Barco Data 801 (1 Viewer)

[Helge]

Earlier this year I got a lucky break, a company near me was moving and needed to clear out their storage. I took the job and during my cleaning I stumbled upon a BarcoData 801. I asked if they needed it, and fortunately they did not. I could buy it.. Yeay..!? I paid 2500,- NOK which is about 360,- USD.

It has about 4000 hours on the clock, and no burns. There was a fault with it though, after about 30min the CRT’s died down but the HT was still running. I called the local Barco dealer and he pointed me to the problem so I replaced the HT card.
Total cost 615,- USD (initial cost + repairs)

Enough background story, now to the question:
Was this a bargain or was I ripped off? Is there any upgrades or tweaks I may perform to get better performance out of it? All the tubes and colors look sharp. Does anyone have a user manual and/or operation manual or even a service manual?

I will be able to all work myself because I am a Radio/TV Technician, although I have newer worked on projectors.

All answers are gladly received.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

The 800 is a very nice unit, I don't think you got ripped off at all. I would visit the CRT forums at avs if you want advice on this unit, I know there are some faults and mods that have been discussed thoroughly on it, that you should be able to do pretty easily. If i recall correctly, there were some joints that would fail and could kill the scan voltages, and spot burn all your tubes, i think some connections just need to be resoldered to fix that, for e.g.

But that is from the depths of my memory, and like 3rd hand reading, so I'd just hunt in that direction. It's a good unit though!

 

[Helge]

Thanks Chris..

I'll have a look at AVSforum.com if this was where you meant.

 

[Leo Kerr]

Hmm.. it just occurred to me that I had worked with the BarcoGraphics 801 and 1201, not the BarcoDatas...

The Barcos were solid, very nice, and very stable. If you've the space for one of these hogs, they should be able to do great things for you.

Leo Kerr

 

[Helge]

Space ain't a problem Leo

Are there big differences between the Grapics and Data models??

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Not sure w the 800 units, but I know with my 808, the data and graphics differences are mainly electronic. The graphics have higher resolution input capabilities, but if they use the same tubes (which all the 808 do except the G808s) then the resolving capabilities are all the same and the data are plenty fine. But that's only an extension of what i know for the 808, so feel free to ignore that w/regards to the 800 cause im not really that sure.

 

[Leo Kerr]

I suspect that the big differences between the Graphics and Data ones are the scanrates and other drive-circuit related stuff... I know that the Graphics could be driven to obscenely high scan rates..

Leo

A bad memory is a terrible thing.. .now I'm starting to wonder if they were 1201 and 801 vs 1208 and 808s...

Leo

 

[Helge]

There used to be a site called Snaggs Projector Reference, had a lot of info. Scanrates, resolution, the lot. But it is dead.... :frowning:

 

[ChrisWiggles]

http://www.crtcinema.com/barcospecs.html

And from Curt Palme's FAQ:

"In around 1990, Barco came out with the 500 and 800 models. The 500 is a 7” version of the 8” Barco 800. The 500 put out 600 lumens, the 800 put out 825 lumens. The projectors have digital convergence which is very easy to set up, and lots of on screen menus to guide you through the setup procedure. ES focus on all of these sets.

In about 1993 Barco came out with the Barco 801. The 801 was very similar to the 800, but had an extra circuit called AKB that compensates for picture tube wear. Basically the same overall picture as the Barco 800. ES focus on this set as well.

There are two versions of Barco 500 and 800 as well as other Barco models. There are Graphics and Data models of most projectors. The Data models use hybrid lenses and do not scan as high as the Graphics versions, which also have all glass lenses. The Graphics are somewhat more desirable, but in most cases the scan rate of the Data projectors is more than adequate for home theatre use.

The Data 500, 800 and 801 scan to 58 Khz, (line tripling), the Graphics scan to 92 Khz."

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Hmm, I do believe with the 808 series, though, that all the lenses are the HD-8 hybrids, so I'm not sure curt's thing about the lenses applies to the 808 and others...