Old Mitsubishi projection TV problems

[Opeth_fan]

I inherited a 50" Mitsubishi rear projection (I think) TV. It's a 1998 model. The picture goes snowy pretty often now. I called the cable company out and they said it's the tuner in my TV, that they can go bad on older TVs. Does anyone believe that may be the case, or something else?

Thanks

[woodman]

I inherited a 50" Mitsubishi rear projection (I think) TV. It's a 1998 model. The picture goes snowy pretty often now. I called the cable company out and they said it's the tuner in my TV, that they can go bad on older TVs. Does anyone believe that may be the case, or something else?

Thanks

Your cable company may be correct in their "diagnosis" ... or, they may not. But, there's a simple way to find out for sure (and a simple "fix" to boot). Hookup the incoming cable to a VCR - if you don't have one, you can get one for a mere pittance (used). Just check your local newspaper or other advertising media for people selling (practically giving away) a VCR. Take the video and audio outputs from the VCR and input those into a "video" input on the TV set. Then, switch the TV from the "antenna" input to the direct "video" input. That will bypass the set's tuner, input balun, I.F. circuitry, etc. and allow you to receive the cable channels clearly without any snow by injecting the baseband video signal directly into the set's video (and audio) circuits.

That will solve your problem, whether the cable company's diagnosis was correct or not.

[Rob1956]

if you can determine that the tuner is working ok, I would suggest having a professional come in and clean the crt lenses, the mirror and the back of the screen. No doubt, the
years have added dust to all of those surfaces. Dust causes the image to darken and become soft. If you want to keep the set, you should check the owners manual re: how to reconverge the set. It sound like it's been neglected quit a bit. It is possible that the set can provide you more years of enjoyment, as long as you don't long for a fancy digital
HD capable one right now. Good luck.