Things you see when you don't have a gun

Hanging out in Dunedin, NZ currently...

Saw these tasty little curiosities in a second hand store last week:

Commodore 1084S

These Commodore monitors go for $100+ in Melbourne. Wish I could fit this one in my suitcase...

GoldStar

Model No. CBZ-4822

There's the SCART!

I don't know much about GoldStar TVs. Certainly wasn't expecting this dusty $5 job to have a SCART port. Amazingly, the little Sharp sitting beneath it was SCART too!

Sharp

Model: CV-48A4NZ

Next in line was this little beauty!

Thomson Life

Sugar V - Type: 426/TX807C

That's what we like to see...

I would have loved to cart all these units home and fire them up! I reckon my in-laws wouldn't have been too pleased about that though, loading up their lovely Dunedin home with dusty old TVs. They do have a rather empty garden shed though...

This shop was full of all sorts of crap. I reckon these TVs will still be there on my next visit... as long as the place doesn't fall down! I'll be packing a VGA to SCART cable next time, just in case.

South Dunedin shop front.. slight structural problem!

Little gems

Over the road there were some cute little portable TVs. No SCART but still pretty cool. Plus, I saw a little Philips identical to the TV I had when I was kid, playing Paradoid on my Commodore 64. Sweet!

Ah, the memories!

Back in town, I could hardly believe that Modaks Espresso coffee shop had two working arcade cabs in the back room! Both set to "free play" to boot! Pity the monitors were completely shot.

Toki! The "1 player" button was actually "jump".

Fuzzy...

Street Fighter II... blurry!

Door bell?!

There are also a bunch of "takeaways" shops that are sporting cabs too!

Overall, Dunedin ain't so bad when it comes to SCART and arcade hunting!

Blaupunkt Revival!

I finally got brave enough to tackle the burnt-out flyback in my favorite ever Blaupunkt.

I'd had the new flyback that I'd purchased from Dönberg sitting around for weeks and I finally cleared enough space in my tiny little computer/music/storage/geek/cave to get a clear run at the repair.

I'll spoil the ending right now and reveal that this story has a very happy outcome!

I guess this post is about demonstrating how easy this kind of repair is if you have the right tools and nothing else blew up when the flyback bit the dust. I've heard all sort of tales of HOTs and other components burning out when a flyback blows but, fortunately for me, the damage seem to be isolated the fly. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I was watching TV when the flyback shat itself and I quickly cut the power.

So, here goes!

The solder side of the old flyback

Top view of the old flyback

Old flyback desoldered. Only a 5 minute job with a Hako 808!

New & old. Notice the burn marks...

New unit soldered in

All hooked up and ready to glow!

The moment of truth arrives...

Once soldering in the replacement part in I said a little prayer and hit the power switch. I was pretty nervous because I paid a pretty penny for the new fly and I had waited ages for it to arrive. I was ready for disappointment but knew I'd feel pretty down if it didn't work out...

After flicking the switch I was pretty thrilled to hear the familiar sound of static filling the tube. Then, I turned out the screen pot on the neckboard and was greeted with a glorious sight:

Magical snow!

It was an amazing feeling to see this beauty spring back into life! This is seriously one of the sweetest units I have ever seen and it was a real shame when it died. Getting it back is a really nice thing.

R-Type Leo

Willow

Close up... it's REAL good!

As you can see, it's a pretty amazing TV. As good as I remember it! The photos don't really do it justice... it's even better in person.

This television hits the sweet spot for me. Stable, great focus, vivid colors but not clinical like a Sony PVM or overly digital like some modern Loewes and Grundigs. Add the analog pots into the mix and it's pretty much perfect.

Pretty happy!

You got mail!

The SCART Hunter finally has a dedicated email address!

Now you guys don't have to track me down through eBay, shmups, KLOV or BYOAC.

Feel free to email all your CRT/SCART/GroovyMAME questions:

SCART mail

 I can't promise to solve all your problems but if it's something I know about, I'll be sure to get back to you!

Please don't be upset if my replies are a bit laggy... sometimes work and life get in the way of all this fun stuff. ;)