Matching tubes to neckboards...

[RayB]

Hi.
I bought a mini cab from someone, and the 13" "monitor" consisted of just the tube and metal frame. So the guy threw in a "circuit board" for monitors (it's a big board with a smaller board that goes on the tube neck).

How do I determine if the circuit board I got can be used with the tube? Is it only a question of the pin count and position matching? Or is there more to it?

The circuit board is marked "wells gardner type 13 monitor". The tube, I don't know. Haven't found identifying markings yet...

Also what's my next step? Just hook it all up? Any precautions to take?

[MonitorGuru]

Read the threads on how to make your own monitor out of the 8liners or Alva chassis... it's the same difference for putting together an original monitor. 

Basically you need to attach the neck board, connect the ground strap around the outside of the tube to the neckboard, attach the anode wire to the tube (after double checking to ensure it's discharged)

Connect it to an isolation transformer and power it up without attaching it to anything and ensure nothing blows up.

[RayB]

OK the main question here still is about matching tube to chassis. Can anyone give me a simple answer? I'm not using an 8liners. I'm not using a TV tube. I have an arcade tube and I have the WG type 13 chassis, I just don't know if it's safe to connect them or not.

I've searched (perhaps using the wrong search terms?) and I still don't know the BASICS. Give me the basics. IE: "yes, if it connects correctly, then it will work" or "maybe, it might connect right yet have wrong voltages, blah blah". Give me somewhere to start...

(by the way, when I keep talking about connecting, I am referring to the neckboard that goes to the yoke. The 8liners site made it sound like some yokes will have different pin counts, but they were talking about TV tubes...)

 

[wakerlet]

Ray,

The simple answer is maybe.

WG has both high and low impedance 13" monitors (and chassis) so it depends on the chassis he gave you and your vertical impedance on the tube.  You'll need to do two things to determine if it's compatible.

1.  Measure the vertical impedance of the yoke.

2.  Post a picture of your chassis and hopefully someone will know what model it is.

I'll help where I can but Ken or MonitorGuru are your best resources here.

Thanks,
Todd

[MonitorGuru]

I did answer: A chassis is a chassis. A tube is a tube. They all connect the same way.  (and an arcade tube is the same as a TV tube---the things you read on 8liners applies to arcade tubes as well) Read the FAQ's about connecting replacement chassis or TV's and you will know how to connect any arcade chassis.

Specificially:
Generally all 13" tubes have an 8 pin connector with a small neck. (Whereas 19" tubes can have 8, 9, 10, 11 pin connectors and small or large necks).  You're probably safe connecting it, but I'd do a lookup on the tube part number online and see what the pinouts are and compare them with the labels on the neckboard you're connecting to so you don't fry something if they don't line up.

Yokes vary in types of connectors significantly. They might just fit on the main chassis board, or they might require modification to plug in. They also may use the standard Red/Green/Yellow/Blue or they may use other color wires and you have to measure their DC resistance to determine which are which.

Yokes may also vary in the amount of impedence they have -- high or low, at least for 19".  I don't work with 13" too much so I don't know if they're the same, Ken can probably answer that. You need to measure the vertical winding DC resistance and see if it is 15 ohms or less -or- 50 ohms or higher, and check if your chassis supports it.


The yoke has absolutely nothing to do with the tube/pin count.   The yoke is the plastic piece that has copper wires wrapped on the outside and inside of it and slides on over the neck of the tube.   The yoke deflects/steers the electron beams (like a Yoke on an airplane--it steers the airpane left/right and up/down).  The Tube itself has the electron guns, focus and screen grids and you connect those at the neck of the tube with the neckboard. Without a yoke, the tube would send the electron beams to the center ofthe screen in a single dot and quickly burn a hole in the phosphor. THe yoke makes the beam move left to right and up and down..

Also, you can't just attach the neckboard and red anode wire and expect it to work. You also need to connect the ground wire that touches the outside of the tube's aquadag and connect to the ground pin on the neckboard.

[RayB]

Thank you so much. I see I have been mistaken about a couple parts (don't get me wrong, I'm not COMPLETELY ignorant... I knew what the neckboard and anode are  )