The one thing I miss

[Sandy G]

Yeah, & remember how the B/W programs shown on an early color set were often a weird, purplish sort of color, & had the funky green & blue outlines around 'em ? But down here in Bugtussle, most color sets were sold by appliance dealers/furniture stores, & the guy who set 'em up was likely NOT overly well-trained in PROPERLY aligning one, or setting it up.

[NoPegs]

I've successfully taught my other half to recognize and seek out the "This is legitimately vintage electronic equipment in fair condition." smell, since she and her family go out to odd places where our kind of things can turn up. She's had a few hits so far, but none of them proved worthy of purchasing.

Now I just need to teach her the difference between:

"Old electronics operating mostly normally."
"Old electronics that are mildly unhappy but probably OK for evaluation purposes."
"Old electronics that are extremely upset and are likely to fail very soon."
"Somebody just plugged it in fresh out of Grandma's basement and wrecked it."
"New electronics that have packed it in beyond economical repair."
"Hot resistor."
"Overloaded transformer."
"Over-current condition in PVC jacketed wire."
"Prolapsed Electrolytic."
"Those bloody annoying tantalums!"
"You failed to concentrate on where the operating end of the soldering iron is at all times and it just met some of your long beautiful hair."


I know what a recently failed selenium rectifier smells like, but I would prefer not to actually teach her that one... I'll let her do that class module as homework.


Back to the original subject:

I think the actual smell is some combination of the plasticizers used in phenolic parts, rosin flux, adhesives, and something involved in how they printed manuals back then. Could also be plasticizers in the hook-up wire. I don't think it makes a difference if the unit is wrapped in fake leatherette, painted, or hammer-tone finished, or at least I can't notice a difference.


I should see if there's a mass-spec at a local Educational Edifice that could possibly analyze it. I'd seriously be interested in reproducing it. On the one hand it could be misused by adding it to a not genuine electronic device. On the other I'd be curious what kind of people it would attract when used cologne/perfume style. I may be onto something here. I'll bottle it and name it "Thermionic Musk." Who's with me?



On a side note, I think I just had a "the honeymoon is over" moment with Chrome. Seriously, neither plasticizer nor phenolic were recognized as legit words? Plasticize and Plasticine are both fine you say?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by NoPegs

I should see if there's a mass-spec at a local Educational Edifice that could possibly analyze it. I'd seriously be interested in reproducing it. On the one hand it could be misused by adding it to a not genuine electronic device. On the other I'd be curious what kind of people it would attract when used cologne/perfume style. I may be onto something here. I'll bottle it and name it "Thermionic Musk." Who's with me?

Go for it!

[Sandy G]

Look, guys... I'm VERY sorry to have "Thread-Crapped" this one earlier. But, I'm kinda "Partial" to you fellows, I'd HATE to see you go thru what my Mom did... THAT'S why the anti-smoking lecture...

[stromberg6]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Look, guys... I'm VERY sorry to have "Thread-Crapped" this one earlier. But, I'm kinda "Partial" to you fellows, I'd HATE to see you go thru what my Mom did... THAT'S why the anti-smoking lecture...

I understand, Sandy. I quit 25 years ago this coming Thanksgiving and will never smoke ANYTHING again. Sorry that your Mom suffered so. Hope the message is well taken as a suggestion for others to quit cigarettes.
Kevin

[NoPegs]

Originally Posted by stromberg6

I understand, Sandy. I quit 25 years ago this coming Thanksgiving and will never smoke ANYTHING again. Sorry that your Mom suffered so. Hope the message is well taken as a suggestion for others to quit cigarettes.
Kevin

I switched to e-cigs briefly around 2010/2011, then back to nails sometime in late 2011. Then in July 2012 I got a real e-cig, instead of the early generation toys I had the first time around...

I enjoy my nicotine very much thank you, but I'll pass on the cancer and the morning lung-butter.

Advice for anyone trying to quit: Don't even consider the $20 toys you can buy at gas stations. Get a real one and buy enough cigarettes for ~4 weeks. By the time you quit you'll probably still have a few packs left anyway.(I still have two full packs of my last carton.) I don't advise going cold-turkey from nails to vape though, mix both, and run a slightly higher nicotine liquid for the first month so that your brain associates the e-cig with a bigger chemical reward than the nails and in a few days you'll stop reaching for your fire and the e-cig will never leave your reach.

