untitled

the TV eye

I don't watch much TV. It's insulting that we are expected to find that shit entertaining, AND to believe the commercials. But I digress...

My attorney used to work at an audio-video shop (before being burdened by a law degree). It was at this job that he got the car that has become Mazdalicious. But I digress again...

One day the guys were taking down a 25" JVC TV that had been a wall-mounted display model. They dropped it and cracked the cabinet, and it stopped working. So they gave it to my attorney, and he gave it to me.

Then it sat in my closet for a couple years. I finally got it fixed for about $100, and it worked great. Except the cabinet was still all smashed up.

I scored a VCR and a laser-disc player, so I could find something worth watching.

Once, during finals week (13 finals in one week!), I started thinking about that shitty-looking TV. All my stereo gear is mounted in an SAE rack, and I wondered if you could just gut the TV and mount the guts in the rack. Then you could just run longer control ines to the tube, and mount it anywhere...

The local electronics shop didn't have much useful advice because no one had ever asked them if this could be done. So I bought some high-voltage lead and potting putty for the flyback (27,000 volts!) and set to work. Carefully.

I cut each lead going to the tube, and lengthened each one by the same amount in case there were some critically-timed signals. The only one which scared me was the flyback. I extended it w/50kV-rated silicone solid-core lead (basically spark-plug wire) and heat-shrinked everything. I used lots of silicone putty to re-anchor the lead in the transformer.

I found an old rack-mount power supply that UCLA was tossing, and scavenged the case. The TV chassis board was installed and a new front panel was made. I punched a hole in the front panel for the remote sensor.

I made the tube's steel cage at a friend's studio, and suspended the tube on four stiff springs. The top bracket is lag-bolted to a ceiling joist. It looks like a big electronic eye peering into my living room. Perfect.

I hung everything, and plugged it all back together, and it works perfectly. Even the remote still works.

Deliberate Fabrications

Studio

Front Door

the TV eye
I don't watch much TV. It's insulting that we are expected to find that shit entertaining, AND to believe the commercials. But I digress...
	My attorney used to work at an audio-video shop (before being burdened by a law degree). It was at this job that he got the car that has become Mazdalicious. But I digress again...
One day the guys were taking down a 25" JVC TV that had been a wall-mounted display model. They dropped it and cracked the cabinet, and it stopped working. So they gave it to my attorney, and he gave it to me.
	Then it sat in my closet for a couple years. I finally got it fixed for about $100, and it worked great. Except the cabinet was still all smashed up. I scored a VCR and a laser-disc player, so I could find something worth watching.
Once, during finals week (13 finals in one week!), I started thinking about that shitty-looking TV. All my stereo gear is mounted in an SAE rack, and I wondered if you could just gut the TV and mount the guts in the rack. Then you could just run longer control ines to the tube, and mount it anywhere...
	The local electronics shop didn't have much useful advice because no one had ever asked them if this could be done. So I bought some high-voltage lead and potting putty for the flyback (27,000 volts!) and set to work. Carefully.
I cut each lead going to the tube, and lengthened each one by the same amount in case there were some critically-timed signals. The only one which scared me was the flyback. I extended it w/50kV-rated silicone solid-core lead (basically spark-plug wire) and heat-shrinked everything. I used lots of silicone putty to re-anchor the lead in the transformer.
	I found an old rack-mount power supply that UCLA was tossing, and scavenged the case. The TV chassis board was installed and a new front panel was made. I punched a hole in the front panel for the remote sensor.
I made the tube's steel cage at a friend's studio, and suspended the tube on four stiff springs. The top bracket is lag-bolted to a ceiling joist. It looks like a big electronic eye peering into my living room. Perfect.
	I hung everything, and plugged it all back together, and it works perfectly. Even the remote still works.
	Deliberate Fabrications
	Studio
	Front Door