Pico Television (working) - projector style

thingiverse

This is the 5th pico-television I have built, the second one I shared with the public. A compact television (monitor, really) made from an old VHS-C camera using the black and white CRT viewfinder and camera lens, combined with a straightforward, single transistor amplifier (see attached schematic). It utilizes a common RCA audio mono and low resolution video input. The project employs a 16 mm CRT; if your camera uses a 15 or 18 mm CRT, you will need to modify the main body to accommodate it. I used the lens from the same camera; there are multiple lenses available, I chose the two largest ones: 25 mm and 28/30 mm. If your lens has different sizes, you may need to modify the lens section. You can also make it function as a real projector by adjusting the focal length, probably creating a longer lens support and inverting the vertical and horizontal deflections on the cathode ray tube. This is achieved simply by inverting the two wires of every deflection coil (usually blue and red, and yellow and brown or white). This will flip the image horizontally and vertically. ---------------------------------------------------- Printed using PLA with 20% infill at 190° C, standard quality, on a Creality Ender 3 Pro. ---------------------------------------------------- You will need basic knowledge of electronics to complete this project. I recommend using a B/W viewfinder; color ones are quite difficult to use. Typically, the black and white viewfinders employ a small 16 mm cathode ray tube and a simple electronic board. There are five wires coming from the camera to the viewfinder, usually only three of them are needed: +5V, video input, and GND. In some rare cases, you may get a negative image; in this case, you will likely need to connect another wire to +5V or GND. BEWARE: DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK! HIGH VOLTAGE ON THE CRT BOARD!!! ---------------------------------------------------- Troubleshooting The viewfinder boards operate on +5V. I suggest powering it with a PC USB plug; phone chargers sometimes don't supply a stable enough voltage for this purpose. If you encounter any issues with your image (waves, bad image, etc.), unplug it immediately and replace all the electrolytic capacitors on the CRT board. I had to do that on many of my boards due to their age.