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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:37:42 PM EST
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Damn. Op's family had a really nice TV. https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/432418.image0.jpg My dad had a 12" black and white Philco TV in the early 70's. He had it up till the time I joined the service in 74. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:49:23 PM EST
[#2]
 Attached FileHad one of the above in early 70's as family TV, had rabbit ears. Around 73-74 got one of these.......  Attached FileUsed outside antenna on a pole and the 2 wire cable that went to the TV. Had the above for around 25 years. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:52:30 PM EST
[#3]
I remember that as a kid. Picture always cleared up as ones hand got close to the antenna so it would finally be “perfect” then the hand moves and it’s all static again
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:55:07 PM EST
[#4]
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:55:28 PM EST
[#5]
I grew up in a farmhouse built around 1915. Antenna on the steep roof brought in 2 or 3 channels, depending on the weather. We often used rabbit ears after a lightning strike hit the House.
That old house had screws with insulated eyelets around the outside of the house, roughly where first and second floor met. The wire was gone, it had been a huge radio antenna. Back in the peak of radio as entertainment, they had one of those radios in a cabinet which could receive AM and shortwave frequencies. They could listen to international stations and often did. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:56:44 PM EST
[#6]
Remember?? I'm still using rabbit ears.
Get about a dozen channels.Never had cable or satellite myself, but paid for my Grandfathers basic cable many years ago (5.00 a month). Don't watch much tv. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:58:54 PM EST
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My Dad got all high tech in about 76 and put an electric rotor on the antenna mast. Same. Our house had a steep ass slate roof, he about died putting that thing up there. We got cable as soon as it was available, he got tired of dicking with that damn antenna. I had rabbit ears on the tv in my bedroom. Also fabricated a tv remote out of a length of pipe. Cut a notch in it that fit over the channel changer knob on the tv. Could also push the power button. Wound up owning a home automation company, go figure. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 8:59:30 PM EST
[#8]
I had B&W in my childhood. the babysitter told me it was cool, like watching old movies
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:02:01 PM EST
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We had the TV repairman that came with a huge case of tubes and a mirror. He'd put the mirror in front of the TV and sit behind it swapping parts and tweaking pots while leaning around the corner to see if any of it was working. As a kid I found it fascinating. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Pliers, check. Banging on TV to stop the picture doing stuff, check. First cable box, channel 4, one button, one channel (HBO), started at 4pm, check. Watching dad use the vacuum tube tester at the supermarket to figure out which tube on the Magnavox was bad, check. We had the TV repairman that came with a huge case of tubes and a mirror. He'd put the mirror in front of the TV and sit behind it swapping parts and tweaking pots while leaning around the corner to see if any of it was working. As a kid I found it fascinating. Same. Ours had a bad socket on it and would act up periodically. Smack the side of the tv with your palm just right and it would start working again. My dad came into some money in the early/mid 80s and we wound up with some bougie digital tuner tvs. Went from smacking the tv to remotes and cable. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:02:34 PM EST
[#10]
I remember going with my grandfather to buy a VCR when they came out. If anyone in MA is reading this we went to Lechmere's in Dedham. They had both VHS and Beta units. People were going back and forth on which one. A lot of people bet on Beta because it was Sony. They figured the industry would fall in line behind Sony. There was also a technical argument. From what I have read Betamax was superior to VHS.
He bought a VCR and video camera. The VCR was two units - the tuner and the tape section. If you wanted to record video you grabbed the tape section, the camera, and a battery pack. You would film with the camera that was connected to the tape portion of the VCR. That would record your video right onto the tape. When you wanted to watch it you would connect the tape part back up to the tuner part. That was state of the art back then. Expensive as hell. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:03:29 PM EST
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I remember some combination of holding the changer knob in between VHF/UHF and it magically "bandpassed" the blocked HBO feed from the outside enough to see boobies.  On our first cable box (wired), if you pushed the right combination of channels and played with the tuning wheel, you could get a few of the pay channels, including the "naughty" ones. Then pirate boxes became a thing. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:03:40 PM EST
[#12]
We were standing in tall cotton, when we got an electric antenna rotor.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:07:05 PM EST
[#13]
We had channel 3, sometimes.
