Identify this Panasonic remote control!
 

(Wasn't sure where to put this thread, so mods are welcome to move it, if appropriate to do so.)

I've had this ooold Panasonic TV remote for several years now, but I never owned the television set it went with. EBay points to the remote possibly having the model number TNQ-613. It's the oldest remote I own, probably from the mid-60s to the early 70s, possibly for a vacuum tube TV set. The remote has but two basic functions: a three-position volume switch (low/high/mute), and channel up and down rocker. I've never seen such a basic volume setup! Unlike virtually every other remote I have seen, this one is not IR; rather, it looks like an ultrasonic unit. There is what appears to be a large audio emitter at the front of the PCB inside. Quite surprisingly, it also came to me with its original Panasonic 'HI-TOP' batteries installed, and though they are of course dead as doornails, they are very clean and have not leaked. Replacing with fresh batteries does not yield any sound within the audible spectrum from the remote, though I wasn't expecting to be able to hear anything.

What I primarily want to know is what TV set this remote went with, and what it looked like! I'd love to track one down someday. I figure if the remote control is this cool, the matching TV must be even cooler. :P

Photos:

It's not that old, late 70's.

I am estimating the date, I really have no idea. I figured early 70s because much later than that and I see infrared remotes. The earlier ones were non-electronic ultrasonic units with tuning fork type chimes in them.

Yes it is ultasonic. You can hook a scope to the transducer
to see if it works. Age is prob early 70's but I dont remember
any tube jobs with remotes. I would guess an early solid state
job. The PCB has an older style to it so they may have farmed
it out.
To find the set you could find a Sams collection & go through
the CT### models & look at the pictures. Other than that
it will be pure luck to find it.

73 Zeno:smoke:

You can always look at internal components like transistors or capacitors for date codes. These will give you a "no earlier than" date for manufacture of the complete device.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251972661982

Panasonic TNQ-613 Originally supplied with models: CT959, CT5962R, CT727, CT976, CT977, CT5903R, CT5922R, CT527, CT1478, CT251757, CT2557, CT2567, CT2571R, CT2577, CT2587, CT2597, CT329, CT395, CT517, CT529, CT5903, CT5922, CT5934R, CT5935, CT5935R, CT5943R, CT5962, CT800V, CT8587, CT8687, CT958, CT967.

http://www.replacementremotes.com/Pa....html#t_models.


Those were 1979-1980 models.

.

'79-'80 was nearing the end of the ultrasonic-era. I think Zenith finally stopped using ultrasonic remotes in '81 and they were one of the last hold outs.

When I was a kid, my grandparents had a Matsushita-era Quasar with the same type of remote, but in a brown plastic case instead of gray. The button layout was the same. The television set was a late 70s 25" console; modern-styled cabinet with lots of chrome. It had a motor-driven varactor tuner. The remote would only select between a couple of volume levels, and there was a volume knob on the set for finer control.

One interesting thing was that my great-aunt and uncle had a similar Quasar with the same remote, but they also had a mechanical "clicker" remote that operated it too. The remotes must have operated on the same frequencies.

The control panel looked a lot like the one here: http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=266641

But it was a modern cabinet style.

And it had the same "Insta-Matic" switch as this one: http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=263773

I had a Fony with an ultrasonic remote. When my niece would scream, it would send the TV into a frenzy changing channels and such.

TVs with ultrasonic remotes were notorious for that. The least little sound, if it was the right frequency, would operate the set's functions at random. For example, a dog walking in front of the set could turn the TV on and off in the middle of the night, cause the set to change channels, turn the volume up or down...when the tags on the dog's collar clinked against each other or the collar. I'm sure this must have confounded many people when, after they had gone to bed for the night, they found their TV on at three or four o'clock in the morning, with just a raster (the station it was tuned to had signed off minutes or hours earlier) and white noise from the speaker.

This type of behavior, of course, is impossible with today's IR (infrared) TV remotes. I have never heard of and cannot imagine any IR remote system being falsely triggered.

Zenith's Flash-Matic remote, the company's first attempt at wireless remote control of a television receiver, could be triggered by other light sources besides the remote hand unit itself (which was nothing more than a flashlight--in fact, a regular garden-variety flashlight could probably be used to operate the television if the Flash-Matic hand unit became lost or broken). There were incidents reported of these sets changing channels on their own when a beam of light (sunlight, for example) would strike the channel up photocell (the Flash-Matic had four such cells, one at each corner of the CRT mask). Since there was no lockout scheme to prevent false triggering, stray ambient light could and often did cause the set to change channels, increase or decrease volume, etc., depending on which cell was struck first. Heaven forbid the channel up and down cells would be hit by stray light at the same time! Under these conditions, the tuner drive motor would probably burn itself out trying to rotate the channel selector in both directions at once. :eek:

Due to these problems, and the comsumer complaints which were likely filed with Zenith over them, the Flash-Matic remote system lasted only one model year (1955-56, IIRC) and was replaced by the Space Command ultrasonic remote control. I don't think anyone who ever owned a Flash-Matic TV would ever forget the problems I mentioned, and would be more than willing to replace it with a Space Command remote set--or even (gasp!) a different brand of TV.

I have a 1979 13 inch RCA XL100 with one of those ultra sonic remotes that is the basic four button remote up and down in fact to turn the set on you hold the volume up button and to turn it off you hold the volume down until it clicks off Ive posted about this set before a while ago having a bad ghosting problem

If I happened to find one of those Flash-Matic units cheap I would just use it as a really cool flashlight. :thmbsp:

That RCA remote system is pretty cool. I don't know of any other manufacturer to use that kind of remote. I have an older RCA remote which I think raises the volume after turning the set on. That one has a button on the side for channel selection. I reckon the chances of getting a rude high-volume surprise with such a set would be nearly impossible. Reminds me of the time I was in a neighbor's Hyundai Pony when he started it; the stereo came on probably at max volume. He turned it down quickly enough. The car got louder again though when we went through a road work site and a raised manhole cover ripped off the muffler.

Found a picture of the actual TV for what it's worth...
Dig that Quasar top-loading VCR!