I just picked up a Beovision mx5500 that i think is a European model it runs on European voltage, it says 220-240 ~50hz 120w on the back. so my question is what would be the best voltage transformer for the TV and if I can get it to power up  will there be anything  else I will need to  get it  to work here  or  am I  fighting a fruitless battle?

I have a MX6000 that I run in the States with no problem, unfortunately I'm across the pond and can't check which exact kind it is. I would say the wattage listed (120) should be a good estimate, but check with somebody who actually knows first. You can order an NTSC tuner for the MX4000/6000 series, but those are newer than the 5000 and I believe the chassis differs significantly. Nowadays you will probably watch TV through a Satellite or Cable box anyway, so all you really need is a SCART adaptor -- try searching on Yahoo Shopping for one. Use that for the audio, and run the video separately via S-Video cable.

I've been running my BeoVision AV9000 on a transformer for 7 years without problems. You need a fair size transformer though, since it pulls quite a bit of power when the tube switches on.

You will also need to run it  from an external tuner of some kind, like a video, since Europe uses (the much better) PAL system, and the US uses NTSC. In any case, you will sooner or later run it from a Digital tuner so you might as well get one of those right away.

 

Good Luck! 

I know there's a cycle difference between US and European mains as well. Wonder if this makes any difference.

Power line frequency hasn't been directly used for much of anything ever since mechanical timers disappeared from video recorders. The only difference should be that the mains transformer in the device will be slightly warmer/cooler than on the "correct" frequency, but TV sets don't have any conventional iron core mains transformers to begin with.

Whether the MX5500 can sync to the different line/field frequencies of the different TV system (525/60 in the Americas, 625/50 in Europe) is a completely different thing; I have no idea, but maybe it can. Colour system difference doesn't matter if you use the RGB input in the SCART connector. The MX might have a multi-system colour decoder capable of both PAL and NTSC 3.58, in which case using S-video and composite is possible as well.

I've understood that most STB boxes and similar devices in the states have component outputs instead of RGB, which might be a problem. You cannot connect that directly to a European SCART input.

-mika