Hi all:

My friend retrieved one of these from a pub clearance. Unfortunately for him, his ball and chain has forbidden him from keeping it so I have been offered it for a nominal fee. The thing is, having no direct experience with them myself I rely on forums to gain information on them.

I have been told that they need calibrating and the guns need replacing after x hours of use. However, as this system was up and running before he powered it down and removed it from the pub, will it need further calibration if I set it up say in my lounge?

Also any other advice/information on these things would be really helpful - I am trying to ascertain if I am going to be harbouring more junk or whether I will be able to use and enjoy it.

Thanks

Graham 

You can't get away from the adjustments. They need to be redone each time the projector (or whatever it projects on) is moved, since the colour sources aren't concentric. It's very much like adjusting the convergence in a CRT tv set - where it is usually only done once at the factory. It's not that hard though, you typically switch on a test grid image from the projector itself and go through a specific procedure. There can be 20-30 adjustments...

The tubes have indeed limited lifetime and they might be very expensive to replace (they don't usually die, just get unacceptably dim & soft). If you don't mind all this, the high power draw, huge bulk, dim and unclear image compared to current LCD projectors, and the possibility of it breaking down beyond economical repair at any time, you can still get good use out of them. But a modern projector with even a three-digit price tag will probably far outperform it in every respect.

All in all, I'd say don't bother, unless you've personally witnessed (hopefully sober ) that the image quality was worthwhile before the projector was dismounted. Of course, if it is very cheap, you won't lose much if you don't have to invest in a ceiling rig and a screen, but can arrange those some other way.