I did something pretty stupid (CRT TV by curb)

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RetroGamer87
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10 Nov 2019, 12:26 pm

They don't take up so much space compared to those 60+ inch monster LCDs. Keep it. You're only a hoarder if you keep stuff you don't/can't use.


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QuantumChemist
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10 Nov 2019, 12:36 pm

What you did is far from being stupid, as you tried to recycle old technology rather that have it sitting in a pile at a landfill. If it does work, it can be very useful for reliving older times with VCRS and gaming consoles. I have a few of them squirreled away for just those things. On of my best curbside finds in grad school was of a large projection screen TV dating back to 1982. It is now sitting in a garage awaiting a day that it will be mated to either an Atari or a Colecovision system. If I did not save it, more than likely it would have been buried Or burned. If you need to get rid of electronic items, please offer it up on the internet to someone who can reuse it. I wish more would do just that.

If you want to know an act of stupidity, one of my previous dingle neighbors in Kansas burned several large CRT TVs when he was moving away. He did not want to have to pay $10+ each to have them properly disposed of at the local recycling place connected to the landfill. The local police officer saw what he had been doing in his backyard and issued him a pollution ticket that cost him a bundle. Each TV he burned had about fifteen pounds of lead plus other toxic materials. Same neighbor used to pour used motor oil on his weeds when he lived there. I was glad when he moved.



Hollywood_Guy
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10 Nov 2019, 3:04 pm

QuantumChemist wrote:
What you did is far from being stupid, as you tried to recycle old technology rather that have it sitting in a pile at a landfill. If it does work, it can be very useful for reliving older times with VCRS and gaming consoles. I have a few of them squirreled away for just those things. On of my best curbside finds in grad school was of a large projection screen TV dating back to 1982. It is now sitting in a garage awaiting a day that it will be mated to either an Atari or a Colecovision system. If I did not save it, more than likely it would have been buried Or burned. If you need to get rid of electronic items, please offer it up on the internet to someone who can reuse it. I wish more would do just that.

If you want to know an act of stupidity, one of my previous dingle neighbors in Kansas burned several large CRT TVs when he was moving away. He did not want to have to pay $10+ each to have them properly disposed of at the local recycling place connected to the landfill. The local police officer saw what he had been doing in his backyard and issued him a pollution ticket that cost him a bundle. Each TV he burned had about fifteen pounds of lead plus other toxic materials. Same neighbor used to pour used motor oil on his weeds when he lived there. I was glad when he moved.


Also, that sounds the same as animal abuse to me. :)



Borromeo
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10 Nov 2019, 3:06 pm

Using old technology isn't bad. And it's not hoarding if you keep it working.

I just soldered the fuse back into my 1926 Manning-Bowman electric coffee percolator today and stripped the paint on a Landers, Frary & Clark "Universal" parabolic heater c. 1920-1930 that is in sore need of restoration. The coffeepot works fine now but I need to electroplate the old heater to make it more efficient and less ugly.

My favorite record player is a Victor Victrola: weighs 100 pounds, is 105 years old, and carries a triple-spring motor that alone weighs as much as some modern portable phonographs. Hoarding? Nope. Just appropriate machinery to play early records. My luggage has tags from Cunard Lines steamships headed to Cuba in 1938. My overcoat is dated 1949 on the inside.

Not hoarding if you use it!


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Hollywood_Guy
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10 Nov 2019, 4:30 pm

Borromeo wrote:
Using old technology isn't bad. And it's not hoarding if you keep it working.

I just soldered the fuse back into my 1926 Manning-Bowman electric coffee percolator today and stripped the paint on a Landers, Frary & Clark "Universal" parabolic heater c. 1920-1930 that is in sore need of restoration. The coffeepot works fine now but I need to electroplate the old heater to make it more efficient and less ugly.

My favorite record player is a Victor Victrola: weighs 100 pounds, is 105 years old, and carries a triple-spring motor that alone weighs as much as some modern portable phonographs. Hoarding? Nope. Just appropriate machinery to play early records. My luggage has tags from Cunard Lines steamships headed to Cuba in 1938. My overcoat is dated 1949 on the inside.

Not hoarding if you use it!


I also have a Kodak 16mm movie projector from the 1950s. So really old school there.



Borromeo
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10 Nov 2019, 5:32 pm

Does your projector work on talking pictures? I worked on a 16mm machine one time but it was silent only. It's a lot easier to find interesting sound films than it is to find silent films worth watching on 16mm.


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RetroGamer87
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12 Nov 2019, 3:46 am

I feel like we're so wasteful, throwing out working machinary because it doesn't match the modern style.

People say CRTs are too "big" but look at the size of the room, now look at the size of the television. Does the television take up even one percent of the volume of the room?


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auntblabby
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12 Nov 2019, 4:38 am

up to about 20" tube [diagonal] size, they were "manageable" in terms of being able to pick them up and move them if necessary, but above 27" or so they might as well have been made of pure iron.