Return to FESA Home Page
Watts Current
FALL 2005

FLORIDA’S VOICE IN ELECTRONICS

"WATTS CURRENT" is the official newsletter of the
Florida Electronics Sales & Service Association, Inc.
and is published bi-monthly.
EMAIL: fesa@fdn.com

We Support NESDA

Awarded Best State Publication 1993,1996 & 2000
Visit Vance Baldwin Electronics
www.vancebaldwin.com
F.E.S.A. Officers for 2005
--------------
President
Pat Eubanks
 5323-3 Firestone Rd.
email: fesa@fdn.com Jacksonville, FL 32210
Fax: (904) 772-9492 Phone: (904) 772-1420
--------------
1st Vice President Ethan A. Allen 10878 Carroll Rd.
email: allisonallen2@aol.com Bryceville, FL 32009
Fax: (904) 266-4597 Phone: (904) 355-0267
--------------
2nd Vice President Neil Mengel 4745 San Juan Ave.
email: mengel_n@popmail.firn.edu Jacksonville, FL 32205
Fax: (904) 388-3456 Phone: (904) 388-3456
--------------
Treasurer Billy F. Williams, EHF 1409 Glendale Rd. W.
email: billyw@fdn.com Jacksonville, FL 32216
Fax: (904) 772-9492 Phone: (904) 725-9789
--------------
Secretary Larry Scott, CET 507 S. Lake Parker Ave.
email: JazzL532@aol.com Lakeland, FL 33801
Fax: (863) 687-2323 Phone: (863) 688-3172
--------------
Immediate Ken Cisson CET 7247 Adele Ct.
Past President email: keltron1@aol.com Jacksonville, FL 32277
Fax: (904) 745-6545 Phone: (904)-744-4496
--------------
Watts Current John N. Eubanks, CET 5323-3 Firestone Rd.
Editor and Publisher email: fesa@fdn.com Jacksonville, FL 32210
Fax: (904) 772-9492 Phone: (904) 772-1420
--------------
Home Page Editor Bob Williams PO Box 17835
and FESA Web Master email: bobw@duckman.net Jacksonville, FL 32245
--- Note ---
FESA or Watts Current neither endorses any company, product or service - nor guarantees the validity of statements made in any advertisement - appearing in any advertisement or article included in this publication. Watts Current is published quarterly. All articles to be published in "Watts Current" must be received by John Eubanks, Editor, 5323-3 Firestone Rd., Jacksonville, Fl 32210 by the following dates: 2/15, 5/15, 8/15, and 11/15 in order to be printed in the next newsletter. Otherwise, they will be published in the following issue, as appropriate. Please send any inquires or comments to the Editor. Please excuse any grammar or punctuation errors you may find as this newsletter is entirely composed and published by association volunteers.
Visit PTS Electronics
www.ptscorp.com
President's Message

Members and Friends,

Thanks to all who pitched in to help make our FESA Hospitality Room a bright and friendly oasis for everyone in the middle of such a very busy convention. We are indebted to Hitachi for sponsoring FESA’s Hospitality Room at NPSC2005. We are also indebted to Fred Paradis who helped us to set it up along with serving a few tours as our bar-tender along with Neil Mengel and Larry Scott who also helped to make this another successful endeavor for FESA. We appreciate your cheerful attitudes and willingness to serve all our members and guests.

FESA JAX Christmas Party - The 2005 FESA Jax Christmas party is scheduled to be held Saturday, December 10th 2005 at the Arlington Christian Church located at 8075 Lone Star Road in Jacksonville, Florida. It will begin at 6:30 PM with supper being served at 7:00 PM. Afterwards festivities will promptly begin under the direction of Santa Jo. As usual all attendees are requested to bring a wrapped gift for some one of your same sex that doesn’t exceed $10.00 in value. This ensures a gift for everyone attending is provided. The cost of this event is $15.00 per adult. There is no charge for Children 12 and under but you must let Santa Jo know so that gifts can be obtained. You do not have to be a FESA member to attend everyone is welcome and invited but you must register so that the amount of food necessary to feed everyone can be planned. Give Santa Jo a call at 904-744-4496 and sign up today. We look forward to seeing you there.

