Bridgeport VMC 1000 monitor

[kayleesdad]

We are having problems with our monitor not working for our Bridgeport VMC 1000. We thought the problem was the CRT and replaced it with a new one but this did not resolve the problem. I contacted Bridgeport and they offered to sell a monitor kit for $1700, which is way too expensive. The monitor chassis says it was made by Microvitech. I believe they are a Danish company and have emailed them for information but haven't recieved a response yet. Has anybody ever encountered problems with similar monitors? Looking for troubleshooting and purchasing advice. Paying $1700 is out of the question, looking for a cheaper alternative.

Microvitech
Model-38-K42TMB-01
P/N- 14VC4CAS

[Al_The_Man]

I reverse engineered the signal on Mitsubishi/Mazak and Fanuc controls and found that the signal was standard ttl ega, these monitors are very rare now (circa) 1970-80's but they often go in computer scrap shops for $5-$10 each,mono or colour.
If you can get the info on the interface, you may be able to pull the same trick here.
Al.

[machintek]

When I am called in on a CRT issue, I ask the customer if he has a PC in the shop. 99 percent of the time it will plug into the VMC and will prove out if it is the monitor or the video output of the control.
Your VMC came in 2 major designs. The original ones had a mother board with a video card plugged into it. I would pull the card out, clean the edge connector and plug it back into the same slot or another similar slot. About 90 percent of the time, this gets your video back.
Later machines had a "control in a box" (CIB). These had a half size all in one motherboard and the video was built in. I would plug a monitor directly into this mother board and see if I get video. This would eliminate a bad cable.
If you still have no video with either design, you may have a bad video board or motherboard.
Watch your floppy when you turn your machine on. The machine should seek the floppy for a few seconds during boot. If not, you may have a bad logic power supply or a dead motherboard.
The full size motherboard has no speaker. The have size has a "tweeter." If the processor is working and sees a problem, it will put out a set of beeps, which can be decoded. I carry a small speaker to plug into motherboards that does not have a speaker for diagnostics if necessary.
The problem is that every design CRT has a slightly different bezel. As I said, almost ANY CRT will work BUT not mount into the machine unless the sheet metal housing is modified to accept it.
Last week I used a flat panel LCD monitor to diagnose bad video on an EZTRAK. About 3 weeks ago, I had a customer wheel out a 21 inch flat CRT to keep another EZTRAK making chips. He later found a 9 inch gray scale CRT for 100 dollars on the internet and MADE IT FIT. just examples.
I believe that EMI-inc.net is selling a kit that replaces the CRT with a 13 inch or so LCD monitor. I saw 4 of these in one shop in Cherokee, AL.

George