If you had one of these...

Jan 19, 2010
1,169
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
I don't remember the TV repairman coming to the house by the time we had the "clickers". Before that, however if your TV broke, you called a TV repairman who actually came to the house. TVs were big and heavy. He unplugged your TV for at least ten minutes before he would get in there and start swapping vacuum tubes. I thought the little dot that slowly faded in the center of the screen after you turned it off was fascinating.

The biggest problem was that the TV didn't "act-up" when the TV repairman was there.

-Will
Repairmen had these big triple opening tool boxes..my father couldn't understand why my brother couldn't fix the set when home on leave.. He was in the USAF as a radar repair instructor..
 
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Jun 11, 2004
1,621
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
I don't remember the TV repairman coming to the house by the time we had the "clickers". Before that, however if your TV broke, you called a TV repairman who actually came to the house. TVs were big and heavy. He unplugged your TV for at least ten minutes before he would get in there and start swapping vacuum tubes. I thought the little dot that slowly faded in the center of the screen after you turned it off was fascinating.

The biggest problem was that the TV didn't "act-up" when the TV repairman was there.

-Will
When ours would act up I remember looking for bad tubes, pulling them out and going down to the hardware store, or sometimes the Thrifty or SavOn drug, and testing them on a machine they provided. If it tested bad you bought a new tube and installed it yourself. I wish things were that simple today. Now if something goes bad you just toss it to the landfill and get a new one. What a waste. We do get a much better picture now though.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
That is funny! My first TV was a Heathkit as was my first audio amp .. I built and tuned the speaker cainets in the Navy woodwork shop..IIRC, I bought the triaxial drivers from another company, Allied Electronics. I built the electronics at home.. and yes I am.... :)
 
Aug 2, 2009
637
Catalina 315 Muskegon
We had the two button remote (Space Command) for our black & white Zenith. I remember taking it apart when I was a kid, and wondering how it could possibly work without batteries or wires, just those metal rods.
 
May 17, 2004
5,026
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
And your dog would howl every time you changed a channel. :laugh:
When I was a little kid my grandparents had a tv remote that worked with ultrasonic waves. It was electronic though - basically a normal remote but with a speaker on the front - not a mechanical thing like in the OP. They did say their dog didn’t like it when they changed the channel.