Author Topic: Television Remote Control 1961  (Read 10674 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Homer J SimpsonTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1222
  • Country: us
Television Remote Control 1961
« on: May 17, 2016, 01:15:24 am »

 

Online CatalinaWOW

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5171
  • Country: us
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2016, 02:34:42 am »
The cheesy styrofoam star is a remarkable accompaniment to what was obviously a top of the line TV set.
 

Offline XOIIO

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1625
  • Country: ca
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2016, 02:46:33 am »
The cheesy styrofoam star is a remarkable accompaniment to what was obviously a top of the line TV set.

Hey now fella, those are genuine imported cubic zirconia, only the highest quality for a limited time, covering that star.



The way she's rubbing that tv though... seems a little, well, more than dusting shall we say lol.

Online xrunner

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7496
  • Country: us
  • hp>Agilent>Keysight>???
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2016, 02:49:08 am »
Yea sure lady - change the channel remotely but you're gonna have to get up anyway to fine tune that ole thing and adjust the tint LOL.
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline linux-works

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1993
  • Country: us
    • netstuff
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2016, 02:49:29 am »
we had it good back then.

we had both VHF -and- UHF.

the talk about 'fine tuning' made me laugh.  long time since I thought about that.

my first tv remote used some kind of sound bars like tuning forks.  you could hear them being hit by a percussive click/release mechanism.  and the channel changer literally turned the knob, mechanically.  I think you had to press on some kind of plastic or metal keys to define a channel as active or 'skip'; and of course, only VHF had seek forward and back; uhf never had remote control since, well, it couldn't.

Offline station240

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 967
  • Country: au
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2016, 03:36:21 am »
The power button on the bottom of the remote, odd. Wonder when they realised shifting it to the top was less annoying.

The way she's rubbing that tv though... seems a little, well, more than dusting shall we say lol.

Maybe she used to test washing machine spin cycles.
 

Offline ez24

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3082
  • Country: us
  • L.D.A.
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2016, 04:04:41 am »
I remember using TV remotes that did not use batteries  :-+
YouTube and Website Electronic Resources ------>  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/other-blog-specific/a/msg1341166/#msg1341166
 
The following users thanked this post: SeanB

Offline linux-works

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1993
  • Country: us
    • netstuff
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2016, 04:11:31 am »
I remember using TV remotes that did not use batteries  :-+

*I* used to be a tv remote.

my father would say 'hey kid, go change the channel to 3'

lol

Offline Muttley Snickers

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 2333
  • Country: au
  • Cursed: 679 times
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2016, 04:41:13 am »
I remember as a kid the neighbour having a Philips TV which incorporated touch select or similar technology, a great thing except that moths were drawn to the TV and would land on the buttons causing the channel to randomly change.

http://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/philips-26c566-38z-philips-k11-year.html

 

Offline Ampera

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2578
  • Country: us
    • Ampera's Forums
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2016, 04:53:22 am »
I remember as a kid the neighbour having a Philips TV which incorporated touch select or similar technology, a great thing except that moths were drawn to the TV and would land on the buttons causing the channel to randomly change.

http://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/philips-26c566-38z-philips-k11-year.html

Moth balls!
I forget who I am sometimes, but then I remember that it's probably not worth remembering.
EEVBlog IRC Admin - Join us on irc.austnet.org #eevblog
 

Offline Muttley Snickers

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 2333
  • Country: au
  • Cursed: 679 times
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2016, 05:06:39 am »
Moth balls!

It's true I tell you, well that's what we were told was causing it anyhow.
 

Online tggzzz

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 19281
  • Country: gb
  • Numbers, not adjectives
    • Having fun doing more, with less
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2016, 07:02:09 am »
I very cheaply and easily retrofitted a remote control for the channels and volume to my first TV; I suppose nowadays it would end up in HackADay.

It was, of course, a 6' long piece of wood. Since it was a quadrant cross-section, it could be wedged in the slot of the slider volume control and used to nudge the slider up/down. Somewhat sadly, I still have the piece of wood ~40 years later.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 

Offline JPortici

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3452
  • Country: it
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #12 on: May 17, 2016, 07:17:01 am »
The remote looks just like a fridge :D
And the handy remote slot quickly became a cigarette dispenser, for sure
 

Offline nanofrog

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5446
  • Country: us
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #13 on: May 17, 2016, 07:46:55 am »
*I* used to be a tv remote.

my father would say 'hey kid, go change the channel to 3'
Ah, flashbacks memories are resurfacing.  :-DD
 

Offline MrSlack

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 880
  • Country: gb
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2016, 07:54:01 am »
I was brought up in the age of the remote control. Unfortunately it was shitty 1970/80s quality so the remote control wore out and fell to bits eventually and was replaced with me :(
 

Online xrunner

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7496
  • Country: us
  • hp>Agilent>Keysight>???
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2016, 11:09:36 am »
Hey lady? Do you know how to test tubes? If the remote control system stops working get on down to radio shack with the amp tubes from that remote control receiver in the ole set.  :popcorn:
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline German_EE

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2399
  • Country: de
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #16 on: May 17, 2016, 03:19:58 pm »
"Take the remote from its storage space and you're set for hours of pure pleasure"

Ah yes, I remember those days, fights over who would watch the channel they wanted and the rest of the family would sit and sulk. Now it's the opposite, frantic hunts through the TV schedules in an effort to find something worth viewing. I have access to about sixty channels through our cable TV system and I'm sat here on the computer, that should tell you something.
Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.

