I remember seeing tube testers in stores in the early-mid 80s.
Remembering your old TV days
- Thread starter CourierDriver
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I was 13 when we got our first color tv...a 23 inch GE in a maple cabinet. About 5-6 years later it was a 25 inch Magnavox in a cabinet with darker wood. Watched a lot of Boston Bruins hockey on that one. It lasted 10-12 years, then we got a 27 inch Sony that lasted a long time.
And then there were Heathkit TV's.
Dad fixed black and white TV's for friends on the side, but once color came out he stopped, part of the reason being that he didn't want to buy new equipment to work on them. He came across a Color TV in the Heathkit catalog and one thing that caught his attention was that the set had built in equipment to help diagnose problems so it was more likely he'd be able to fix any problems and soon after that, one was on its way to the house. Other than the high-voltage assembly, the thing was all loose parts. I don't remember all of the details but I remember one board had well over 100 components that needed to be soldered into place.
It worked so well that when the second set in the house died he went back to the catalog - problem is that Zenith had purchased Heathkit. The kit was so dumbed-down that it was almost shake the box and you had a TV. I don't remember anything needing soldering, we just had to bolt some panels together, plug in wiring harnesses and slide it into the cabinet. He mentioned his disappointment when he called into their help line with some questions and the guy on the other end said that he was hearing that a lot. We got a number of years out of that TV and it even had Zenith's Space Phone which allowed us to answer calls if the TV was on.
Dad fixed black and white TV's for friends on the side, but once color came out he stopped, part of the reason being that he didn't want to buy new equipment to work on them. He came across a Color TV in the Heathkit catalog and one thing that caught his attention was that the set had built in equipment to help diagnose problems so it was more likely he'd be able to fix any problems and soon after that, one was on its way to the house. Other than the high-voltage assembly, the thing was all loose parts. I don't remember all of the details but I remember one board had well over 100 components that needed to be soldered into place.
It worked so well that when the second set in the house died he went back to the catalog - problem is that Zenith had purchased Heathkit. The kit was so dumbed-down that it was almost shake the box and you had a TV. I don't remember anything needing soldering, we just had to bolt some panels together, plug in wiring harnesses and slide it into the cabinet. He mentioned his disappointment when he called into their help line with some questions and the guy on the other end said that he was hearing that a lot. We got a number of years out of that TV and it even had Zenith's Space Phone which allowed us to answer calls if the TV was on.
I remember getting the sticker kit. You put stickers on the tubes and the sockets in the TV. Take the tubes to the store and use the tester. Buy replacements for the bad tube. Put the tubes back in based on the stickers.
Fixed the TV many times this way.
I think the bank gave my folks a "portable" b&w tv for opening an account?
"Hey kids, what time is it?"
"Hey kids, what time is it?"
A reasonable sized black and white TV in the 1960's cost the equivalent of a couple of weeks income for many families. Those TV sets were repairable for a much lower cost than purchasing a new set.
Oh there I go down the random YouTube rabbit-hole. Definitely going to check this out, I love this kind of stuff.
I'm too young to remember most of what's been posted here (late 1989 baby), I do remember in 1997 we got one of those 27" RCA giant cabinet style TV's. I think I at the same time we got an Aiwa stereo system (complete with 3 disc CD changer!) to go below it. Would shake the whole dang house... We still had that TV 2007ish? All I remember was it was heavy as Hell! I wish more people repaired vintage electronics. I have an old Yamaha receiver circa 1974 that I was gifted that no longer works. It's been impossible to find anybody to repair it, but I just can't part with it!
We had the first TV in the neighborhood. All the kids would come to watch the very limited programs. This was like 1950 or 51. My father later became a TV repairman and would sometimes take me with him on housecalls! He was able to support our family w/three youngsters growing up doing that.
We were able to watch THREE channels 2, 4, &11! Sometimes were could get channel 6 as well, but it was out of Johnstown PA and the signal was very weak in Pittsburgh.
I think that TV was a Muntz.
We were able to watch THREE channels 2, 4, &11! Sometimes were could get channel 6 as well, but it was out of Johnstown PA and the signal was very weak in Pittsburgh.
I think that TV was a Muntz.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
Nope not like that. I was around for tube TVs but not the kind you had to fix everyday lol. We still have a tube tv in my parents bedroom but it doesn’t work anymore because Cox doesn’t support it. We got rid of the last tube tv in the living room in 2015.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
RCA TV/Turntable/Speaker combo. The thing was huge and heavy as a VW Beetle. Gosh i miss those days.
