HP 8920A NewScope CRT to LCD retrofit display

[kj7e]

I have been eyeing the NewScope LCD retrofit kit for my HP 8920A for a few years.  Finally pulled the trigger, it was ordered Thursday and arrived Monday.  The instructions were spot on and the results are fantastic.  Great contrast and brightness, very crisp and now dual tone, white and green display.  I think the "one hour" time estimate is a bit optimistic, took me about 2 hours total.

http://www.simmconnlabs.com/1401/10001.html

[TheSteve]

That certainly does look nice. I'd so like to do it but the CRT in my 8920B is still like new.

[kj7e]

Yeah, I went back and forth because my CRT was in decent condition, reasonably bright with minimal burn in.  Glad I did the LCD update, way brighter with a clean and crisp display and the two color display is really nice.  Numeric readings and traces are in white now, here is a better example.

[TheSteve]

Maybe I'm just nostalgic as I fell in love with the 8920 in college. Everything else in my lab is LCD(or VFD). I converted several VNA's to LCD but the green CRT in the 8920 seems a little special. Of course if it was to die, dim or burn-in I'd replace it pretty quick with the LCD

[W3KW]

I'm starting my LCD display swap. My CRT looks brand new, but the new-scope display is just too nice to pass up. Talk about surgery! Wow. It's like a chassis off restoration. It's very intimidating and intrusive. The rigid signal "cables" make me very nervous. I'm afraid of damaging one in the process and being out whatever I paid for this thing. It was not cheap but looks fresh off the HP line! Just gorgeous.

The foam insulation on my speaker mount failed and the speaker almost fell out when I took the case off. Be careful there. I resecured mine using four dabs of silicone glue. It's easily reversed if the plates need to be separated at a later time.

Once in the machine, I discovered I have the version with two batteries. Off to Digikey for another. The part number is P270-ND. It's a BR-2/3AE2SP 3V 2/3A Lithium Battery.

The manuals are downloadable for free at the Keysight website and are like-new digital copies. Very nice!

[watchmaker]

This was my "Red Green Show Possum Lodge" solution, although two sided tape instead of duct tape.  I could not bring myself to tear the thing open.  Just turned the CRT down all the way.