Just found this: https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remote-control-button-of-the-month
This is a beautiful thing even if it goes to an electronic thing!
I wish there still were such things around!
This is a beautiful thing even if it goes to an electronic thing!
I wish there still were such things around!
Yeah... in the 70s my parents' friends had one of them fancy Zenith consoles with a clicker.
It was fun being out in the patio, jingling the keys and hearing... "TONY! STOOOOOOPPPP IT!"
Changing the channel from Lawrence Welk to 60 minutes while we were setting up the BBQ in the patio... or if I was lucky it would turn to the Sunday show of Kikaida on KIKU-TV..
It was fun being out in the patio, jingling the keys and hearing... "TONY! STOOOOOOPPPP IT!"
Changing the channel from Lawrence Welk to 60 minutes while we were setting up the BBQ in the patio... or if I was lucky it would turn to the Sunday show of Kikaida on KIKU-TV..
My uncle had a 25 inch color TV with the space command remote.
I will never forget the sound of that remote. Also the force needed to press the buttons.
I also remember convergence was never quite right and color balance was fairly awful.
I will never forget the sound of that remote. Also the force needed to press the buttons.
I also remember convergence was never quite right and color balance was fairly awful.
The 25 inch Sony Trinitron gotten as a replacement in 1980 was far ahead as far as picture quality. It probably mostly came down to picture tube advances. Also I saw two of the same Somy Trinitron model last 25 years without needing any repairs.
Also I guess I have to realize there could be a whole generation of kids that have never seen a NTSC picture. Yes it sucked but was a step up from black and white sometimes.
Also I guess I have to realize there could be a whole generation of kids that have never seen a NTSC picture. Yes it sucked but was a step up from black and white sometimes.
Sony Trinitrons were very expensive. Did they even make a 25: in '80? I only remember 19" Sonys until sometime in '83 or so.
Zenith wasn't bad then. Most people had a 25" console at home. My parents bought one in '75 and it ran fine until '90 when I replaced it with a 25" Sony.
RCA had the XLR100 chassis. I bought a 20" version from JC Penney's -a branded XLR100 chassis. Back in '84, on sale, that was 600 bucks, otherwise it sold for almost 900!
We bought a couple of 25XBRs in 97 when they went on sale at Fedco... they ran $1500 bucks, each. I traded one in '96 and the other one lasted until around 2015 or so - in our bedroom. The tuner gave up the ghost around 2010, so I used a Sony VCR as tuner... same remote. Eventually we dumped cable ( no more down-rez'd to NTSC ) so we upgraded to a flat panel ( a 40" Vizio ).
OTOH, around 99 we bought a top of the line 32XBR, the one with the separate tuner/driver box and the cool "X" steel beam base. On sale, and after cajoling the guy with cash... we paid 3000 with tax and "free" delivery. I had that TV calibrated but within five years its power supply smoked... I mean, it smoked! The smoke alarm kicked off. Naturally by then, Sony was but a ghost of its past and they didn't have any parts.
Happiness, however, is an LG55C9 OLED in the bedroom.. an LG77CX in the den... and a bunch of NP's DIY designs in the living room.
Oh, NTSC wasn't all that bad. In the mid/late 90s, our Infinity Reference Video Projector had the line doubler board... it did 480P which worked well enough with a Luxman OTA/Cable TV tuner, a Super Beta, Laserdisc and later DVD. In a dark enough room it had pretty good impact.... seriously, I used to say that "real men measure their TVs in feet, no inches". Our screen was 9 1/2 feet! ;-)
Zenith wasn't bad then. Most people had a 25" console at home. My parents bought one in '75 and it ran fine until '90 when I replaced it with a 25" Sony.
RCA had the XLR100 chassis. I bought a 20" version from JC Penney's -a branded XLR100 chassis. Back in '84, on sale, that was 600 bucks, otherwise it sold for almost 900!
We bought a couple of 25XBRs in 97 when they went on sale at Fedco... they ran $1500 bucks, each. I traded one in '96 and the other one lasted until around 2015 or so - in our bedroom. The tuner gave up the ghost around 2010, so I used a Sony VCR as tuner... same remote. Eventually we dumped cable ( no more down-rez'd to NTSC ) so we upgraded to a flat panel ( a 40" Vizio ).
OTOH, around 99 we bought a top of the line 32XBR, the one with the separate tuner/driver box and the cool "X" steel beam base. On sale, and after cajoling the guy with cash... we paid 3000 with tax and "free" delivery. I had that TV calibrated but within five years its power supply smoked... I mean, it smoked! The smoke alarm kicked off. Naturally by then, Sony was but a ghost of its past and they didn't have any parts.
Happiness, however, is an LG55C9 OLED in the bedroom.. an LG77CX in the den... and a bunch of NP's DIY designs in the living room.
Oh, NTSC wasn't all that bad. In the mid/late 90s, our Infinity Reference Video Projector had the line doubler board... it did 480P which worked well enough with a Luxman OTA/Cable TV tuner, a Super Beta, Laserdisc and later DVD. In a dark enough room it had pretty good impact.... seriously, I used to say that "real men measure their TVs in feet, no inches". Our screen was 9 1/2 feet! ;-)
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I love the sorta low-tech solution to a high-tech problem with this remote control. I do remember a few ultrasound remotes from my childhood, but they had ultrasound transducers rather than strikers and rods.
Tom
Tom
The clickers were loud! Not a good thing when watching TV late at night when people were trying to sleep in the room next door.
