"Les Lawry-Johns wrote numerous television servicing articles for Television magazine over many years, both in his own name and under various pen-names.
"He also wrote regular stories about the characters he encountered and the sets he fought to repair for over 14 years, which was an extremely popular feature in the magazine. The complete series of these are freely available from this page for your enjoyment."
https://www.vintage-radio.info/llj/
Tales of analog and solder in its prime. Resistors! Tubes! Customers, good and bad.
Spoiler: the last year, Les kept writing, but with longer breaks and obvious physical decline. I found it depressing if honest.
"He also wrote regular stories about the characters he encountered and the sets he fought to repair for over 14 years, which was an extremely popular feature in the magazine. The complete series of these are freely available from this page for your enjoyment."
https://www.vintage-radio.info/llj/
Tales of analog and solder in its prime. Resistors! Tubes! Customers, good and bad.
Spoiler: the last year, Les kept writing, but with longer breaks and obvious physical decline. I found it depressing if honest.
Pretty good.
You could download the whole series as a PDF, read some, cop the guy's writing style (which wouldnt be that hard) and write your own legacy book. Could even title it as the above quote! It'd be like an American version...
Repairing electronics is a bit of an art.
I watch hundreds of repair video's.
North ridge fix fixes a lot of PC's, x boxes etc.
Common problems seem to be capacitors and mosfets.
I watch a lot of pc repair videos.
Seems to be just be just swap items till it starts working.
In the 1960's there were men who went around fixing TV's.
But all they did was swap valves/tubes until it worked or else it was a no fix.
I watch hundreds of repair video's.
North ridge fix fixes a lot of PC's, x boxes etc.
Common problems seem to be capacitors and mosfets.
I watch a lot of pc repair videos.
Seems to be just be just swap items till it starts working.
In the 1960's there were men who went around fixing TV's.
But all they did was swap valves/tubes until it worked or else it was a no fix.
@nigelwright7557
"I watch a lot of pc repair videos. Seems to be just be just swap items till it starts working.
In the 1960's there were men who went around fixing TV's But all they did was swap valves/tubes until it worked or else it was a no fix."
Performing repairs in a professional way is much like a surgeon doing brain or organ surgery.
Training, schooling, studying, and having the extensive knowledge to properly diagnose the situation before picking up a tool to do the work.
Those amateur videos online are nowhere near the same level as a professional.
And the "try this part, try that part" type of tinkerers are just putzing around in hope of success.
A professional, like a brain surgeon, doesn't have that option.
"I watch a lot of pc repair videos. Seems to be just be just swap items till it starts working.
In the 1960's there were men who went around fixing TV's But all they did was swap valves/tubes until it worked or else it was a no fix."
Performing repairs in a professional way is much like a surgeon doing brain or organ surgery.
Training, schooling, studying, and having the extensive knowledge to properly diagnose the situation before picking up a tool to do the work.
Those amateur videos online are nowhere near the same level as a professional.
And the "try this part, try that part" type of tinkerers are just putzing around in hope of success.
A professional, like a brain surgeon, doesn't have that option.
The north ridge fix bloke admits he rarely uses a circuit diagram.
He tends to look for blown up components in a visual inspection first.
He then checks for blown mosfets shorts.
If that doesnt work he applies 1.5 volts and uses thermal cam to look for hot spots.
He fixes a lot that way but does get the occasional no fix.
My approach is visual inspection first.
Then power it up and look for power supply volts.
If thats ok do a functional test, only using circuit diagrams if I find a part that isnt working.
He tends to look for blown up components in a visual inspection first.
He then checks for blown mosfets shorts.
If that doesnt work he applies 1.5 volts and uses thermal cam to look for hot spots.
He fixes a lot that way but does get the occasional no fix.
My approach is visual inspection first.
Then power it up and look for power supply volts.
If thats ok do a functional test, only using circuit diagrams if I find a part that isnt working.
I was one of those guys as a part time job during high school. Our shop was a Philco (Ford motor company) authorized warranty shop so we had a service manual for every set. In the back there were troubleshooting charts which the shop owner used. If the repair wasn't covered in those guides, I got to fix it.
An average in house repair fixed the obvious external issues, and the antenna system was a big one.....guess who got to climb ladders and fix antennas. Beyond the usual tube (valve) swapping, the set or it's chassis on a large console set came into the shop. Then it got attacked by the "books" unless it was a non Philco set, which I often got to fix. Most 60's vintage tube sets were pretty easy to fix. If the problem wasn't obvious just by carefully looking it over (fried yokes and flybacks), it was usually a bad electrolytic or drifted carbon comp resistor. Long term heat soak killed those parts in non-air conditioned Miami homes. Cockroaches and ants can kill TV's too.
When solid state TV's arrived, the shop closed down. I can give you decades of service shop stories...
I can give you decades of service shop stories... the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Imagine one of the most expensive and prestigious private colleges in the country being located right behind the largest Olson Electronics store in the country, with the U of M athletic merchandise and ticket sales store next door. Lots of rich students freely spent daddy's money on electronics of questionable quality. We did sell AR and Fisher too. I ran the service department of that store with two of my high school electronics class friends as associate techs. Yeah, I'm sure we both have lots of stories to tell, but now 50 years later, they're just old stories.
I worked on the sales floor at an Olsons in Tonowanda, NY. Sometimes, I just couldnt do it - selling that is - I dont know who the buyers were, but they must have scooped whatever abandoned trailer load they could find. I remember these 4 guys came back with such a system, two carrying a speaker each, one the TT and one the receiver. My senior associate, Brian, bravely standing up to them with a repair order in hand.
Ah, commissions - I wish I got to work at one of the Olson shops like yours. I got to work at the downtown Buffalo store one weekend and sold a Fisher system. Biggest commission I made the whole time working there. The district manager had a party at his house once, swimming pool, 57 Chevy in the garage; he wasnt doing too shabby. He fired my boss over which way to orient the display racks; angled or straight. Brian felt bad; "There's (just fired) Craig, out in the parking lot helping a customer out with his CB antenna"