Recently we celebrated the 49th anniversary of our marriage with a trip back to where it all began...beautiful downtown Nahunta, Ga one bright Saturday…. October 6th 1956 in the Brantley County Court House. Amazingly time has nearly stood still there. The only changes to that old court house were wings built on both sides and an elevator shaft plus handicap access ramps and rails in the rear. We ate breakfast at a restaurant there on October 9th past...You can’t believe the price….1 egg, bacon, ham, or sausage with grits, and toast or biscuits is $3.79 and 2 eggs is $4.09. They have cane syrup on every table and the grits were served on your plate rather than in a bowl. Now I know why John went there for us to get married!

Sincerely,
Pat Eubanks
President FESA
A New Wrinkle On An Old Problem

Most every technician has encountered problems caused by liquids accidentally spilled on electronic printed circuit boards. Through the years nearly every known liquid has found its way at one time or another onto a printed circuit board creating problems beyond the imagination of the most enthusiastic young design engineers.

Recalling a few that stand out as examples. A bead lamp piping light through clear monofilament strands with clear oil flowing down them to produce random light patterns was broken and the oil filled the chassis of the console TV it sat upon came to us for service. We removed the chassis from the set, cleaned the chassis in the deep sink with soap and water. Soaked up all excess oil possible with paper towels then placed a liberal mount of speedy dry on the bottom of the cabinet. With time and persistence of application we overcame this accidental problem. Hopefully the customer found another location for her novel lamp.

An elderly lady brought her table top TV in for repair. When the back was removed it became obvious by observation that her cat was using it for a latrine. Notable cat hair all over the chassis with the eye blurring smell of ammonia. We asked the lady if she knew her cat was spending on her TV. She said," He is so cute sleeping there." We informed her that he was doing more than sleeping and when she knew the charges to clean and repair her set, somehow her cat’s favorite place wasn’t so cute anymore. The rising heat from the operating set is what attracts the cats, similar to the way they are drawn to hoods of cars with warm engines. You will never see a cat place its butt on a cold surface to relieve him/herself. On cars they use the area in front of the windshield as the "Cat Latrine" so that the owner can enjoy the stifling aroma of ammonia since most vehicles use the area as an intake for outside air to the vehicles air processing system. The cat doesn’t know this you say! If not how can it be explained the failure to matriculate on the high voltage section of a television? Some things simply defy explanation.

The above service requests are of an accidental nature but there are others encountered that are intentional. Most of these incidences involve wife husband or boyfriend girlfriend disputes. Something you may or may not know upon receipt of a service request. The bullet hole in the face of the CRT certainly invokes questions just like a projection screen with a large portion broken out. The answers you receive are unpredictable. The first one was believable with the reply, " My ex shot our new TV before he moved out."

The other was a rather doubtful reply, " Claiming to be dancing and falling through the face of the projection TV." Guess it really doesn’t matter how or why since both are rather straight forward expensive repairs.

Another very unusual request was brought in by a franchised cleaning service that picked up many units from a home that had been tear gassed. These units had been involved in a local incident that resulted with an individual shooting three victims. One teenager was killed and two others in the vehicle were wounded. Afterwards the shooter fled to a nearby residence and took hostages in a home. The SWAT team was called and as you may have guessed the local press was all over the standoff following every moment...on live local TV. Eventually the home was tear gassed to end a hostage situation and force the suspect out. The unfortunate culmination of another boyfriend/girlfriend dispute gone bad. These units belonged to the victims that were held hostage. We searched the internet to see how to remove tear gas residue and found that temperature and time would do the job...so we did...then added some routine unit cleaning to complete the request.

One recent service request is a combination of both of the preceding types. It was no accident and it wasn’t obvious catching us totally off guard until we figured... what happened. This unit is a RCA projection television, Model D56W20, Chassis ITC222 that would not turn on. Once the back was removed it revealed a Carmel color thick sticky substance nearly covering the chassis. The back of the unit had very little indication of anything "running down" the outside back. None appeared on the upper outside mirror cover either. However the lower cabinet back revealed two areas with traces of the sticky residue’s entrance. Amazingly this residue was on all yokes and CRT driver PWBs. Notable since this is a rear projection type, with these devices located some distance from the rear and rather close to the lower front...but there was/is no evidence that it entered from the front.