I think that by '80 they all had moved to infrared remotes.
I think that by '80 they all had moved to infrared remotes.
The clicker was more fun when you had channel choices of 2,9, 27 and 33. Might as well get up and change the channel in some cases. I forget how you switched from UHF to VHF.
You really have to admire engineers before the days of magical green PCBs...
Following YT channels such as Technology Connections, I consistently get my mind blown with how they overcame real, pressing engineering challenges...or simply problems/needs that nobody ever bothered with (failed products).
Following YT channels such as Technology Connections, I consistently get my mind blown with how they overcame real, pressing engineering challenges...or simply problems/needs that nobody ever bothered with (failed products).
I don't remember anyone watching UHF in the 70s. I mean, who needs more than 12 channels of TV, huh? Let see... channels, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. That's a LOT of TV.
Funny thing... at the time,, with 7 channels on the air, there was a LOT more TV to watch than today with 200.
Repairing Video projectors at the time was great fun and challenging at the same time. Still have a working VPH-1292QM somewhere waiting to get installed (with a HDMI input card).
The only unit i didn't like to work on was the Kloss Novabeam, what a mess this was (my thoughts at the time).
The only unit i didn't like to work on was the Kloss Novabeam, what a mess this was (my thoughts at the time).
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I had 2 of big and noisy 1292s also . very sharp grid lines but all those fans were overkill and not a very bright projector though
I think it was intended for rear projection with all the noise it made
I had just about every crt out there From Barco to Ampros to NEC to Electrohomes
the NEC xg135lc was my favorite out of all of them
CRT projection was a fun era never to return sadly
I think it was intended for rear projection with all the noise it made
I had just about every crt out there From Barco to Ampros to NEC to Electrohomes
the NEC xg135lc was my favorite out of all of them
CRT projection was a fun era never to return sadly
My first tv also had one of those mechanical ’loud ding’ remote controls
think it was a Sony 19“ trinitron
think it was a Sony 19“ trinitron
Me, never had anything like these!
At home, TV was b/w, no remote, 6 channels I believe. At least with cable connection, don’t remember when color tv arrived… and at my grandparents place the tv with the antenna on top and that fuzzy, running image…
Great stories from the past anyway!
At home, TV was b/w, no remote, 6 channels I believe. At least with cable connection, don’t remember when color tv arrived… and at my grandparents place the tv with the antenna on top and that fuzzy, running image…
Great stories from the past anyway!
Well. "my" first TV was a Marconi... B&W... one channel... TVE.
I remember when the technician took it and brought it back with TWO channels... TVE and TVE-2.
We were advanced....
Funny thing... so they'd translate American movies and shows to Castilian.
John Wayne, Lucille Ball, etc... all had CaTHlitian accents.
But the Mexicans got translated into Mexican Spanish.
And here's the funny one... Desie Arnaz ( Ricky in the I Love Lucy show ) got translated into Cuban Spanish.
I remember when the technician took it and brought it back with TWO channels... TVE and TVE-2.
We were advanced....
Funny thing... so they'd translate American movies and shows to Castilian.
John Wayne, Lucille Ball, etc... all had CaTHlitian accents.
But the Mexicans got translated into Mexican Spanish.
And here's the funny one... Desie Arnaz ( Ricky in the I Love Lucy show ) got translated into Cuban Spanish.
I've seen clicker type remotes when I first went into the TV trade. I would have said PYE or Philips brand but can't find anything...
Predating those. Notice the motor 😉 no precision DC motor here:
And VCR's with a single cable remote (just shielded mic wire) that used a series resistor ladder network in the R/C and simple level shifting decoder to get a dozen or so functional buttons. Just different voltage levels really.
Predating those. Notice the motor 😉 no precision DC motor here:
And VCR's with a single cable remote (just shielded mic wire) that used a series resistor ladder network in the R/C and simple level shifting decoder to get a dozen or so functional buttons. Just different voltage levels really.
@tonyEE That’s s all greek to me…
(Although here, we‘d say „appears spanish to me“ which means „there’s something fishy“)
@Mooly yeah, I remember these, revox they were overhere (and still can be found at our „bay“). My uncle, who dismayed those wire-remotes, diy a remote remote one for the volume-knob, a big chunky peace of motor with a belt atop the receiver. My father was all AAAhh! and I didn’t get it 😶
(Although here, we‘d say „appears spanish to me“ which means „there’s something fishy“)
@Mooly yeah, I remember these, revox they were overhere (and still can be found at our „bay“). My uncle, who dismayed those wire-remotes, diy a remote remote one for the volume-knob, a big chunky peace of motor with a belt atop the receiver. My father was all AAAhh! and I didn’t get it 😶
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My Akai AS980 and Marantz 4415 have the wired remote.... it's the same model for both. From 1973 or so. Marantz RC-4.
How hard would it be to take one of them four button remote clickers and use it as a DIY Audio volume/selector remote? Use a resistor ladder with relays... and an ultrasonic interface.
I think that would be awesome, if you could find the parts.
@myleftear... yeah, it was indeed Spanish. TVE was the National TV channel... I think it still exists but it's not longer the state monopoly it had under El Caudillo.
How hard would it be to take one of them four button remote clickers and use it as a DIY Audio volume/selector remote? Use a resistor ladder with relays... and an ultrasonic interface.
I think that would be awesome, if you could find the parts.
@myleftear... yeah, it was indeed Spanish. TVE was the National TV channel... I think it still exists but it's not longer the state monopoly it had under El Caudillo.