blue line through the middle of the screen?
 

Does that mean that the CRT is good.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant...446718400.html

I suspect it means the vertical is gone - CRT is "good" in the sense that it works, but might be gassy, or have low emissions etc - can't tell without a tester.

I'm close to Palmdale, I think I'll check it out... and bring along my tester.

Thanks

If the blue line is very bright -- to the point that it practically has a "halo" around it when the brightness is turned up, that is a good sign. Basically when the picture is collapsed to a single line, the line brightness should be pretty excessive if the tube has good emission. Best not to run it too long in that state since it can damage the phosphor, but it is a reasonably good indicator of good emission.

Even an almost dead tube will show a bright line if vertical deflection has failed, since all the emission is in one line vice spread out across the whole screen.

Please don't make the mistake that I made once ... the heater voltage of the 17DRP4 is 2.68 Volts not the usual 6.3 Volts.
jr

Thanks for the reminder .. I'll be careful.

I've tested several of these CRTs over the last year or so and haven't found a good one yet. Maybe this one will be good..