Newbie question, CRT screen project

[Mikkey180]

?Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and to the raspberry pi, my parents have one to mess around with and I was thinking of picking one up myself for a project but before I commit I was just wondering if someone could offer me some simple advice.

I have an old boombox with and old CRT and analogue tuner built in to it. The tape deck doesn't work and you cannot get analogue channels over here anymore so all you can tune in to is static. My plan was to take out the tape decks internals to make room for a pi, wire in the sound to the amp (simple enough). my main question is. the CRT screen only has input through the boomboxes antenna or an input for an external aerial. Is it possible for the RPI to be plugged in via this or have I fallen at the first hurdle?

I did manage to get a ps1 to tune in to it!

Any help would be great. I would love a mobile SSD sound system with a built in screen whilst keeping the retro look!

Thanks in advance, Mike.

[plugwash]

You could use a modulator but finding one that is cheap, small and good quality may be difficult.

It is most likely possible to disconnect the tuner from the TV and inject a composite signal insted but you would need to find which signal line to cut and divert and I don't know how difficult that would be.

Be careful arround CRTs though there can be nasty voltages.

[redhawk]

Poking around the back of a TV / monitor is extremely dangerous even when power is off some charge can still be present inside to give you a nasty sting.
When safe to do so have a look at the circuit board and more closely around the TV receiver module - the metal box thingy where the antenna goes into.

Do you see any symbols or letters like Y, C, V, Comp. CBVS, etc??

Personally I would simply use a TV modulator box simple and less hassle than trying to hack up the video input line.
Basic TV modulators are usually fixed to channel 32 - 34, wide band modulators support channel 21 to 69 i.e. http://www.amazon.co.uk//dp/B000M6SMKW/

Richard S.

[BMS Doug]

hopefully this RF adaptor would work, reviews seem to indicate a 50/50 chance. buying a better ~$30 adaptor may give a more reliable output but I don't know what your budget is.

You could try using your PS1 RFU adaptor, I don't know if it will work.

Good Luck.

[Mikkey180]

Thanks for the information guys! I will have a look in to the links etc when I am on a slightly more powerful machine (My old Dell C400 barely cuts it these days!)

My only concern would be that with the CRT being built in to the boombox it uses the same tuning wheel as it does for AM/FM radio which I believe only goes to channel 8 or 10.

Also I think it is around a 3.5 inch black and white 4:3 display, are there any OS's which have large text for smaller screens? I am only really looking for a basic media orientated OS and I am hoping to fit micro switches to the original tape-deck buttons to control the media player through the I/O pins on the Pi.

Thanks,

Mike.

[BMS Doug]

have you considered picking up a 3.5" 4:3 LCD display and replacing the CRT entirely, you can set it black and white as desired.

it would reduce the weight of your boombox, give more internal space and be much more energy efficient.