Brenton, at 14:17 on Wed, Aug 10 1994, you wrote to Bill Grimsley ...

BG> my ROMs have already been upgraded from 1.xx to 2.xx (2.31 from 
BG> memory) since the card was originally purchased new.

BV> Doesn't mean much. They could still be crap.

Yeah, after MS, anything is possible.  ;-)

BG> except the native font is not particularly pleasing to my eye, yet I 
BG> don't know how to change it (if indeed I can).

BV> corse you can. All you need is some graph paper, an eprom programmer 
BV> and a lot of patience :)

Well I'm fucked, because I fail on all three points.

BV> Not me. I've given up making recommendations to people and offering 
BV> to source stuff. It's not worth the agro.

Prevents you from being called a [insert OS/HW/whatever here]-zealot too.

BG> Did they make a nominal charge, or require the original EPROMs back? 

BV> Nope.

Fuck me, that's bloody good service, especially as the EPROMS look to be
64K chips (hard to tell with the sticker), and there are 2 of them!

BV> Any generic S3 801/805 drivers should work.

BG> Is that right?

BV> Would I lie to you ?

Is Rod Speed a humanitarian?  Is Bob Lawrence a cat-lover?  ;-)

BV> Check out the IBM BBS. If they have something of interest, I can 
BV> DL it for you and post it to you if required.

Many thanks for that.  I'll freq FILES and have a look, although I'm about
to send off a fax to Diamond tonight anyway.

BG> How _is_ your flu, BTW ??  ;-)

BV> I'm okay now thanks. 'cept that my #1 customer still expects me to 
BV> have done all the work I would have normally be able to have do. 
BV> Fuck'em, I'll invoice them anyway, at least that way they will feel 
BV> like they've got it :)

Cough all over the invoice before you send it, too.  ;-)

BV> 'hokay. Setup is: Philips VR-6940 with BNC direct video connect 

Just a rebadged Sharp VC-488X HiFi VCR.  However...

BV> to the Sony KX-20PS1 monitor. The only tuner in the place is in 
BV> the VCR. The antenna plugs directly into the VCR which handles 
BV> all the RF stuff.

Fine.  Understood now.  I wanted to be sure you were using the tuner on the
VCR, and not the monitor (does the Sony have a tuner at all?).

 BV> The problem is definitely only visible with the tuner section. 
 BV> The picture starts out being b/w over half of the screen and it 
 BV> slowly fades to a dull colour. There are horizontal bands of 
 BV> black running down the screen as well which seem to be slowly 
 BV> rolling down the screen. They are not heavy black bands and they 
 BV> dont kill the picture but you can see them very easily. The 
 BV> problem is also definitely heat related, so I guess I could find 
 BV> it with a hair-dryer and a can of freeze, but then I've got to 
 BV> pull it apart, stuff around, find the part I don't have, drive up 
 BV> the street to find one, only to be told that it isn't in stock 
 BV> and will be back ordered for two weeks.

The fact that tapes PB in colour tends to eliminate a hell of a lot of VCR
circuitry, and limits the problem to either the tuner/IF of the VCR (which
is not impossible, although extremely unlikely), or the chroma circuitry of
your Sony monitor.

 BV>  So, if you can help me out it would be appreciated. I'm 
 BV> not adverse to doing a bit of "shotgunning" with it :)

If the Sony has a tuner, does it show colour on its own channels?  If it
doesn't have a tuner, it makes definitive testing a bit difficult (although
you could always borrow your neighbour's VCR and connect it similarly to
your Philips, and see if the problem persists).  My gut feeling is that you
should be looking at the Sony, rather than the VCR. Presumably you have a
can of freeze (and I'm sure that Patricia has a hair dryer).

BG> One thing you can try immediately:  On the rear RHS of the VCR, 
BG> there is a 3-position slide switch (I think) which says 
BG> COLOUR/AUTO/BW (maybe not in that order).

BV> Que ? Unless you are referring to a switch inside the VR-6940, I
BV> think you have it confused with another model.

Perhaps it's beneath the tuner panel on the top of the VCR - so many
different models, I keep forgetting such things.  ;-)

BG> This switch overrides the VCR's colour-killer if set to COLOUR.

BV> Yeah, that's it. It's definitely a "color killer" :)

;-)

BG> If that solves the problem, you can either simply leave it like
BG> that, or I can tell you what to do next.

BV> If I glue a 3-pos switch to the back and label it as suggested, 
BV> do you think it will help ?

Have no fear, that switch DOES exist somewhere on your VCR, but I forget
exactly where.  As I said, it's likely under the tuner cover on yours.

Your problem could also be something as simple as not having the VCR's AFT
switch turned on (also under the tuner cover).  Try retuning the VCR
channels (switch the AFT off first though) and see if that helps.  If not,
attack the Sony with freeze, because what you describe is more likely to be
a fault in the monitor than the VCR (IMO of course).

My reasoning is that if the problem was with the VCR's chroma circuitry,
your tapes would be doing exactly the same thing, but it's not.

If you do need the manual, let me know, as I have the correct Philips
manual for your model, and I'd be quite happy to lend it to you for as long
as you need it.

BG> Keep me informed.

BV> Your informed.

Don't give up your day job just yet, Brenton.  ;-)

Regards, Bill (say hello to the tribe for me as well)

--- Msgedsq/2 2.2e