On second thought, I really love the flatscreen craze...

[radiotvnut]

...Because everyone is giving me their better quality CRT sets.

Just the other day, my cousin called to say that they had bought new flatscreens because "that's what they are forcing everyone to get" and said she had a perfectly good 32" RCA and a 19" set that I could have if I wanted them. I have not gotten them yet; but, she said they would bring them over soon. I know the 32" is a CTC203 because I resoldered a coil in the horizontal driver circuit 2 or 3 years ago.

Yesterday, someone called to ask if I wanted a 35" RCA that had stopped working and, rather than have it repaired, they bought a new flatscreen. That one turned out to be a 35" CTC187 from '97 and all it needed was a coil that was in the 200V B+ line to the video output stage. After pulling a quality used part off of a junk board and sticking it in my set, it works as it should.

Then, there was that '88 Sears that someone gave me all because they didn't want to fool with a converter box.

My friend, who sells at the flea market, is always finding good TV's at yard sales for $10 or less. He said he found a good 32" set at a yard sale for $10 and the only reason he didn't get it was because he couldn't load it by his self and the owner was unwilling to help load it. Here lately, he's been getting $15-$25 for 13" sets and $25-$35 for 19" sets. People are not fighting over them and it may take a few weeks to move one; but, it makes it worth the effort when you can get a good TV for a few dollars and make $15-$25 profit on it.

Granted, these later BPC sets don't bring much on the used market; but, they bring enough to buy parts to fix older stuff. And, I've always loved getting sets from people who did not bother to take them to a shop before buying a new TV. Those usually wind up being the "easy fixes" and I don't mind that one bit. A lot of the "shop throwaways" were often tough dogs; but, I didn't mind spending a week on one when the TV would bring a fat price when repaired. Now, I rarely spend more than an hour on a BPC TV.