Quote:
Originally Posted by ctc17
We could be much more helpful if we could see a schematic.
If the coil is open you should be able to check the diode in place..?
I tried to take an electronics course in community collage once. I failed it, i just couldnt get into all that digital flipflop logic probe stuff. Diagnostic skills are a type of logical step by step rational thinking, not something that is easily learned at a later age or taught in a class. Thats why they dont bother.
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In regards to a schematic, I am using Sams Photofact Folder, Set 452, Folder 2. I don't know of any way to post it here, but I wish that we could. As far as getting formal training in the electronics field, I took a year of HS electronics back in the early 80s to start with. My how things have changed! Back then we used Simpson analog VOMs and had a room full of donated television sets ranging in age from the early fifties to the mid 70s or so. There was even a Predicta in a storage room. One must remember that back in those days there were still TV repair shops everywhere, even in a small town like I live in. We have ONE left now and frankly I don't know how he keeps the doors open. Generally there is usually a bunch of consoles and old projection sets sitting outside the shop, so I guess the older folks that are still accustomed to that type of service are still a big part of his business. I guess he times his career just perfectly as he started in the sixties, so he is somewhere near retirement age. TV repair is certainly no viable business venture for a younger man.
As far as a college level program goes, I know from talking with faculty that they must constantly prove to the state that their programs are programs that will lead to employment. With that being said, they really can't justify teaching us radio, television, or VCR repair. In short, home entertainment electronics repair is dead from an employment perspective. However, no matter how much things change they must always teach the fundamentals of electricity (Ohm's Law etc..) and the math to go along with it. That aspect I agree with and appreciate. What I didn't necessarily appreciate (Like you) was the semester hours wasted working with Microsoft Basic Stamp and P-Basic pretending to be computer programmers with toy robots. The method to the digital madness is to get students ready to understand ladder logic and PLC programming, but if it were up to me we would be required to take programming classes so we understand WHAT we are doing as opposed to playing hit and miss until somebody in the class (usually a younger student) gets lucky and figures it out and then they pass it around so everyone can finish lab work.
What I love about the whole thing is that no matter how many younger computer/digital thinking individuals I run into, I can still confuse the whole class by breaking out one of the few remaining Simpson analog meters. They don't know what it is often, and certainly have no idea how to use it. I recently brought in an old tube type chassis and even the sharpest knife in the drawer had no idea what made the thing tick, nor did anyone know what I was doing with a megger as I tested transformers.
If it were up to me there would be more of a balance between old school stuff and modern digital crap. For instance, I can not see how we can call ourselves technicians without at least understanding the principles of transmitting and receiving based on something relatively simple like a superhetrodine radio receiver. I think that I would get more out of that then making robots take computer commands and making sure that I know that Busicom and Fredrico Faggin introduced the first microprocessor in 1971. So, I guess I am lucky that I am old enough to have laid my troubleshooting foundations down years ago through my HS and military training. As far as credentials needed to work in the fields being a degree of some sort, I must take whatever is offered these days and try to make it work in my favor. Fortunately there are more and more of what is left of industrial America's industrial base looking for people who understand PLCs, logic gates, and photosensor configurations, and are willing to pay well. I will just have to leave the Simpson meter at home with the tubes so I don't confuse anyone in the logical electronics world! LOL!
I really appreciate all of the input concerning my old Zenith! I have been messing with old radios and TVs for years, but the learning process never stops. I knew about selenium diodes going back to the 40s or 50s, but I didn't know about the diodes that we have been talking about until just lately. Also, and all too often, I do not have needed equipment such as a scope, or in the case of this Zenith I can't do simple voltage checks because I do not have a test crt and have never rigged up lead extensions to hook up to the stock crt in the cabinet