Summing the results of our initial inspection we concluded this sticky substance to be a cola product which is a very corrosive and will require a lot of work to remove. We also concluded that it was very unlikely this was an accidental spill...since there were two entrances through the lower back vent spaces on both sides of the rear lower cabinet. The substance had a great deal of forward pressure because at entrance, the residue wasn’t sufficient for its flow to be influenced by gravity enough to reach the bottom of the inner rear cabinet. The greater amount was propelled through separate vent openings forward and downward with enough volume to reach the lower front of this set. We concluded the liquid came from a cola can or bottle that had been vigorously shaken before opened in close quarter with the lower vent area then moved to the right side of the same rear cabinet. We came to this conclusion because there was more residue running down the inside of the right portion than we found on the left inner side of the lower rear cabinet. At this time we called our customer and ask her to come in to discuss the problem

When she arrived we asked, "Who’s mad at you?" "No one", She said. We showed and explained to her, our observations, then informed her of the cost to clean this unit, emphasizing this is in addition to any repair necessary. She had no explanation of how this could have happened. We thought divorce or the breaking up of some close personal relationship... But what do we know? Nothing other than this unit was covered with a sticky substance on the chassis that must to be removed to begin service.

After cleaning the contaminated chassis and the other components (yokes) and repairing the PWB we identified two leaky diodes ( ECG 125 equivalents) in the tail end of the power supply bridge that were replaced before turning the unit on. The cola residue was all over the plug connecting the AC input PWB and overheated a section of the board resulting in the destruction of these voltage doubling diodes that led to the activation of the fuse. After correcting these problems and powering up the unit it immediately began arcing around the IFT. Careful static examination found the high voltage to be arcing from the inner top insulation to the core of the transformer. To determine the actual cost of repair, we sealed the top of the IHVT with RTV/Silicon and packed some down between the inner insulation and core then let it set up overnight. This allowed us to operate this unit to dynamically evaluate its performance to complete our estimate. We contacted the customer with an estimate to service this unit that included a new OEM IHVT (257805). She promptly approved our estimate.

When the OEM IHVT was received and installed the service on this unit was completed and after playing the unit for a few days we notified the customer it was ready to pick up. She promptly picked the unit up paid the charges and headed home still puzzled over who could have done this to her TV.

We were amazed too...having never seen this type of stealthy act applied to damage a unit. When you think of the thought that contrived such an act...to get even with someone... for no telling what ...you simply question if an equal amount of thought went towards repairing the relationship beforehand. Most likely not!

As we have noted before...when you think you have seen it all...just wait...there is no telling what you may see next. It is so nice to see people treating other people like they want to be treated. Can never over do that...the only thing you can honestly answer "never".

Editor Watts Current
Visit Andrews Electronics
www.andrewselectronics.com
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Old cell phones, TVs and computers are beginning to pile up faster than all that "e-waste" can be dumped or recycled across the nation.

Warnings about the threat of a flood of electronic junk have been getting louder, and the recent hurricane disaster has drawn comparisons to warnings about the levees that once protected New Orleans as pressure builds on Congress to craft a national solution before the problem gets out of hand.

"You're looking at a hazardous stew of toxic e-waste that can poison the water, the air, the land and, most of all, the people," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has been leading a bipartisan Senate effort to manage the problem.

So far, the efforts have been piecemeal, ranging from grassroots organizations to cities, states, retailers and electronics manufacturers.

"The states have gone forward with their own solutions because they can't wait for a national solution," said Denise Griffin, spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "The e-waste is just accumulating exponentially,"

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., who has been pushing for e-waste legislation in the House for the past four years, says major environmental problems too often reach a critical mass before the public demands action from lawmakers.

"Four years ago, when I introduced my bill, I couldn't even get people to talk about it," Thompson said. "Now it's a big problem, it's a problem touching virtually everybody."

He noted that old computers are the No. 1 item collected from rivers during volunteer cleanups in his Northern California district.

The problem has been accelerated by the massive shift to flat panel displays from old cathode-ray tube TVs and computer monitors, now being discarded at record rates. The rapid turnover in cell phones as wireless technology and capacity improves contributes to the waste, with an estimated 130 million old phones tossed last year.

Bernadette Mondy, co-director of environmental health and safety at Virginia Tech, says the West is certainly at risk but the problem affects all regions of the country.

At Virginia Tech in 2003, our largest-growing waste stream was computer monitors," Mondy said. "We went from essentially none in previous years to close to 30,000 pounds."

She noted that older monitors can each have up to several pounds of lead in them, along with other toxic metals that landfills and other disposal sites are beginning to ban. "You won't be able to send these things to landfills pretty soon," Mondy said.

