Feels like it should have a warning somewhere about the anode circuitry, flyback, and high voltage.
If you're planning on doing something like this, you could also look at old CRT Macs, Kaypros, Compaq luggables, etc. There's usually some on eBay that you could gut and put an Rpi in, and other things to play with, like converting the keyboard signals to something the pi could read.
Please don't. Don't destroy a repairable old computer to make a novelty item. Generally, don't destroy a piece of original old tech for the sake of it. Would you gut an old Patek Philippe to put a quartz movement inside?
I recall going to a restaurant (now defunct) in LA which was trying to be aesthetic and clever in like 2008. One of the decor items was a stack of analogue televisions, tuned to static so they'd glow and flicker, but papier-mache style covered in pages from novels to diffuse the light.
I wonder if he put any effort into ensuring ventilation so the sets wouldn't fail, but it was about the time where even thrift shops were beginning to reject tube TVs, so he probably just hit up the free part of Craigslist every time one died.
Author of the original article here: I thought about that, but I really wanted to try pulling in live content in the spirit of an original receiver, and it was a little bit of an exercise to figure out the different ways I needed to scrape. But now it's done for Spectrum, I might go back an add it, along with an upgrade to a compute module to handle the demand.
There's something to be said for not sending the TV to the landfill, and I imagine these use less power than a typical incandescent bulb.
But more importantly, there's some je ne sais quoi that you just can't get from an e-ink display. Hacking old things and giving them new lives is a pleasure in itself, I suppose.
[+] [-] tyingq|5 years ago|reply
If you're planning on doing something like this, you could also look at old CRT Macs, Kaypros, Compaq luggables, etc. There's usually some on eBay that you could gut and put an Rpi in, and other things to play with, like converting the keyboard signals to something the pi could read.
[+] [-] wazoox|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hakfoo|5 years ago|reply
I wonder if he put any effort into ensuring ventilation so the sets wouldn't fail, but it was about the time where even thrift shops were beginning to reject tube TVs, so he probably just hit up the free part of Craigslist every time one died.
[+] [-] atat7024|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anthk|5 years ago|reply
Or maybe run xscreensaver with sfeed and some RSS news feeds.
Or maybe as a shitty terminal (good fonts for small displays exists, Unifont should adapt to the worst displays ever).
[+] [-] IrishJourno|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deivid|5 years ago|reply
https://blog.davidv.dev/revamping-an-old-tv-as-a-gift.html
[+] [-] njharman|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kfarr|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] IrishJourno|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rubatuga|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nwiswell|5 years ago|reply
But more importantly, there's some je ne sais quoi that you just can't get from an e-ink display. Hacking old things and giving them new lives is a pleasure in itself, I suppose.
[+] [-] ddingus|5 years ago|reply
Whether anyone does this or not will have basically zero impact on energy concerns.