked at the one at Ebay, and from what I can tell, the mounts are the same as the RCA tube as are the plugs on the neck.

What should I do?
Click to expand...

You probably spoke to Gina, the resident CRT scholar at VDC. What she doesn't know isn't worth knowing and she has been there for years, possibly decades.

Just order by part number:

VDC1208DP31BE for green
VDC1208PPDBBE for amber

Now, when I last enquired about amber tubes in 2012 they had sold out, and she was supposed to get back in touch with me if they did another production run of them. Have not heard back from her. If the VDC1208PPDBBE is back in stock let me know. Their web site can be deceiving, stating things are in stock until they check the CRT warehouse, which I suspect is old, dusty and un-computerised.

For those interested in numbers and technical specs, here is the data sheet on VDC1208 series: http://ianmav.customer.netspace.net.au/downloads/VDC1208P-BP.pdf

And finally these are the only two tubes I use on the Model I/III/4/4D, they work with all video boards, the only modification needed to either CRT to fit it into a Model I monitor is carefully remove the mounting lugs.

Mav has spoke.

Ian.
 
TRS-Ian said:
You probably spoke to Gina, the resident CRT scholar at VDC. What she doesn't know isn't worth knowing and she has been there for years, possibly decades.
Click to expand...

I love it!

Personally, I don't like amber screens. Green ones don't bother me, but my dad hates them. I seem to recall seeing a slightly bluish white phosphor on at least on monitor, which I rather liked. Or maybe it was slightly whitish blue.
 
Now what would it take to get an amber screen on a my model 6000 running Xenix. I'm going to at least look into that.
 
Yeah, nobody has them. Best luck will be to find someone here, or on Ebay.

As for me, everybody, I bit the bullet and ordered VDC1208DP31BE.
 
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There's going to be run on amber monitors at VDC! I'm starting to like the idea of putting one in a Model II.

Gina's going to be overwhelmed!
 
Alrighty then.

IT CAME!!! :D Yeah, the Fedex lady just came by, and I have already installed the tube. But there's a catch.

Upon installation, I fired it up. I had the settings perfectly adjusted for my B/W tube, but apparently it was to much for this one. The screen was completely green.

So, I fooled around with the brightness/contrast knobs, and I got it to look okay, but It's real fuzzy on the edges. Like, worse than before. Also, when I boot it up, the screen goes green, then back to normal.

So, is it an electrical issue? I noticed what I think are some potentiometers on the video board. Can these be of use?
 
Yeah, I forgot to add, that when the contrast knob is turned all the way down, it still has a raster to it. (I think that's the right term?)
 
Yes, there are other adjustments, the so-called "sub-brightness" is often just a trimmer on the video board. But I read this thread and can't determine exactly what model TRS-80 that you have!
 
Okay, I more or less fixed the fuzzyness. Not perfect, but no worse than when I had the B/W tube.

However I have not fixed the contrast issue. When I turn the contrast knob all the way to its lowest setting, it's still too strong.
 
Alright, so since this topic is really not appropriate, I'm going to start a new thread, as I have some other issues not previously mentioned.

Thanks again guys!
Peter
 
@ardsleytank, one last question. I thought you originally wanted amber? Did they not have the VDC1208PPDBBE in stock?
 
Also, I got my order receipt in the mail. Turns out, the sales lady I spoke to was indeed the famous Gina!
 
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