[Coco] Bad news, good news...

[Gene Heskett]

On Saturday 10 December 2005 15:43, Roger Merchberger wrote:
>After almost 4 years, I've finally sparked up one of my CoCos again!
>
>Our local "Mega Mart" (if you can call it that) had 15" LCD TVs on
> sale for $188. The wifey wanted to pick up one of these critters as
> a "Bedroom TV." Roger was thinking "CoCo TV!" ;-)
>
>Wifey came home with the TV last nite, so Roger had to try it out
> today. Roger goes up to the 3rd floor attic (a chore in and of
> itself!), grabs a CoCo3, comes down, plugs 'er in, nuthin but green
> screen. Ratz. Back to the attic, I grab a CoCo3 box, and yet I'm not
> smart enough to look inside whilst I'm up there. Get downstairs,
> open the box, CoCo2. Ungh. After cursing myself out for being a
> moron, I head back to the attic once again, and grab "my" CoCo3. The
> one I bought new lo, those many years ago. Trudge 'er back
> downstairs, spark 'er up, and Bam! Alive it is! And looks kinda
> crappy. :-( 40 Columns didn't get any better[1] and 80 columns
> was... well... pretty much unreadable, no matter how you slice it.
>
>I'm not sure if it's the RF modulator in the CoCo, the RF demodulator
> in the TV (It's not exactly a Sony after all) or both working in
> concert to make me unhappy... tho I did start wondering a few
> things:
>
>a) if I could pick off the Chroma & Luma & feed it into the SVGA
> port... would that improve the video at all?

Hugely as it would bypass all the filtering in the tv.

>b) if the video circuitry on the VGA port will sync down to NTSC
> levels. IIRC, tho, the voltage requirements of the RGB port on the
> CoCo and standard VGA aren't quite the same. If I'd "underdrive" the
> VGA circuit, I'd solder up a cable & try 'er, but if I "overdrove"
> the VGA... well... I doubt my wife would be happy if I let the magic
> smoke out of what's basically her TV having owned it less than 24
> hours.

I wouldn't worry about overdrive.  If that thing cannot take a 2 volt 
video signal without letting out the magic smoke, take it back as 
defective.

>There is good news, tho: [2] I popped the lid on the first CoCo3,
> reseated the memory chips, and everything came to life.
>
>Oh well, can't say I didn't try. Maybe if the wife gets out of doing
>daycare, I'll finally have room to set up my CoCo full time again
> soon...
>
>Laterz,
>Roger "Merch" Merchberger
>
>[1] (well, after I diddled with ATTR & CLS# I got it readable, but it
>wouldn't win any beauty contests...)
>
>[2] Y'all prolly thought this was a segway to a Geico commercial...
>;-)

Nah, didn't have the gecko. :)

>--
>Roger "Merch" Merchberger   | "Bugs of a feather flock together."
>sysadmin, Iceberg Computers |           Russell Nelson
>zmerch at 30below.com          |

-- 
Cheers, Gene
People having trouble with vz bouncing email to me should use this
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Copyright 2005 by Maurice Eugene Heskett, all rights reserved.