I grew up in a small town far from any television station. A few people had television sets with antennas on a tall tower. As a small boy I would visit to "watch television" which most of the time consisted of "snow" with occasional cowboys on horseback appearing out of a blizzard.
When a closer city got a television station, the shows improved a lot. I used to visit our neighbour quite often and watch television for an hour or two. There was one station.
We got our first television shortly afterwards. On the day we got our own television (black and white of course), I fell off my bicycle and knocked myself out and spent the afternoon at home with a dreadful headache watching cartoons - Howdy Doody figuring prominently. We had a 21" television which was the thing to get in those days. A few people had 17" televisions which seemed pretty small.
That set broke down a lot and we would remove the chassis and take it to a neighbouring bigger town for repairs. At some point we discovered that our television's chassis was several years newer than our television set - though it still broke down regularly. I suppose they had gotten mixed up at the shop. Someone else had our old chassis.
When a closer city got a television station, the shows improved a lot. I used to visit our neighbour quite often and watch television for an hour or two. There was one station.
We got our first television shortly afterwards. On the day we got our own television (black and white of course), I fell off my bicycle and knocked myself out and spent the afternoon at home with a dreadful headache watching cartoons - Howdy Doody figuring prominently. We had a 21" television which was the thing to get in those days. A few people had 17" televisions which seemed pretty small.
That set broke down a lot and we would remove the chassis and take it to a neighbouring bigger town for repairs. At some point we discovered that our television's chassis was several years newer than our television set - though it still broke down regularly. I suppose they had gotten mixed up at the shop. Someone else had our old chassis.
I was also a tube runner. Speedy Mart down the street had a tube checking machine and a bunch of new ones in a display.
We only had B & W TVs when I was young, and in fact when I moved out on my own, until 1983 or so. We had a big (for those days) cabinet set, though one time when it had to be repaired they left us with a loaner, one of the "portables" of that time on a rack that you could wheel around and position.
It seemed our TVs were more prone to losing picture than sound. One summer in about 1970 our set went out. No loaner that time. But if you recall, the TV sound band bracketed the FM band at each end: channels 2-6 below the FM band, channels 7-13 above it. Our local NBC affiliate was at 88 FM, which could be picked up on my FM radio. So that weekend I listened to one Star Trek episode (then being rerun) I'd never seen as if it were old-time radio, using my imagination to picture the characters and their movements around the bridge. When I finally got to see the actual episode a year or so later, I was amazed both at how close I'd come to imagining the characters' movements, and how different the actual visuals were.
It seemed our TVs were more prone to losing picture than sound. One summer in about 1970 our set went out. No loaner that time. But if you recall, the TV sound band bracketed the FM band at each end: channels 2-6 below the FM band, channels 7-13 above it. Our local NBC affiliate was at 88 FM, which could be picked up on my FM radio. So that weekend I listened to one Star Trek episode (then being rerun) I'd never seen as if it were old-time radio, using my imagination to picture the characters and their movements around the bridge. When I finally got to see the actual episode a year or so later, I was amazed both at how close I'd come to imagining the characters' movements, and how different the actual visuals were.
The circuitry involved in the picture side of the TV is a lot more complex and there is more to go wrong. So with these older CRT TVs, losing the picture but still having sound was a common failure.
In the 50's we lived in a 4 family apartment building.
Our neighbor had a TV repair shop in the basement.
If our set was acting up it got fixed fast.
Our neighbor had a TV repair shop in the basement.
If our set was acting up it got fixed fast.
Still have the 10 inch speaker from a neighbors dupont. Best sounding tv in town.
I took regular trips to Kmart with my dad, to test and get replacement tubes for the TV.
Quasar with the “Works in a drawer”. We moved from Illinois where tv was in already to Colorado Springs, where my grandmother lived. No tv there so she never watched tv in her life and wouldn't hear of having it, just a terrible thing. My dad put a large antenna on the roof and we got Denver, one station. You watched what was on it. After grandma was talked into watching tv she got to accept it. I remember watching Ed Sullivan with her there and Elvis came on with his Hound Dog and others. She was shocked at the gyrating and thought what is happening to this world. Remember all the details right now including her immaculate house which she kept that way at all times inside and out. Hard to believe Elvis was shocking compared to now.
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