Some grassroots organizations have been formed to slow the flood by finding ways to keep old computers in service, such as Freegeek.com in Portland, founded in 2000 by Oso Martin.

Freegeek has a staff of 15 who work with volunteers to refurbish computers for people who cannot afford to buy them, or the revived machines are donated to schools or other agencies. The computers and components that cannot be re-used are recycled or shipped off to domestic waste handlers that do not send the material overseas, where it might be processed without environmental safeguards.

"We don't want to turn our e-waste problems into another country's problems," Martin said.

Freegeek has recycled over 360 tons of electronic scrap and refurbished over 3,000 computer systems since it was founded, but Martin is the first to admit that remains a drop in the bucket by comparison to the sea of e-waste that is forming.

Even bulk handlers, such as SoCal Computer Recyclers in the Los Angeles area, face daunting problems with the sheer volume of waste being generated, said founder Randy Lewis.

Yet much of it still is waiting to enter the e-waste stream because so many people and businesses are storing old monitors and computers until they decide what to do with their obsolete electronic equipment, he said.

"People can't get over spending, say, $1,200 on a computer four years ago, and it's not worth anything now," Lewis said. "And not only is it not worth anything, it's a liability."

Some manufacturers and retailers, such as Intel Corp. and eBay, have joined to promote recycling and re-use of old computers, cell phones and gadgets...
The "Rethink" initiative launched last year by eBay and supported by Intel promotes consumer education among the 157 million eBay computer users to extend the lifecycle of older equipment and reduce the volume of waste.

Manufacturers, meanwhile, are finding new ways to reduce the hazardous material used in electronic equipment or make it easier to recycle, said Tim Mohin, Intel's director of sustainable development.

"We're looking at these issues from the beginning of the product's lifecycle," Mohin said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has joined the effort to coordinate e-waste management with its "Plug-In To eCycling" program that has helped safely recycle 45.5 million pounds -- nearly 23,000 tons -- of old electronics in the two years since it was launched.

Still, estimates for the total amount of electronic waste dumped across the country last year range around 150 million tons.

"Ultimately, we should all be shooting for one, simple goal: designing and manufacturing electronic products so the use of hazardous materials is minimized," said Thomas Dunne, acting assistant administrator of the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

But that goal likely cannot be achieved without some kind of federal legislation to sort out the differing responses emerging among the states and the industry, said Kristina Taylor, environmental and state policy manager for the Consumer Electronics Association.

A patchwork approach will be costly for manufacturers, and discourage consumers from recycling, she said.

"The best way to show consistency across state lines and make sure no company is given a competitive advantage or disadvantage is to assure a level playing field," Taylor said.

By WILLIAM McCALL AP business writer Monday, October 03, 2005
NPSC 2005 Report

Another outstanding annual convention was enjoyed by all that attended. The FESA Hospitality room sponsored by Hitachi was again a favorite after hours. We are thankful for everyone who helped make this possible.

Outstanding Training was abundant and opportunity abounded. The Trade show was excellent offering everyone a chance to browse among friends and make some new friends too. As usual many outstanding prizes were won by a number of NESDA members and guests in attendance. The meals were outstanding and contained greater variety than NPSC 2002 where chicken seemed to dominate every menu.

The NESDA elections were held with Fred Paradis elected NESDA President, Dave Thomas Vice President, Paul Burgio Region 1 Director, George Weiss Region 3 Director/NESDA Treasurer and Leo Cloutier Region 5 Director. ISCET elections saw CW Valdemeris become ISCET President, Dan Mundy Vice President, John Eubanks Treasurer and Rob Stienruck Secretary. I think this is a first with every ISCET officer coming from our (2) region but one...our ISCET Immediate Past President Jim Fellows Although ISCET doesn’t recognize regions preferring to list members by state... no matter it bodes well for participation from this part of the country.

There was a very large group of first time attendees who seemed to quickly become members of our NESDA family. Once again It was good to see Dorothy Cicchetti and Earl Redmon at NPSC. They have both recovered from serious health problems that prevented their attendance last year...but this year... they both returned to be with us in good spirits... another example of answered prayers.

