From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Undiscovered Country: 6     A Peculiar Day
Message-ID: <m72civ09p8kpu1b5b88mkeluuut7of7o93@4ax.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 01:55:23 -0400

On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 03:06:01 -0400, Barrie Brozenske <buzz.bee@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>> A couple of months back, I bought a new 16 inch Samsung TV for the
>> trailer, but never got around to plugging it into the Prowatt.  When I
>> did tonight, the Prowatt turned off, due to a "fault".  But when I
>> plugged it into the old Vector, it worked fine!  What the heck is
>> going on here?
>
>My 300 watt inverter will run my 19" TV, but only after being restarted 2
>to 4 times after shutting down on overload fault.  Evidently there are
>capacitors in the TV that must be charged up before the inverter can
>carry the load; after they are charged, the TV draws well under 60 watts.
>I've run this combination this way for a year with nno problems for
>inverter or TV.

Not capacitors.  The automatic degaussing circuit.  This consists of a coil of
wire around the outside of the picture tube and a positive temperature
coefficient thermistor in series, all hooked across the line.  When you turn
the TV on (or in some, when you plug it in), the degaussing coil is energized
for a second until the thermistor heats up and goes high resistance.  As the
thermistor warms, the current tapers off gradually, what is required for a
good degaussing job.

The problem is that this coil can draw several amps, more than the small
inverters can supply.

There are a couple of solutions to this problem.  The simplest is simply to
turn the inverter off and on several times until the thermistor warms up
enough to go high resistance.  On my 250 watt Vector, that used to take about
4 thumps.

If you have a generator, you can warm it up for a few seconds on generator
power.  Leave it plugged into the inverter to keep the thermistor hot after
that.  Only costs a few watts.

If the inverter brings the TV up in about 2 thumps or less, the problem may be
undervoltage tripping from the high surge draw.  Try wiring the inverter with
larger/shorter wire.

The cleanest solution is to convert the TV to manual degauss.  This involves
opening the case and putting a NO switch (momentary or sustained) in series
with the degaussing coil.  Mount this switch through the back.

The indication for the need for degaussing is poor color purity.  That is
primary color fringes around the edges of the picture.  If one or more corners
are red, blue or green, or the screen has a rainbow effect, time to degauss.
Hopefully waiting until more power is available.  AT worst, you simply have to
thump the thing manually a few times but only when required.

I put the manual switch on my TV when I was still carrying one around.

John

PS: The best solution might be to toss out the TV.  As an experiment, 3 months
ago I quit watching any TV.  Pulled the plug from the wall.  This has ceased
to be an experiment and is now permanent.  I can't believe how much more stuff
I'm getting done, how many more books I'm getting read (or listened to) and
how much lower my general stress level has been.

I walked onto my parents' house tonight where the TV was on to one of those
moronic entertainment tonight type shows.  I could not believe how
intellectually insulting that crap was.  I know it had always been that bad; I
had simply become de-sensed to the garbage.

That balky inverter might be sending you a message that it's a good time to
experiment....

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Undiscovered Country: 6     A Peculiar Day
Message-ID: <5vjdivk44pn4d84sv097uk7lelk9bdedib@4ax.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 15:59:31 -0400

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:54:24 -0600, Bob Giddings <bobg@invalid.com> wrote:


>The problem with content on TV is largely a function of the need for
>24/7 entertainment.  There just isn't that much good stuff to be had,
>anywhere, before you start repeating. Try going to Blockbuster and
>find a film that you haven't seen that is interesting.  If you find
>one, try to find another.  And another.  It gets hard pretty quick.
>That's the real problem with TV.  Too much audience, and too little in
>the way of goods.  Production costs are high.  So they give you
>colored water, and call it wine.
>
>What makes it dangerous is that the medium is directly hypnotic, no
>matter the content.  I can remember being mesmerized by the test
>pattern when I was a kid, back when there was such a thing.

So true.  I've learned how not to need passive entertainment 24/7.  A good
book soaks up days.  An audio book is even better.  I've learned how to relax
my mind to think.  I hesitate to call it meditation since I don't chant
nonsense....  Then there's the shop time where I make things that certain
people on this group make fun of....

If you haven't experienced audio books, I highly recommend giving them a shot.
Drop me a note off-line if you have any interest.

John