Retronitor

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Retronitor

Postby kareno » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:40 pm

I have a confession to make. I have been thinking about getting into 405 line telly in some way. Heretical on these pages I know and 405 is far too many lines :)

I toyed with the idea of acquiring a 405 line set, having it professionally restored and either buying or making a standards converter. But that was rather more than I had in mind and, after all, there's a cost of ownership in running a valve TV. They have to be maintained and, as custodian of a piece of history, I'd be duty bound to do that.

All I really wanted to do was watch Troughton era Dr Who on a B&W set and to that end I came up with my 'Retronitor'!

The Retronitor sits in the lead of an XGA (1024x768) monitor and commits the following attrocities on the signal:
1. It makes the image monochrome
2. It low pass filters the signal to reduce the bandwidth
3. It suppresses (darkens) every other line

The result is an effective 384 lines (close to the 405 line 377 active scan lines) with visible line structure and a horizontal resolution to match. It is very close to my memories of the 405 line set I remember as a child.

Now I can play my Dr Who DVDs through my Retronitor and get that yester year experience!

I might set about putting the actual monitor (which I got from a car boot for £5) in a nice wooden case with a curved 'tube' aperture and 'station buttons' to control the monitor. But that won't involve gutting a real TV. That's terribly bad karma and not something to be approved of I feel.
kareno
 

Postby Dave Moll » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:44 pm

Karen,

If you do decide to recant and get into 405-line television, you will find a section dedicated to vintage television and another about standards converters etc at Paul Stenning's Vintage Radio Repair a Restoration forum. I will not go into further detail here as that might be deemed off topic even for the "off topic" section here. :)
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Re: Retronitor

Postby Harry Dalek » Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:31 pm

kareno wrote:I have a confession to make. I have been thinking about getting into 405 line telly in some way. Heretical on these pages I know and 405 is far too many lines :)

I toyed with the idea of acquiring a 405 line set, having it professionally restored and either buying or making a standards converter. But that was rather more than I had in mind and, after all, there's a cost of ownership in running a valve TV. They have to be maintained and, as custodian of a piece of history, I'd be duty bound to do that.

All I really wanted to do was watch Troughton era Dr Who on a B&W set and to that end I came up with my 'Retronitor'!

The Retronitor sits in the lead of an XGA (1024x768) monitor and commits the following attrocities on the signal:
1. It makes the image monochrome
2. It low pass filters the signal to reduce the bandwidth
3. It suppresses (darkens) every other line

The result is an effective 384 lines (close to the 405 line 377 active scan lines) with visible line structure and a horizontal resolution to match. It is very close to my memories of the 405 line set I remember as a child.

Now I can play my Dr Who DVDs through my Retronitor and get that yester year experience!

I might set about putting the actual monitor (which I got from a car boot for £5) in a nice wooden case with a curved 'tube' aperture and 'station buttons' to control the monitor. But that won't involve gutting a real TV. That's terribly bad karma and not something to be approved of I feel.


Hi kareno

What wonderful idea ....nothing like a 60's tv ! and to watch my favourite Doctor who on as well you have my blessing :wink:

We went right for 625 line back then so were we watching your tv in higher rates back then ? thats a turn around ...

Yes bad karma never gut old radios or tv's history lost if so ...i saved a 62 model tv from a dump shed in nsw before i moved to melbourne ..mines in a box at the moment.
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