We were all looking forward to NPSC 2006 in New Orleans until Katrina blew that away. Mack is to be commended for resolving this matter promptly and allowing us time to promote the new sight...at the Hyatt Regency...San Francisco Airport. The rates for this area are outstanding and were only available with the help of the Hyatt in New Orleans. This will be a first for this area and we look forward to NPSC 2006. Make sure to check the NESDA web page….. www.nesda.com …. for all the latest information.
Visit B&D Enterprises
www.bdent.com
Our Service Industry Lost a Beloved Member

Harms, Thomas 'Clancy' St. Peters, MO, September 25, 2005, age 49. Devoted father of Courtney Harms; dear brother of Patricia Nagel, Janice Courtney, Fredrick Harms (Tary), Sharon Dillaha (Dan), M. Rosalind Kafoury and Dulany Harms; son of the late Marvin G. and M. Rosalind Harms; he was a dear uncle, cousin, nephew and friend to all. Clancy was a lover of St. Patrick's Day and all that it entails, you will be missed by all. Services: The family is being served by the BAUE Funeral and Memorial Center, 3950 West Clay, St. Charles, MO where visitation will be held Wednesday, September 28, 2005, 11:00-8:00 p.m. Interment private. Memorials may be made to the Family for Courtney (checks payable to Sharon Dillaha).

This news hit like a bolt of lightening for most of us. No one suspected the loss of such a young man who meant so much to everyone and whose energy level and enthusiasm was never known to wane at any industry gathering. I suppose we should have known something wasn’t right when he didn’t attend NPSC 2005.

Clancy Harms will be missed by all. Will Rogers once said, " I never met a man I didn't like." Sounds a whole lot like the Clancy we all knew and loved. Must be something in the water around that part of the country. I don't recall ever seeing Clancy outwardly angry. I've seen him disappointed but even then he had a smile for everyone. He was/is a " true free spirit."

May the Lord comfort his family and friends and give him rest. I am thankful to have known Clancy and enjoyed his friendship even though it was much shorter than wished.

He loved to laugh and even more so he enjoyed seeing others laugh...something many of us find hard to do at the moment. Another passed member we may have disappointed by failing to return the love he always projected towards us. I'm sure he would smile if only he knew, we could overcome our faults by choosing to show compassion and appreciation towards one another, as he so often did, rather than our usual...anger and outrage. Clancy was a real leader in this aspect of human character. He left us an example of consideration towards others worthy of emulation….John Eubanks

Note...Clancy was a loyal Watts Current Subscriber.
Political Correctness vs. Professionalism

"Politically Correct" is adhering to the currently expected rules of "polite society" and is ultimately what "1984" was about. In other words, sanitizing speech to the point that it is incapable of expressing accurately facts or opinions for the purpose of conformity alone.

"Professionalism" is adherence to the rules; written or implied, of the collective group of practitioners of a particular skill set, or profession. Its purpose is to clarify and simplify communication of ideas and facts among those practitioners and to present a favorable appearance to the clientele.

PC is anti-insult restrictions imposed upon the larger society by a smaller special interest group and serves to obfuscate. Professionalism is imposed upon a group by itself, with-in itself, to serve itself and also serve its clientele.

Both can be abused. PC is more abusable. Social norms, such as common courtesy in speech (we say Mam, We say Sir) are acceptable PC. PC terms are meant to soften the description of the thing or person it refers to and must be ever changing, because the truth can't be hidden long. Old folks became pensioners, then elderly, then elders, then senior citizens, then seniors (like they are graduating), and now citizens of advanced age. We all know who they are (me for one.) There is nothing wrong in respecting others. I simply don't believe that lying to avoid hurt feelings is always truly respectful. I want to know if I look or sound like a clown so I can stop it.

Legal, medical, and scientific communities chose Latin as the professional language because it is a dead language. There are no colloquial practitioners of Latin. Therefore, ipso facto, ipso facto means today what it meant in 1200 AD while "gay" hardly means what it did in the 1890s.

Being PC means bowing to "the man", for the purpose smoothing over flaws in society rather than confronting and solving them. Being "professional" means bowing to "the man" for constructive purposes. If it goes beyond that it is over the line.

I can't remember who, but a renowned diplomat is quoted as saying "diplomacy is the art of shaking a man's hand while stealing his wallet." Another said "diplomacy is insulting a man and making him like it."
Diplomacy is using the least amount of overt force necessary to accomplish ones goals, therefore making it easier on the opponent to acquiesce (my definition.) Notice the intent is to satisfy one's own interest, and while it may require some concession, should never be confused with coddling.

ipso facto = by that very fact

Jerrell Helms
Helms Radio & TV
966 S. Park Ave
Dothan, AL 36301

Article by Jerrell Helms published with consent

Note from the Editor: This was a recent discussion topic on NESDAnet. I want to thank Jerrell Helms for his thoughtful reply and consent. Below is one response sent to him after his thoughtful observations were posted.

