[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

When you had to get off the couch to change the channels.


Attachment 3610257

I was the remote control! We watched the moon landing on a B&W TV; couldn't afford a colour TV.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

When you had to get off the couch to change the channels.


Attachment 3610257

Sometimes a younger family member was ordered by dad or mum to go hit the TV when the image got distorted (especially when heavy weather was approaching), as if the TV had to be disciplined.

*BAM* - *BAM* | "Nnnooo, not OK yet" | *BAM* - *BAM* | "Improving, keep goin'" | *BAM* - *BAM* | "OK, that 'll do".

[vreihen16]

^^^^^ Percussive repair! ^^^^^

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

When you had to get off the couch to change the channels.


Attachment 3610257

Dad had remote control for his mid 50’s Philco B&W TV. It was us.

And now that I think about it, he had a mute button for commercials.
He wired a switch that opened the circuit to the speaker. The push ON,
push OFF switch was taped (black tape, dad’s favorite) to the arm of
his recliner chair. We occasionally had to remind him to turn the sound
back on when he was doodling something on his chair-mounted drawing
board.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Sometimes a younger family member was ordered by dad or mum to go hit the TV when the image got distorted (especially when heavy weather was approaching), as if the TV had to be disciplined.

*BAM* - *BAM* | "Nnnooo, not OK yet" | *BAM* - *BAM* | "Improving, keep goin'" | *BAM* - *BAM* | "OK, that 'll do".

Yeah... but it worked!!

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

^^^^^ Percussive repair! ^^^^^

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Yeah... but it worked!!

"Did Hitting TVs Ever Actually Fix Them?" (Sep 2023):
https://www.howtogeek.com/did-hittin...ally-fix-them/

"there are several plausible reasons why percussive maintenance worked on some older TVs and many other older appliances"

"Modern TVs and equipment are too fragile for percussive maintenance to be effective, so it's best to seek professional help in diagnosing and fixing the issue."

Percussive maintenance by Don Vito Corleone:

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Artemis

"there are several plausible reasons why percussive maintenance worked on some older TVs and many other older appliances"

Back in our days, a TV or radio had vacuum tubes and an open plate capacitor tuning knob. Those old Coke bottles generated lots of heat and a distinctive smell, and the tuners collected dust between the plates to the point of needing tuner cleaner sprayed on them. With thermal expansion and dust, a good solid whack could shake a loose tube contact back into place or dislodge the contamination in the tuner.

From Radio Shack back in the day:




.

[Lady Jane]

Complimentary coffin nails with your in-flight meal.

[vreihen16]

.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Back in our days, a TV or radio had vacuum tubes and an open plate capacitor tuning knob. Those old Coke bottles generated lots of heat and a distinctive smell, and the tuners collected dust between the plates to the point of needing tuner cleaner sprayed on them. With thermal expansion and dust, a good solid whack could shake a loose tube contact back into place or dislodge the contamination in the tuner.

From Radio Shack back in the day:




.

I’ve cleaned more tuners than you can shake a stick at. Just spraying the
tuner contacts was usually a temporary fix. The best method was to remove
the cover, then each channel strip while being careful to lay them out in order.
You did not want to get the strips mixed up. From there, sprayed a little
cleaner on a rag (I liked “Blue Stuff”) and then clean each contact on each
strip. Next, using heavy duty swabs, clean spring contacts inside the tuner.
This task was laborious and required some patience. And it worked.

[UncleWede]

“Cause Oscar Meyer has a way with”?

[Esteban]

B-O-L-O-G-N-A

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

I was the remote control! We watched the moon landing on a B&W TV; couldn't afford a colour TV.

Did you have to adjust the rabbit antenna too? That was my job.

[sygazelle]

Who among you had a transistor radio as a kid? I got my first one for my 10th birthday back in 1959. It was a coral color Silvertone. I found a photo of the same model with the same case. What memories I had with this phone.

Here were the biggest hit songs that year. Do you remember these?

1 "The Battle of New Orleans" Johnny Horton
2 "Mack the Knife" Bobby Darin
3 "Personality" Lloyd Price
4 "Venus" Frankie Avalon
5 "Lonely Boy" Paul Anka
6 "Dream Lover" Bobby Darin
7 "The Three Bells" The Browns
8 "Come Softly to Me" The Fleetwoods
9 "Kansas City" Wilbert Harrison
10 "Mr. Blue" The Fleetwoods
11 "Sleep Walk" Santo & Johnny
12 "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" Paul Anka
13 "Stagger Lee" Lloyd Price
14 "Donna" Ritchie Valens
15 "Pink Shoe Laces" Dodie Stevens
16 "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" The Platters

[Lady Jane]

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

Did you have to adjust the rabbit antenna too? That was my job.

Yup. And couldn't move if the reception was just right!

[wdb]

My dad didn't like seeing TV antennas on house roofs, so he put ours in the attic. He also cut a hole in the ceiling of the stairway so that the antenna pole extended down far enough that we could turn it. Worked pretty well.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by wdb

My dad didn't like seeing TV antennas on house roofs, ...

Back in 1967, we were on the local cable compagnie but lots of neighbours had a rotor on the antenna shaft and that was the downfall of "kids remote control".

[vreihen16]

My old man was a ham radio nut, so putting one more antenna on the roof for TV was not a problem. We had an electric rotor to turn the antenna between Buffalo, Hamilton, and Toronto TV stations.....

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

My old man was a ham radio nut, so putting one more antenna on the roof for TV was not a problem. We had an electric rotor to turn the antenna between Buffalo, Hamilton, and Toronto TV stations.....

We had one on the roof too.

Still recall when some stormy evening, lightning must have struck it. Quite a bang and shake-up.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by wdb

My dad didn't like seeing TV antennas on house roofs, so he put ours in the attic. He also cut a hole in the ceiling of the stairway so that the antenna pole extended down far enough that we could turn it. Worked pretty well.

Same with my dad. We had 2 antennas in the attic, so didn’t have turn them.
The funny thing is that dad’s mom-and-pop TV store installed antennas all
over town, all on the roof tops. I hired on when I was junior in high school
and I helped install those antennas. They ranged in height from 10 feet to
30 feet. Ugly as sin. 🤣

[Artemis]

And then there is the classic radio & TV catch-phrase "Don't touch that dial !".

Documentary (almost an hour) about Nebraska television featuring footage of everyday life in the 50s & 60s.

https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/s...dial-50002034/