I built CRT TV from a kit I found on Ali Express, and you can too! 

Good luck ! Thanks for keeping us updated

Did you check the Voltage working, with signal? you transformer supply the current, and voltage ? You must chech all the capacitor have good values in every line of supply. Try disconnect the power supply line to IC audio D386 ?

@Monochromatik The algorithm has been very good to me lately!

I enjoy things like this! Hey, I discovered that my CRT has a 6.3V heater, but the FBT is putting out much less than that. I have a fix, and once I have done it, I'll make a video and post a link if that is ok.

2023 will be the year this CRT kit is finally figured out 😉

I have a second kit on my bench right now, however I am replacing MANY of the components with quality parts. The vertical defection transistor really did need a heatsink!

You can still buy new CRT Analog TV in my country Indonesia, but mostly obscure local brand that use this kind of kit to produce new TV. We still have analog PAL broadcasting here because failed analog shut down this year.

@@faustinuskaryadi6610 wow interesting

@@ElectronicInspiration Even the obscure brands that I said are selling new CRT that able to receive DVB-T2 signal and stream RU-vid video (by adding USB WiFi dongle).

@@faustinuskaryadi6610 i wish they sold tvs like those in australia.. we moved to lcds very quickly and never looked back

@@ElectronicInspiration sad, isnt it? we used to believe in backwads compatibility, and now that ideas long gone... always amazes me the deal about colour transmission being backwards compatible to B&W... a standard we managed to maintain for approximately 70 years... old gerry harvey had some deal going, im sure..."gotta sell more TVs... maybe with that "cash incentive" krudd gave us all.... hey, lets remove the old analog transmission that even if its not the best picture, still works when the reception gets a bit lousy... take that away and theyll ALL have to buy one! think of the import taxes you can tack on to my $5 units! " i miss ghosts, ants, static. i miss being able to follow the storyline as the audio was almost always coming through strong, even if the image was disintegrating into mere shapes and shadows... and i could still tell what it was an image OF! "format not support" "no signal" were going backwards faster than were going forward...

The yoke shipped in that position, It was moved as close to the back of the tube as possible before power on.

@@RetroTechorDie I think that is the wrong direction to widen your picture with the yoke. Yes you power supply is to low. The amp need to be enough as well as the voltage. Check out shango66 RU-vid, he restores old TV's.

If I wasn't getting on a plane in a few hours I would be checking this right now.....As soon as I get back!

@@RetroTechorDie How'd it go? I'd really love to see this working!

@@newq he forgot about it

Yeah, this thing acting like if the power is not enough! ⚡

I just completed mine and it shows absolutely no signs of life other than Q2 and IC1 being warm and Q7 being scalding hot. I'm using the DC input jack instead of the transformer and it reads -11.5 at the base and ~-12.5 at the emitter (using the heatsink as ground).

It absolutely was! I am happy it "worked" I have another one on the bench now with better parts ordered from Digi Key... stay tuned for part two!

@@RetroTechorDie If there was one a little larger with color, I would consider building it for my retro video game consoles.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for watching!

Welcome aboard!

Good call on that transformer. I will source another.

Wait no more! lol But please wait for part 2!

@@RetroTechorDie OK

I am seriously debating ordering another one just for the tube and flyback, and using better components.

This video was a lot of fun, I have part 2 in the works now.

@@RetroTechorDie siiiick

The listing says greater than 380 lines....but who knows if I can trust that. Once I get the power issues sortes we will have a better idea.

Still as of 2011 :)

Only current manufacturer as of 2024 I believe is Thompson electronics for use in military and aviation maintenance.

That’s a bummer! When I ordered my second kit it was missing parts, I contacted them through AliExpress and they shipped replacements for free. Might be worth a shot to contact them.

Anything with composite video out can connect (or RF).

Its worth the ride!

My gut is telling me all these caps are jut bad....or at least very poor quality.

Bingo. China uses PAL-D video and the US uses NTSC. The signals are similar (for black and white) but use different timing, and that difference is showing up as the funny-sized image. It might be possible to modify the circuit to use NTSC, but it would be challenging.

D880-Y NPN

look at the schematic, the CRT heater is driven from a winding off the FBT. pins 4 GND and pin 2 via a resistor , most likely very low voltage.

I don't see any reason why it couldn't.

...believe it or not until people commented I didn't know who DankPods was...I just wanted jazzy music

I saw that and I really want to make a handheld game device with it.

@@RetroTechorDie They also sell small analog camera sensors and I think making a video walkie talkie would be cool. I don't know if making it wireless would be worth the trouble but wired would still be cool. Mount a small camera w/mic above or next to the CRT on each end and have it show up on the B&W 4in CRT w/speaker on the other end. I think it would be a relatively affordable project.

Yes, Its as far forward as it can go. I even "carefully" bent the coils to allow it go closer. However looking at images of a "working" unit that yoke is as close as mine.

This picture tube cannot display colour no matter what.

Colour CRTs have a triple gun assembly and a shadow mask with colour phosphorus lines. This tube puts out only one electron beam and has a monolithic phosphorus screen.

This was my biggest fear when I ordered mine.

Agreed, issues is no documentation shows expected voltage. Regardless I will keep troubleshooting.

@@RetroTechorDie In fact, if there is, You have the diagram what more need? According to the datasheet, and the same page, they say that it is powered between 8 and 12 V with 10W.. The ic need between 8 12 V maximun, more will destroy,10V is nominal The D386 need 4 - 12 V maximun... more will destroy.. 6V is nominal You can use a 7806, three terminal regulator with a head sink, for the input voltage to IC D386

Yeah that's rail sagging... Seems like the transformer doesn't put out enough current/voltage or a stabilizing capacitor, voltage regulator etc. doesn't work properly.