Outstanding Definitions Jerrell.

Our personalities revolve around many differing elements, and one of the greatest influences within is learned behavior. We continually absorb from environmental surroundings many characteristics of those around us. The bottom line is...We are an evolving sum of the things we experience! Believe it or not....Nesdanet is an element in this modern environment. Hopefully we will always be influenced with responsible behavior rather than

crude and careless conversation. Some erringly refer to being held responsible for ones words and actions here... in the negative sense "zero tolerance" ...however no matter what you call it...personal responsibility for one's words and actions must return to their proper roost...from whence they came! Responsibility is a respectable and valuable human characteristic, Irresponsibility is not! It is the Gospel of non professional.


John N. Eubanks CET/CA/EHF
Editor Watts Current
Snake-bit!!

The Zenith model PV4664BT projection television came in for service with the customer complaint….has sound but no picture. When the complaint was verified by the technician it should have been...has sound but no raster. A rather routine defect in these units to any experienced technician.

This unit utilizes the 9-1302-04 power supply/deflection printed circuit board with a 9-4134-10 integrated high voltage transformer in the TX3204 position. Strangely this module in some instances is shown to cross to a 9-1302-06 for substitution. I don’t know the validity of this substitute however I do know the 95-4134-13 IHVT will not adequately replace the 95-4134-10 IHVT on the 9-1302-04 PWB as seen in some places.

How do I know? Been there... done that...paid the price. Each year there is a period of least activity that we use to repair all units acquired to sell and recoup whatever funds that they bring. During this period we first encountered the same model listed model with the same described components installed and the same symptoms. A few checks and the diagnosis identified defects in the TX3204 (IHVT), QX3201 (HOT), and CRX3412 (115 V regulated source diode) components installed on the 9-1302-04 PWB. A quick comparison of prices to complete service made repair of the PWB more profitable than the replacement option. Somehow finding the 9-1302-06 subs for the –04 we focused on getting a replacement IHVT to complete the job and went with the 9-1302-06 PWB replacement P/N 95-4134-13, that we had in stock. Ignoring another technical axiom...if you got it...it probably ain’t the one you need!

After these components were installed and the repaired power supply deflection PWB reinstalled the unit became operational but was extremely bright requiring all screens (G2) controls to be significantly lowered…however afterwards our set had a very good picture. Well... it did for the rest of that day.

Since we intended to sell the unit, it was moved to the front floor and left on ...to attract questions from walk in customers …but that nice picture didn’t last very long and soon began to fade. Later we looked into this washed out picture problem and readjusted the G2 controls only to discover a low emission look on all three tubes. Unable to understand how three CRT’s could have "croaked" over night and observing no arcing while playing we began the search for an answer.

Our first clue to resolve the problem was a visual one. With the set operating and the front panel removed so the CRT PWB’s could be checked for the failed R5102 resistors that have plagued these units we noticed all filaments to be much brighter than normal. This was noticed because often one must turn the lights off to see the dim glow of filaments on these units. This was not the case here. They were plenty bright and that ain’t right.

We removed the repaired power supply deflection PWB (9-1302-04) for a closer inspection and got the schematics out. After Reviewing the filament circuits for the 9-1302-?? PWB’s used in these sets a small subtle difference became painfully apparent.

It is a long accepted practice for CRT filament voltages to be derived from the IHVT. First they were externally wrapped around the core of the IHVT with three turns to produce a 6.3 V filament source. The filament windings became internal in the later IHVT and were connected through pins in the base rather than separate winding wires. However our original IHVT (95-4134-10) used quite a different filament circuit than found on the 9-1302 series using the 95-4134-13 IHVT.

The latter IHVT has a filament circuit containing a three legged IC regulator IC3201 (221-847) paralleled by a 4.7 ohm 1 watt (R3267) shunt resistor on the 9-1302-05 PWB. It also employs a filter network for both in and out dc circuits along with the input rectifier CR3217 (103-339-02A). The IHVT (9504134-13) filament pulse has a negative going 70 PK.V on pin 8 of the IHVT. CR3217 diode is installed in the opposite direction from usual. The regulator IC (IC3201) is a 5 volt device but has two silicon diodes (103-254-01) in series (CR3218 & CR3219) between ground and the common terminal of the IC to regulate filament circuit output at 6.3V DC.

