show us your early remote control sets!

[jstout66]

wasn't this the set with the color issues? If so, how did you get the color back, and what work has yet to be done?

[polaraman]

Justout66,

That is old Sparky! It had issues with sparks flying around in different places. There is a thread with OLD SPARKY in the title.

polaraman

[drh4683]

Need to add these next too sets to the remote control TV list to keep it up to date. First one is the 1973 space command 500 the "Langtry" SD1950R. Space command 500 tuned channels either up or down, stepped volume 3 units then relayed the TV off.

[drh4683]

16" Space command 100 chromacolor. The "Clinton" SD1610R, 1973. This is the bottom line of remote control TV's zenith ever made. Space command 100 only tuned channels, and an unused channel would be selected to turn the TV off.

[David Roper]

General Electric wired remote of the late 50s

tethered to a 21C2550

A 1974 RCA model 157ER. It is a 16" B/W TV, all tubes except in the remote circuit. Uses a single button ultrasonic remote (which I need to obtain for it.) This is my first and only ultrasonic remote TV I have at the moment.

[captainmoody]

Yes, the CTC31 I just got was "old sparky" Bryan pretty much fixed that problem before I got it. I found a couple cracked solder connections and replaced the chroma takeoff coil to get the color back. I just wanted to basically make it work for now, will need to check the IF alignment later when I have more time.

[Chad Hauris]

Mike if you can find any type of ultrasonic remote hand unit it will likely have one function that will operate your channel selector...also if it's an electronic hand unit you can retune it if none of the functions work "as is"...had to do this with a Magnavox electronic remote hand unit to get it to operate the functions on an older magnavox set.

Be on the lookout at the Goodwill, etc...they usually have a box of old remotes: have found several ultrasonic remote transmitters including Zenith rod type for $1.00.

[bgadow]

Really neat to be able to watch the set brought back to health even though its not here anymore. Hopefully it behaves, maybe it just didn't like me! I'll take full blame for the screwed up IF! Couldn't keep my grubby little hands out of there...I really think that -31 has great potential.

[Big Dave]

I just scored a Zenith Space command color set, complete with clicker. Pics will be posted soon.

[Big Dave]

Here's the pic.

[drh4683]

Congrats on an excellent find! Where did you find it? Curious what chassis is in there. It looks like a 1971 or so.
Is it in working order?

[Big Dave]

Found near Canton, OH. The chassis is a 12A12C52. I forgot to take the variac when I took it north. I'm going to figure it's not working.

[bgadow]

Last week somebody, I forget now just who, called me at 9:30 at night. I was thinking the other night, you know, that was really rude of them. My wife goes to bed at 9 so it always wakes her up. So last night the phone rings again at 9:30. Its my buddy Hobie. Now, the last time he called me that time of night it was because he drove his car in a ditch & needed someone to come get him. So I guess he is in the ditch again...but no, Hobie, a real character, tells me that I need to put my shoes on & head for the auction barn. He has bought me a television. Only about 5 minutes away but I never go there because you have to wait so long & they don't usually have stuff worth the wait to me. So I get there & he gives it to me-don't know what he paid but I'm sure it was cheap. Yep, a genuine Zenith Flash-Matic complete with working "Ray Gun". Of course, I haven't checked the set out yet. This ones a keeper. Where I'll keep it I don't know!

And, no, I guess it wasn't so rude for him to call me last night!

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Last week somebody, I forget now just who, called me at 9:30 at night. I was thinking the other night, you know, that was really rude of them. My wife goes to bed at 9 so it always wakes her up. So last night the phone rings again at 9:30. Its my buddy Hobie. Now, the last time he called me that time of night it was because he drove his car in a ditch & needed someone to come get him. So I guess he is in the ditch again...but no, Hobie, a real character, tells me that I need to put my shoes on & head for the auction barn. He has bought me a television. Only about 5 minutes away but I never go there because you have to wait so long & they don't usually have stuff worth the wait to me. So I get there & he gives it to me-don't know what he paid but I'm sure it was cheap. Yep, a genuine Zenith Flash-Matic complete with working "Ray Gun". Of course, I haven't checked the set out yet. This ones a keeper. Where I'll keep it I don't know!

And, no, I guess it wasn't so rude for him to call me last night!

Bryan, you do have a rare set. The FlashMatic, introduced in 1955, was the very first attempt by Zenith at wireless remote control; while it worked after a fashion, the system was a colossal flop and was pulled from the market after perhaps a year or even less. Here's why. For openers, while the control system worked well enough when using the small flashlight "ray gun" controller (which was little more than a fancy flashlight--in fact, I would guess any ordinary flashlight with a pulse or "flash" button would have worked as well), there were no protection circuits to prevent stray ambient light from triggering the remote receiver. This meant that if your FlashMatic TV was located near your living room picture window (or any place else where the sun shines brightly in the daytime), on a very sunny day the set would go absolutely bonkers. No kidding. The sun shining on one or more of the four control photocells, each located at a corner of the screen, would cause the remote system to raise and lower volume, turn the set on and off at random, change channels up or down . . . in short, all hell would break loose. Moreover, since the photocells were not identified on the front of the set as to their function (TV on/off, volume/mute, channel up or down), viewers often became confused as to which photocell controlled which operation--here we go again!

A couple years later, IIRC, Zenith introduced its Space Command remote control system. This used ultrasonic signals generated by metal rods, struck by spring-loaded hammers, in a handheld remote controller unit; the receiver at the set was designed to respond to these signals, of course, and operate the various control functions. (Sometimes these would do strange things as well if, for example, the owner's dog was in the same room as the set, and the tags on its collar clinked against each other in such a way as to reproduce just the right frequency to trigger a remote function, such as on/off or volume; some set owners reported being awakened in the middle of the night when their Space Command-equipped TVs would turn on, at full volume, for no apparent reason.)

Later, the mechanical Space Command hand units were replaced by an electronic version which offered more functions. Still later, the controller was designed to produce infrared (IR) control signals; the remote receiver operated on the same principle as the older models, except the IR receiver only responded to infrared control commands. The beauty of the IR system is that it is virtually impossible to trigger it with anything other than signals from its own hand unit (ambient light, sounds, etc.)

I have never, however, heard of any infrared controller (IR is the industry standard for all remote controls these days) being "fooled" by stray light or other signals to which it was not designed to respond. The IR systems are practically foolproof, but I'm sure anyone who has ever owned a Zenith FlashMatic will always have stories to tell about, for example, the sunny summer day when the control circuits went bonkers in the middle of a soap opera or the like. Can you imagine watching, say, Days of Our Lives on NBC and suddenly having your set switch to Guiding Light on CBS when the sun hit the photocells that controlled the channel up/down function, or the sound (or the TV itself) suddenly going off when the same stray sunlight hit the cell for the mute/volume/on-off control?

Weird.