B/W by design.

The last person you want to sent it to is “shango066” you get a interesting video but won’t be on what you think about it be on repairing it. It will definitely likely end up being a EOL video.

Sounds like Vertical Line Collapse, could be an easy fix... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--Esmvx9vZ9k.html&ab_channel=shango066

I updated my description with Amazon Affiliate Links. Thanks!

Its got a circuit bending vibe going on

I got the same results with the speaker removed and moved in different positions.

Don't you need a special screen for vector graphics?

That is an interesting idea, I would venture to guess with better parts (and a new main board) its possible.

@@RetroTechorDie The IBM manuals archived at minuszerodegrees do include the schematics for a few of IBM's various monitors from the PC/XT/AT era. Definitely the monochrome and colour ones used with the original PC, though not the Enhanced Colour Display for use with EGA. EDIT: There's a link to another site which does have the circuit diagram for the Enhanced Colour Display, but you have to pay for it.

That project may or may not be on my work bench now...

Likely NOS from 15 years ago.

I am (still) working on a second monitor I bought, but I swapped out all the components (at least the ones I could find replacements for).

i also bought the kit and i will send the dimentions. Wait for a bit. i will edit this message to let you know

@@janno288 Thanks, very much, i clonated the PCB from the photo taken from google images. I used for a reference the dimensions of LM386.

Mine measures 5 5/16 inches (135mm) wide by 6 1/4 inches (159mm) long.

@@RetroTechorDie THANKS!!!!!!!! I will post my results.

@@TheXoriso Looking forward to it!

Not with this kit, the PCB and CRT are B/W only. A color one would be more complex.

@@RetroTechorDie Thanks!

@@RetroTechorDie Please I have a project for a diorama "large scale" (1:3 or 1:4 APPROXIMATELY) of a "mad scientist lab" to make a vintage computer like Armstrad CPC 6128 something like that... with a mini CRT COLOR, will display 2D animations of ''experiment data of BIOLOGICAL informations, mathematical and chimical things'' you know, can we discuss dear friend? ☺🤗 Because I know nothing in electronic...

These are all NOS, but I imagine a Raiders of the Lost Ark style warehouse full of these guys.

@@RetroTechorDie that does sound about right lol

All from China, no clear manufacture. I keep dragging my feet on a follow up video, but I have good scans of an unpopulated board. I know the community can make a better version.

@@RetroTechorDie I have an RCA Lyceum tv and it has RGB but the tv itself only has 8 colors. So when I tested it out, it looks like crap. So I asked around and the only way is either mid it within or replace it with a new cathode tube, chassis and wire it so it'll support full analog RGB or include ypbpr. What are your thoughts?

The best information I can find is it was a training kit, to work on assembly skills and more advanced electronics. It may or may not have been designed to work perfectly, more like hey it turns on and dident blow up your good. I am stalling on part 2 until I can find more information about these guys.

Please keep us updated! The more I dig into the origin of this kit, the more I am convinced it was never intended to work perfectly. As a training/teaching tool, it woks. It forces you to construct a more complicated device and if it powers on (and not blow up) great! I can see this being a challenge for someone learning to solder.

@@RetroTechorDie I suspect that the heater in my CRT is suspect - I have 8kV on the anode, 74V on the focus grid (G2) and I haven't checked the voltage on the video grid yet (G1) but that is my next step. I am hoping my CRT isn't faulty. The deflection board works well, I get audio from the tuner and can hear the vertical field rate from the speaker (Buzzing sound)

@@JamesCutlervk2tim It seems like a mixture of poor quality and these sitting for years have induced some interesting faults.

@@RetroTechorDie 6V on the heater and I have a full screen raster :) Working well. Focus needs adjustment but I think it will be fine.

Also, I run mine from a regulated switchmode wall wart, so it gets 12V all of the time.

...ehh...technically yes. I did buy another kit, but I replaced as many parts as I could with quality parts. (eventually I will get that video posted)

@@RetroTechorDie Keen to see it! very interested in whether it's a power issue / manual tube tuning like other users have suggested or something more significant

My thoughts exactly. Higher input into the voice coil would probably disrupt the tube.

Agreed, I am still tinkering....Got it up to 20VDC and no change in screen size.

Just tried this, no dice. Did it work for you?

In the description and I posted it here: www.aliexpress.us/item/2251801596292172.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4eed2965xKFrgh&algo_pvid=b81a1715-87ee-4148-aa97-a0b9540e893f&algo_exp_id=b81a1715-87ee-4148-aa97-a0b9540e893f-22&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2210183807683%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B82.87%3B-1%3B-1%400%3BUSD%3Bsearch-mainSearch&af=9485&dp=20220206cll8pvjfevhh&aff_fcid=feecddc82d164d2b893e4a8314fae4d6-1644091063786-08793-_dXdw8xt&aff_fsk=_dXdw8xt&aff_platform=portals-promotion&sk=_dXdw8xt&aff_trace_key=feecddc82d164d2b893e4a8314fae4d6-1644091063786-08793-_dXdw8xt&terminal_id=0b1121d11c8447628ca1fc208bc4e24c&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt or www.buychinesebag.com/goods/item/detail/id/15214324919

@@RetroTechorDieis it easy to build

If you have some experience soldering, yes I would consider it an easy build. Even if not its not terribly difficult.