Our 9-1302-04 which uses the 95-4134-10 IHVT does not need the above circuitry on the board with this component. Although the 95-4134-10 IHVT uses the same pin (8) to take off filament voltage it has a much lower pulse to produces an average non regulated 6.3 V for filament operation. Be careful when crossing these PWB’s.

Avoid confusion when crossing these Zenith IFT’s because at least one IHVT manufacturer lists the same replacement number for both the 95-4134-10 and the 95-4134-15 ( which is used on the 9-1674 PWB series that also uses the external filament regulator circuit) and we know this doesn’t work long...check that P/N on the IHVT of the PWB you are servicing...if you don’t want to be "Snake Bit." and destroy the CRTs…. Editor
Industry Association News

FESA Officers Elected for 2006….July 30, 2005 FESA Officers were elected at our annual membership meeting held in the FESA Hospitality Room of the Rosen Centre Hotel. Pat Eubanks was elected President, Ethan A. Allen 1st Vice President, Neil Mengel 2nd Vice President, Billy F. Williams Treasurer, and Marge Bluze Secretary. We thank them for continuing to serve our industry and association.

Dorman McDonald Awarded ISCET Technician of the Year…. July 30, 2005 The ISCET Board awarded its top ISCET Technician award to Dorman McDonald CET for 2005. Dorman is a well known industry leader and past president of GESDA who has worked in many capacities to better our service industry. He has worked at the state and national levels to improve the state of our service industry and been an inspiration to everyone he contacts. FESA concurs with his selection and congratulates Dorman for his efforts through out the years. He has earned this award and it pleases us greatly to see his unselfish service recognized.

Katrina Damage Forces NPSC 2006 Search for new Sight.. As you probably already know, NPSC 06 planned to be in New Orleans but the damage and devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made that impossible. At first, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans thought they could still host our event but later told us that they could not, leaving us with no choice but to select an alternate location. Hyatt put us in touch with 19 sites that had our dates open, and one by one they were checked out to see if they could accommodate our needs. All but 3 were eliminated due to various factors, and of those 3, one was a clear favorite. The unique situation of needing a hotel for only about 9 months from now, allowed us to be able to negotiate a deal that would not normally come our way. While we had hoped we could do our part to help New Orleans get back on its feet, this could not be avoided, and we are now hoping to arrange for New Orleans in 2008. What looked like it might be a real loss, turned out to be our gain, for 2006.

This hotel has a fantastic geographic location, room rate, and amenities. It offers free shuttle service to and from the airport, a room rate of $109/night, 795 rooms, a number of suites (higher cost than regular rooms), very nice meeting rooms and hotel restaurants, in a facility that is beautiful and picturesque. The surrounding city is beautiful and there are lots of things to see and do.

One more thing … in most places, July is hot. In this location, you’d better bring your coat, even in July! We are pleased to announce that the site of NPSC 2006 is the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel in beautiful San Francisco, California. Actually, the hotel is in Burlingame, about 20 minutes from the airport.

The hotel’s website is http://www.sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com ... NESDA E.D.
NET WIT

We have enjoyed the redneck jokes for years. It's time to take a reflective look at the core beliefs of a culture that values home, family, country and God. If I had to stand before a dozen terrorists who threaten my life, I'd choose a half dozen or so rednecks to back me up. Tire irons, squirrel guns and grit -- that's what rednecks are made of. I hope I am one of those.

You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, "One nation, under God."

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say "Christmas" instead of "Winter Festival."

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat Viet Nam vets with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and expect your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

Author unknown
Visit Herman Panson Electronics
www.hermanpanson.com
REQUEST FOR FESA MEMBERSHIP

DATE_________


NAME_________________________________

COMPANY NAME________________________

ADDRESS_______________________________

CITY/STATE_________________ZIP_________

PHONE NO.______________________________

NO.OF EMPLOYEES_____________

Dues Per Year: 1 Person Service Center= $25.00/ 2/3 Person Service Center=$30.00/ 4/6 Person Service Center=$35.00/ 7/9 Person Service Center=$40.00/ 10 & up =$45.00. This rate schedule is for independent membership and may be affected by a chapter or affiliate in your region.