Sunday was Angela Lansbury shit, don't know what monday through Wednesday was, Thursday was Simon and Simon, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest or Dallas or something. Friday was Incredible Hulk, Dukes Of Hazard, or Magnum PI...Wonder Woman was in there somewhere. And Cagney and Lacey too. Important thing is we always had Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings. ETA, yes we had to smack the shit out of the side of the tv and I spent plenty of time on the roof rotating the antenna. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:10:03 PM EST
[#14]
The remote had 4 buttons and was called "the clicker". When it didn't work, I was the remote.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:10:14 PM EST
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We had channel 3, sometimes. Sunday was Angela Lansbury shit, don't know what monday through Wednesday was, Thursday was Simon and Simon, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest or Dallas or something. Friday was Incredible Hulk, Dukes Of Hazard, or Magnum PI...Wonder Woman was in there somewhere. And Cagney and Lacey too. Important thing is we always had Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings. I don't know how they do it where you live, but the local METV station shows Pink Panther and Woody Woodpecker (and other assorted cartoons) at 7, Tom & Jerry at 8, and Looney Tunes at 9on Saturdays. If only Cocoa Pebbles still tasted the same and I wasn't watching my blood sugar... |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:12:48 PM EST
[#16]
Yup, '80s-'90s for me though.
My job was to climb up on the roof and rotate the antenna while Dad was inside yelling out the window when the picture got clear. Yeah, we weren't high falutin like some with their cable or satellite
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:20:31 PM EST
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted: And of course going to the local store to get new tubes. They had a big ass device that would check the tubes with a shelf underneath with hundreds of replacements. For everything from TVs, radios, even old guitar amps. Then I couldn’t wait to get home so I could pop the old ones with my BB gun! Came to post this!! The tube tester at the hardware store!! The top had about a dozen tube receptacles, you had to find the right one to match your tube. Then you pressed a button and there was a red/green indicator. Years later in College I got a job at the local TV station running a studio camera. The sports scores were set up on a white board with magnets. During the sports segment I panned across the white board while the sports dude read the scores. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:26:09 PM EST
[#18]
I was the channel changer until my brother was old enough to do it. I also had the job of tapping on some capacitors or something in an aluminum casing. The hardboard back was permanently left off so I didn't waste valuable time. I've been shocked a time or two.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 9:53:41 PM EST
[#19]
I associate the powered antenna turning motor (grating, painful sound as it turned) with the Video Disk player we got about the same time.
The high tech was hitting us so hard back them it's amazing our heads didn't explode. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:00:18 PM EST
[#20]
When I was growing up in England, had three channels. Didn’t start broadcasting till 8AM, and went off early in the evening. We had a B&W TV because the colour TV stamp was more.
Came to the US and little changed for a while. Then rabbit ears… remember adjusting the UHF dial? Pepperidge Farm remembers. I remember. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:01:49 PM EST
[#21]
When local channels would sign off for the night with the National Anthem.
Damn, I’ll just embrace the boomer label.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:04:16 PM EST
[#22]
^This^
I remember that I was the remote, when there was no such thing. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:12:00 PM EST
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 2,4,5,7,9,11,13. Only 4 or 5 were watchable since we lived so far from the cities. Funny that's how we had our channels in Los Angeles area, too. Then you turn the top dial to U, and use the bottom dial for PBS and weird religious stuff and possibly alien propagandas. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:13:35 PM EST
[#24]
Quoted: https://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-10-10-1444499180-8036447-foil.jpg How many of you broke the channel knob off the TV and had to use pliers. ----- Guilty as Charged!!!! :) How many of you had this experience: From the roof: Dad: Turn it a little.... Me: How's that? Dad: Turn a little more Me: How's that? Dad: Turn some more.....Hold it!.....Turn back just a little. I come down off the roof. Dad says "What did you do! It was fine... How'd you screw that up"! Phrases burned into my brain! Relate your experiences. Yes, I was the remote for a long while. Still have an OTA antenna, no cable, no streaming. Never jumped on the "pay monthly to watch tv" bandwagon. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:13:48 PM EST
[#25]
Yep. When the Cowboy game was blacked out, had to go to the neighbors with a 'Cowboy Antenna' that could receive the signal from Waco. Good times.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:16:00 PM EST
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When local channels would sign off for the night with the National Anthem. Damn, I'll just embrace the boomer label. Too, test screens to calibrate the TV. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:18:42 PM EST
[#27]
My plasma stopped working. I tossed it and bought a new one. Lighter, cheaper, flatter. And it fucking creates jobs.
