CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

Chris M. · Joined: 17 Jan 2016 Posts: 3 Location: South Wales, UK

Greetings everyone. Been following the forums for a little while now, fascinating stuff and so much to learn. While I don`t have a CRT setup right now, I do own three units and want to get one of them up and going some time soon, primarily for watching old-skool Laserdiscs at the moment but depending on results may look into hooking up to the media computer too. Nothing special - couple of Selecos including an ancient SVT150 with tubes burned to a crisp just to "play with" really, and a Barcovision 700HQ with bad tube fungus that I have been meaning to refurbish for a few years now and never seem to get round to.

The reason for this post is regarding one of the Seleco units - a SVD500 "Multimedia System". Bought not so long ago for not too much money, it did not come with either of the remote controllers needed to operate and set up. Searches don`t find anything specific to this particular unit, so I was wondering. Anyone here familiar with Seleco units and know if there are remotes available for my SVD500, either originals or compatibles? Without the "commissioning" remote in particular I can`t set the unit up, which is a shame as it`s in decent nick and seems to have fairly low hours, though I can`t get into the menus to see exactly how long it has run for. Tubes look about a 7 on the scale though so should be plenty of life left, and it powers up and shows a fair (if psychedelically un-converged) image when I hook it to a video source.

If not a remote controller, then does anyone know how I can make use of the RS232 serial control interface? Can`t find any dedicated software available but there must be third party programs that can take control.

Many thanks for your help!

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 7:44 pm Post subject:

That's going to be a tough one to find. I threw out all things Seleco a couple of years ago as I hadn't had an inquiry in years, but I don't think I had a remote for it. Seleco made their own units, and didn't sell a lot of them (or did, and they've all been scrapped now), and used their own IR codes, so you HAVE to find the exact remote. I don't think remotes were swappable bewteeen models either..

Chris M. · Joined: 17 Jan 2016 Posts: 3 Location: South Wales, UK

Thanks for the reply. Not to worry - but it does perhaps explain why I got that set for so little.

I did come across this page: http://www.cinematr.fi/svd500.html on which there is a contact address and the claim that remotes, etc, are still available. Have sent them a note but not going to hold my breath. Most of the search results that crop up are from 10 years ago or more and I don`t know how current that page`s information is.

I believe Seleco were more popular over here in and around Europe than they were in North America though so won`t give up hope just yet. However, the refurbishment of that Barcovision unit might end up being my answer after all...

carpfisher · Joined: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 19

Selecos were really popular here in the pubs in the UK. There are several being sold on Ebay from time to time, with remote. You could message the seller, saying you just want the remote, or buy the lot and keep the spares. Some projectors go for 50 quid or less. This reminds me to do something with my own broken Seleco!

Chris M. · Joined: 17 Jan 2016 Posts: 3 Location: South Wales, UK

Thanks - actually this one of mine came from Ebay and was under £50 with delivery. There has been another SVD500 up for sale recently with controller (in great shape with very low hours) but it is collection-only and probably too far to practically go and travel to get. I doubt the seller would just part with the controller but it might be worth asking.

Did get a reply from that Finnish site above - they want 200 euros for the installer remote! That`s about three times what I paid for the whole set, and twice as much as that other one on Ebay.

Might be worth investigating the serial control option instead? Anyone ever used the serial control port with useful results - on any unit not just Seleco?

Many thanks!