[mythtv-users] MythTV with Vintage Gear

[Brian Wood]

On Friday, November 26, 2010 02:02:49 pm Christopher X. Candreva wrote:
> The path my post about audio cards has taken has gotten me wondering
> if anyone else uses their Myth system with what mighe be called
> vintage gear.
> 
> While my TV is now a Vizio 1080p 37", my main stereo is a 1971 Yamaha
> CR-400 and a pair of original Advent Loudspeakers, given to me by a
> cousin when I was in college around 1987. In 1990 I added a dbx
> subwoofer from the DAK catalog, the one they sold as "Krakatoa
> Erupts".
> 
> For completeness the setup still includes the BIC turntable and Akai
> tapedeck the system came with. I am currently using the turntable,
> through the stereo into the Myth frontend to digitize any of my
> record collection that can't be obtained otherwise.
> 
> Is anyone using anything older ? A Heathkit TV you built yourself
> perhaps ?

I have built a Heathkit TV, but I no longer have it.

But until recently I had a:

Radio Craftsmen RC-201 B+W TV set. This was sold originally by Leonard 
Radio on Cortlandt Street (Radio Row) in NYC. It was sold as a chassis 
and CRT mounting hardware only, you had to provide your own cabinet.

The chrome-plated chassis had about 30 vacuum tubes in it, including a 
"Magic Eye" for tuning. The tuner is a continuously variable type, and 
tunes the FM band as well as low and high VHF TV (no UHF), some cams 
switch off the picture circuits while tuning through the FM band.
It's similar to th RC-200 here:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/radio10_rc_200rc20_tv_fm_chassis.html


I was using it with a 16TP4 CRT.

It cost $250 in 1952, which was a LOT of money back then (perhaps 6 
month's pay for a laborer).

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/radio10_rc_200rc20_sw_television.htm

It had many high-end options, like switchable IF bandwidth filters, push-
pull audio output stage and it came with an electro-magnet type 
loudspeaker (no permanent magnet). The CRT needed a permanent magnet 
type ion trap, which was tricky to adjust.

This was not an intercarrier set, it used separate video and sound IFs 
(the sound IF frequency was 21 Mhz., to the dismay of local hams on 15  
meters).

I no longer use the set, it's an antique, and consumes a lot of power. 
The cabinet is custom made of cherry wood, and is very nice, but not 
practical.

But it did once actually produce a picture from a Myth system, although 
B+W and pretty soft (the CRT is pretty low on emission).