What was you asking again? |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:19:29 PM EST
[#28]
Still do.. cord cutter
RCA antenna pointed at 324° towards town running three TV'S and rabbit ears in my wood shop. Fuck cable and fuck ESPN in the ass with a hockey stick, sideways... |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:20:12 PM EST
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My plasma stopped working. I tossed it and bought a new one. Lighter, cheaper, flatter. And it fucking creates jobs. What was you asking again? |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:28:50 PM EST
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I remember that as a kid. Picture always cleared up as ones hand got close to the antenna so it would finally be “perfect” then the hand moves and it’s all static again I swear I remember putting my big toe across the connections where the rabbit ears wires were screwed on and waving my arms around and it having an effect on the reception. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 10:36:20 PM EST
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When I was growing up in England, had three channels. Didn’t start broadcasting till 8AM, and went off early in the evening. We had a B&W TV because the colour TV stamp was more. Came to the US and little changed for a while. Then rabbit ears… remember adjusting the UHF dial? Pepperidge Farm remembers. I remember. This is for you mate.  Ming Tea - "BBC" |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:04:43 PM EST
[#32]
I remember the first satelite dishes, the big ones, when changing channels a motor made the dish turn. This is the era of scam satellite activation cards.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:07:54 PM EST
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My Dad got all high tech in about 76 and put an electric rotor on the antenna mast. We were out in the country, with maybe three stations, sometimes four. Usually only two were actually good. It really sucked when something that seemed good was on a bad channel and I was out there trying to rotate and get a better picture. By myself I had to adjust, run in and check, run out again, etc. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:17:19 PM EST
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I remember the first satelite dishes, the big ones, when changing channels a motor made the dish turn. This is the era of scam satellite activation cards. Yup, had one of those, too. Never did get cable out in my part of NC until long after I left. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:21:31 PM EST
[#35]
We didn't have a TV until the early '50s.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:34:02 PM EST
[#36]
Had to reprogram my Tablo tonight. Now I can watch Barney Miller
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:49:08 PM EST
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We didn't have a TV until the early '50s. When did you first see a color set? ... When did you first GET a color set? Most of the reruns I have seen seem to start transitioning to color some time around 1965. |
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:52:55 PM EST
[#38]
I have rabbit ears right now. Homemade. I rarely use them though.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:55:32 PM EST
[#39]
Millennial and I have. The tech difference from when I was kid and now is insane. I started high school knowing every family members phone number. By senior year I had a phone (one of those little nokia deals every one had) and could only tell you two of them off the top of my head. now all I do is work with tech.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:55:50 PM EST
[#40]
Yes, and the old CRT would go all screwy and I'd have to smack the top to get the picture back.
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Posted: 10/20/2021 11:56:18 PM EST
[#41]
Great thread! Remember "vertical hold" and "horizontal hold"?
Half the programming was westerns? |
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Posted: 10/21/2021 12:08:03 AM EST
[#42]
Been through the cycle, 3 channels and pliers and antenna to cable to hundreds of satellite channels.
Now back to antenna on a pole to get 100+ miles and a few channels. No pliers, though. And 40" tv with clear picture and good sound. Almost nothing worth watching, so I get lots more done. Can't miss Svengoolie, though. |
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Posted: 10/21/2021 12:47:54 AM EST
[#43]
Ha!
I was doing that as an adult in the house I live in now until 1996, when sattelite TV became available in my area. In fact, we could only get a small local channel from Lima, 35 miles away, in an upstairs bedroom, when weather conditions were optimal. Cable TV still isn’t available in my immediate area. |
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Posted: 10/21/2021 12:57:53 AM EST
[#44]
You don't know how bad it sucks being THE remote control for the TV.
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Posted: 10/21/2021 1:08:37 AM EST
[#45]
Pfffff I can remember before we had black and white TV it was just all white
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Posted: 10/21/2021 1:39:42 AM EST
[#46]
Our TV growing up was a Health Kit TV my Dad built to pass an electrical class in 1975. He had the TV to close to 2000. When it broke he would tear into it find the broken part and then replace it. Yes I was the remote also, but my Dad did not watch TV until he retired about 5 years ago. We had cable in 76/77, then they raised the price so Dad canceled it. Put up a big antenna and tower with the powered rotor. Could get 3 channels really clear CBS, NBS, and PBS. Could get ABC enough to watch sometimes. Could also get a couple channels that showed reruns of the 60's shows like Giligans Island, Peticoat Junction, Beverly hillbilly's, and etc when the weather was right. Remember getting a VCR from Sears around 1981 and going to the town that is the county seat to the only video rental store for like 5 or 6 years. VCR lasted about 20 years. Deff was a better time because we was outside doing more then than now. I also feel the shows was better and not so woke.
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Posted: 10/21/2021 3:09:43 AM EST
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My Dad got all high tech in about 76 and put an electric rotor on the antenna mast. We had one of those too, still only got three channels. |
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Posted: 10/21/2021 3:35:44 AM EST
[#48]
IDK what you're on about. Living in a rural area we had TVs like that until the early 2000s. The old analog sets worked better than the newer increasingly digital ones in places where the signal was marginal. Hell, we had dial up until 2006
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Posted: 10/21/2021 3:38:49 AM EST
[#49]
As a kid, I would go out with a pipe wrench to turn our big, fancy antenna while someone inside yelled when to stop.
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Posted: 10/21/2021 3:41:31 AM EST
[#50]
I remember rabbit ears clearly. We didn't get a nice big TV til 1992 a 32" zenith. I had that TV til 2004 when the picture tube went out on it
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