Also, don't buy "cigarette" flavored liquid. It doesn't even come close to what you're used to. To break the habit pick some flavor you like, and run that. Banana is acceptable to most. If your nails are of the menthol variety, you're in luck. Menthol is easy to do and the switch-over isn't nearly as hard. Spearmint is good too. Strawberry is hard to pull off in an e-liquid. Watermelon sounds good but holy cow does it make me from the flavor. Vanilla is nice, but it tends to gum up the equipment, I don't recommend it until you're familiar with your new e-cig.

[stromberg6]

Hi NoPegs, It's a real hard battle to get away from "smoke". Happy you found something that works for you.
I still miss a Marlboro Red from a soft pack when sipping good Scotch lol.
Also, nothing came close to a FATIMA plain end back in the day (Turkish weed). Really liked GOOD plain end cigs.
Kevin

[rcaman]

i had a heart attack 2 days before my 48th birthday 3 bypasses and i will be 54 next Saturday havens smoked a cigarette since 11:30 pm the night i had the heart attack. it didn't really bother me to quit. now it is one of the nastiest smells on earth. and i was not a heavy smoker.

[oldtvman]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Look, guys... I'm VERY sorry to have "Thread-Crapped" this one earlier. But, I'm kinda "Partial" to you fellows, I'd HATE to see you go thru what my Mom did... THAT'S why the anti-smoking lecture...

I never thought about smoking, which I've never done, but this was about things long past that were part of the customer experience in the stores much like the same effect you get in a new car showroom.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by oldtvman

I never thought about smoking, which I've never done, but this was about things long past that were part of the customer experience in the stores much like the same effect you get in a new car showroom.

THAT smell is sposed to be BAD for you, too... The "Chicken Littles" HAVE to take the fun outta EVERYTHING, don't they ?!? I DO despise the way the curing adhesives, plastics & fabrics put out a "Film" on the windows for the 1st year or 2, though... If you're as Anal as me am, its BIG FUN trying to keep 'em clean, & spotless, w/NO streaks...

[Tubejunke]

I'm surprised that nobody noticed in that super cool display of round c.r.t. is something that to me looks way out of place. In the upper right is a set with a rectangular c.r.t. that is reminiscent of a Trinitron, and the set looks like something from the 80s like a Panasonic. Strange! I was going to say that it must be a rectangular 19" black and white, but its a color display.

Did someone Photoshop that image perhaps or am I just way off base?

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

I'm surprised that nobody noticed in that super cool display of round c.r.t. is something that to me looks way out of place. In the upper right is a set with a rectangular c.r.t. that is reminiscent of a Trinitron, and the set looks like something from the 80s like a Panasonic. Strange! I was going to say that it must be a rectangular 19" black and white, but its a color display.

Did someone Photoshop that image perhaps or am I just way off base?

Perhaps that display is a recreation. The set does look out of place.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

I'm surprised that nobody noticed in that super cool display of round c.r.t. is something that to me looks way out of place. In the upper right is a set with a rectangular c.r.t. that is reminiscent of a Trinitron, and the set looks like something from the 80s like a Panasonic. Strange! I was going to say that it must be a rectangular 19" black and white, but its a color display.

Did someone Photoshop that image perhaps or am I just way off base?

Here's another view of that same showroom revealing a little more of that mystery set: http://www.masterfile.com/stock-phot...LES-DEPARTMENT

.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by WISCOJIM

Here's another view of that same showroom revealing a little more of that mystery set: http://www.masterfile.com/stock-phot...LES-DEPARTMENT

.

I think it's the table version of the Sears-Toshiba at the bottom of this page.
http://www.earlytelevision.org/21_inch_color.html
One of the earliest mass produced rectangular sets on the market.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I think it's the table version of the Sears-Toshiba at the bottom of this page.
http://www.earlytelevision.org/21_inch_color.html
One of the earliest mass produced rectangular sets on the market.

I don't think so... the chassis on that set made use of the entire cabinet, including the speaker area at the bottom... I doubt if it could have been shortened to the size of a "normal looking" table model. I'm guessing that the set was something like the 19" RCA (CTC-19) or similar US-made model. I am not surprised to see a mix of roundies and rectangular "25 inch" and "19 inch" models on the showroom floor, likely the pix is from the mid 60s when the transition from roundies to rectangular sets was occuring.

jr