On Mon, Nov 5, 2018 at 01:54 PM, Scott McGrath wrote:
It IS a CRT problem, ?the first signs of cathode poisoning are the text characters going soft.
Scott,
?
Thanks for your response, and especially the link to ¡°CRT Restoration for the Brave¡±. While the appearance of my CRT is decidedly different from any of the photos at this link, as you suggest, cathode poisoning may well be the culprit. I have already made the mental commitment to go to the SimmConn/New Scope LCD kit but since my 8560E was acquired as a learning aid, I¡¯d like to see what I can learn from some additional troubleshooting. My plan of attack:
1.?????? Remove the instrument from the case and identify what is what, including the location of the controls associated with the Display Adjustment procedure in the SM.
2.?????? Carefully attempt to perform the DA procedure. (I say ¡°carefully¡± as this is entirely new ground for me).
3.?????? Depending on the results of step 2 above, consider attempting the restoration procedure outlined in the link.
4.?????? Install the SimmConn/New Scope kit once my confidence level is sufficiently high. (I emphasize ¡°confidence¡± as I have looked at several of the SimmConn kits and the one for the 8560E is more complex than some of the others. It requires installing five DIP sockets on top of existing soldered-in DIP ICs and soldering these to the IC pins. Not brain surgery but technique sensitive for sure. (In a much earlier life I had a job as an electronics tech at Gould/Brush Instruments troubleshooting and repairing strip chart recorders on the production line. They insisted on mil quality soldering, so I can hopefully call up those skills one more time. However, IC¡¯s were still some years off at that time.)
?
If I screw this up I can likely sell the SA as a ¡°parts¡± unit for more than I paid for it given what I am seeing on eBay. Progress reports to follow ¡ slowly!
RB