Please include your dues with your completed application, this will constitute your agreement to abide by the Constitution and BY-Laws of FESA. Members will continue to receive Watts Current.

For a Non Member Watts Current Subscription Only. Include your check for $12.00, write Watts Current subscription on this form and return it to:

Billy F. Williams EHF
1409 Glendale Rd. W.
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Phone: (904) 725-9789
The Poor Man’s HDTV Signal Generator

To continue servicing consumer electronics it will become unavoidable to eliminate the need for a HDTV generator. Sooner or later it is going to be required on a service request. Our luck just ran out as we tried to converge a unit that we had just replaced the convergence IC’s. It happened to be A Hitachi Model 53SDX01B /DP06 chassis with a customer complaining of crooked blue lines in the upper left and lower right corners in the picture.

We had also begun stocking all components listed in the Hitachi-JT22052 Repair kit (P/N X40293) . It is wiser to purchase the kit rather than purchase the individual components ... by a 50% lower cost. The title tells you why we noticed. You can take my word or find out for yourself...be my guest...let your wallet be your guide! Bonus tip…. this kit will also replace the Sony 8-749-014-37 convergence IC with a much greater savings.

Checking her unit upon arrival it was worse than described. Even the magic focus function refused to complete its cycle. Fortunately we reviewed Hitachi’s web sight and printed out all bulletins pertaining to this model We are now using the recommended STK392-150 replacements for the STK 392-110 series and these were used in this model...after installing the kit. We touched up the convergence believing the job was done.

"Let me see some HDTV" ,she said... speed dialing...on her digital cable box remote. Well sir... convergence in the HD picture that appeared... really sucked. Having already invested more time than normally allowed on sight to complete service...we pulled the set and left...late for all our remaining calls.

After returning to the shop we began addressing this problem...having no HDTV Generator...we hit the first snag! Checked the Sencore web page for available products to accomplish our task. They have some nice units however all are out of our price range. Returning to one of the printed bulletins (PTV-01-07) from the Hitachi web there was a paragraph titled HD Generator...which states "If the customer has an HD signal source such as a Satellite Receiver or an HD Set Top Box, that signal can be used to access the HD mode." That evolved the question, what if we have the set top box? The TV won’t care but of course we didn’t have one .at the time.

Checked available terrestrial HD receivers in our local big box stores. Found several but prices were above their listings on the web for the same low ball products. Eventually found one at a super big box store for under $200.00 to purchase. It worked great on rabbit ears enabling us to enter the HD mode ...select the built in cross hatch and complete the convergence then return the set. El Cheapo rides again! Editor Watts Current
Visit NESDA
www.nesda.com
FESA SERVICE INVOICES

PRICE LIST - MEMBERS ONLY

INVOICES ARE CARBON FOUR PART WITH CLAIM AND HARD FILE COPY
ZONES 4 & 5

#1 (SMALL)
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
63.50 125.00 183.00 218.00 275.00

IMPRINT
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
26.50 48.00 69.00 85.00 102.00

Sub Total
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
90.00 173.00 252.00 303.00 377.00

S/C
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
7.50 12.50 15.00 20.00 22.50

TOTAL
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
102.50 190.50 272.00 328.00 404.50

UPS PREPAID FREIGHT COLLECT


Please note: The price increase announced previously is now in effect. We delayed the increase until the forms previously contracted have been depleted. All form requests from this time forward will be at the posted prices, freight collect. We no longer have a supply of the LARGE invoices. We are in the process of locating new a source for our large invoices.

Until we find a new source the FESA-Large invoices are NO Longer Available.


NEW ORDERS TAKE 3 TO 4 WEEKS --- INCLUDE IMPRINT INFO WITH CHECK REPEAT ORDERS TAKE 2 TO 3 WEEKS RUSH ORDERS WILL NOT BE PLACED UNTIL I RECEIVE YOUR CHECK! MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO F.E.S.A ALL SERVICE INVOICE ORDERS SHOULD BE MAILED WITH YOUR CHECK DIRECTLY TO THE FESA TREASURER:

Mr. Billy F. Williams EHF
1409 Glendale Rd. W.
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Phone & Fax: (904) 725-9789

NOTE: Small Invoices are 5:5/8"W X 9:1/8" H / You must be a Member of FESA to order forms from FESA.
Visit Tritronics Incorporated
www.tritronicsinc.com
Return to FESA Home Page