Warren Buffett
 

Offline JPortici

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3452
  • Country: it
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #17 on: May 17, 2016, 04:00:39 pm »
Now it's the opposite, frantic hunts through the TV schedules in an effort to find something worth viewing. I have access to about sixty channels through our cable TV system and I'm sat here on the computer, that should tell you something.

Were were you when netflix was made available in your country?
I was a zombie in front of my laptop screen, also euphoric because i finally could see quality tv series/movies/documentaries.. in high quality and legally.
i don't pay the TV Tax, but i'm very happy to pay the same amount for netflix. yes.
 

Offline MrSlack

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 880
  • Country: gb
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #18 on: May 17, 2016, 04:07:52 pm »
I stopped watching TV. Television and sleep are the close cousins of death.
 

Online coppice

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 8605
  • Country: gb
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #19 on: May 17, 2016, 04:41:37 pm »
That set has a surprisingly rounded tube for 1961. The black and white sets in the UK were fairly rectangular by that time, although most still had a separate armoured glass safety panel. That colour one looks like it has a bonded screen.
 

Offline SeanB

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 16272
  • Country: za
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #20 on: May 17, 2016, 06:34:55 pm »
I remember as a kid the neighbour having a Philips TV which incorporated touch select or similar technology, a great thing except that moths were drawn to the TV and would land on the buttons causing the channel to randomly change.

http://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/philips-26c566-38z-philips-k11-year.html

They did not like humidity either, or furniture polish. Remember often having to clean those panels with a cloth soaked in pure ethanol to get the film off that was making it either change channel randomly or select multiple channels at the same time. That set ran for over 2 decades in the house, eventually being replaced with a new one when it finally popped it's clogs and a new set, with remote control ( other than us kids being the remote) was bought.
 

Offline Halcyon

  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5629
  • Country: au
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #21 on: May 17, 2016, 07:50:38 pm »
"Take the remote from its storage space and you're set for hours of pure pleasure"

Ah yes, I remember those days, fights over who would watch the channel they wanted and the rest of the family would sit and sulk. Now it's the opposite, frantic hunts through the TV schedules in an effort to find something worth viewing. I have access to about sixty channels through our cable TV system and I'm sat here on the computer, that should tell you something.

Same goes in Australia -- 28 Free-to-Air channels in Sydney and it's mostly just crap, even the news isn't news anymore. I haven't had an antenna connected to my TV for years and I don't miss it one bit.
 

Offline N2IXK

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 722
  • Country: us
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #22 on: May 18, 2016, 02:32:35 am »
Neat stuff, but not the first TV remote control by any means.  RCA had a way of claiming industry firsts like that, and company history probably credits it to Sarnoff himself... :palm:

The US electronics company that introduced and really promoted the remote control was Zenith.

Zenith pioneered the remote control with a corded pendant control called the "Lazy Bones" in 1950. Available on their higher end sets, or as a kit to retrofit your existing set.

http://www.factfixx.com/2011/08/17/lazy-bones-the-first-tv-remote-control/

Zenith also introduced the wireless remote in 1955 with their "Flash-Matic" system.  The remote resembled a sci-fi ray gun, but was essentially a flashlight that you would aim at photocells at the 4 corners of the screen to turn on/off, change channels, or adjust volume to one of 3 levels.

http://www.vintagetvsets.com/flash.htm

The FlashMatic quickly gave way to the ultrasonic "Space Command" remote, which used an entirely mechanical transmitter with aluminum tuning fork resonators that produced a "ping" when the button was pushed, tripping a spring operated hammer. Zenith stayed with ultrasonic remotes into the 1980s, long after essentially everyone else had gone to infrared. Later units used an electronic transmitter with an ultrasonic transducer.

http://www.pushclicktouch.com/blog/?p=108

"My favorite programming language is...SOLDER!"--Robert A. Pease
 

Offline kwass

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 347
  • Country: us
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #23 on: May 18, 2016, 05:27:39 am »

The FlashMatic quickly gave way to the ultrasonic "Space Command" remote, which used an entirely mechanical transmitter with aluminum tuning fork resonators that produced a "ping" when the button was pushed, tripping a spring operated hammer. Zenith stayed with ultrasonic remotes into the 1980s, long after essentially everyone else had gone to infrared.

We had a tv and a 35mm slide projector that happen to use the same ultrasonic frequencies so they could share a remote.  However the real fun was to pull the window shades down and release them, the tv and the slide projector go crazy.  The spring loaded shade mechanism must have emitted a broad spectrum of ultrasonic noises. 
-katie
 

Offline vk6zgo

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7563
  • Country: au
Re: Television Remote Control 1961
« Reply #24 on: May 18, 2016, 06:10:36 am »
That set has a surprisingly rounded tube for 1961. The black and white sets in the UK were fairly rectangular by that time, although most still had a separate armoured glass safety panel. That colour one looks like it has a bonded screen.

Ditto for Oz,although the separate armoured glass panel had pretty much disappeared,replaced by a panel manufactured as part of the screen.
23" BW tubes displaced the more rounded 21".
Philips & Kreisler had wired remotes which from memory only did vol & brightness/contrast.

The short-lived (in Oz) Ekco brand had an ultrasonic remote (with tuning forks),& a big ,boofy motor in the cabinet which turned the tuner via whar looked like a bike chain.
Press the button ,& the tuner rotated-"chunk,chunk,chunk!"---you stopped at the channel you wanted.

At the time,I would see ads for the Zenith Colour sets in Playboy---No!,Honestly,I only read it for the articles! :-[
All of them had the roundish tubes----apparently the early delta tubes were hard enough to build, (& converge),without introducing a new tube geometry.

I have obviously elevated nyself to Geek status---I remember TV ads from 1961,without remembering anything about "Miss January" or an of the others.
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf