Lets see your zenith space command 600s, 300s and rca crk9's etc!
To start, here is my space command 600, a 20Y1C50 from 1968

here is a 1964 25MC33, space command 400

Here is a S/C 300 I bought a few months back. Paid a whopping $20 for it!

polaraman

50's Space Command 400. My Chromacolor II has the Space Command option also. My Space Command 600 Combo is in the other Space command 600 post by Captain Moody. Well that is it for my Space Command collection.

polaraman

Here is my space command 300, same as polaraman's. Its a 16D21Q chassis, model D3005W for 1960. This is the first generation 300, as it has the rocker space command control and a tube type chassis which was transistorized by around 1961.

heres the back of the 300

heres a space command 200, which is actually the first television that used the ultrasonic remote in 1956

Onto RCA sets, first off is a ctc11E RCA, 1961 with the 7 button "CRK3F" remote unit

a 25" table set RCA CTC31 with the CRK9, 7 button remote for 1968. Known as the "shelby" FL532WR

a 1967 RCA KCS160 with a 3 button mechanical remote, VOL DOWN-OFF., VOL UP-ON, TUNE. This is actually a very practical remote compared to the zenith 300. There is a gear on the volume knob in which a little metal spring attached to a solinoid clicks the volume knob up or down just a bit, so you actually control the volume knob.

Here is a 1968 magnavox remote set, which is actually an 8 button system allowing automatic tuning across the entire UHF band. This system works by a motorized UHF tuner that stops on a UHF station, and it works well too. It stops exactly when the color locks in. Very cleaver design, probably the best design of the remote sets.

Not a remote set, but close to be one. Zenith made some "touch tuner" sets which is basically a remote set without the remote. Everything was motorized drive (VHF tuner). This one dates to 1965. Dont remember the chassis.

Mine...

Mine too.

I had a Zenith Space Command 300 b&w 19" portable TV in the late '70s. Rescued it from the curb in my hometown, and it worked well when I got it home--but, wouldn't you know it--the remote hand unit was missing, so I never was able to find out if the remote receiver worked. Didn't have the set that long anyhow, as the horizontal output tube went gassy after about a year, overbiasing the grid of the AGC keyer tube, causing a very weak, washed-out picture. Couldn't find a new tube anywhere, so I put it in my basement and bought a new (non-remote) Zenith 12" solid-state portable the next day. That set lasted the next 22 years; I'd still have it today, but I already have two TVs in my small apartment and don't have room for a third.

BTW, I like the pics of all those Zenith and RCA remote TVs. I especially like the Magnavox console with its power UHF tuner. That's the first TV I've ever seen with power up and down VHF and UHF tuning. The UHF tuner must have had a special arrangement to stop it right at the center of the channel for the best color picture (which wasn't easy to do with those earlier continuous UHF tuners when tuning by hand, let alone with a motor drive). An early signal-seeking arrangement, perhaps? :dunno: Today it's all done electronically, and every new set has search tuning; however, I'm curious as to how that set's power UHF tuner operated so well (as far as setting the tuner exactly to the center of the channel is concerned). Was there a separate signal-seeker chassis mounted apart from the tuner (part of the remote receiver)?

Doug (drh4683),

I saw the pic of your non-remote Zenith with power tuning. Very interesting. What did you mean when he said "...a remote set without the remote"? Also, I'm sure that wasn't the only power-tuning set Zenith made in the early '60s. Many high-end sets of that era had power tuning (VHF only, except the Maggie in your collection with the motorized UHF tuner).

BTW, there is a way to have "power remote" UHF tuning on any older TV with remote control and/or power tuning. When the VHF tuner is set to the UHF position, the set will bring in whatever channel to which the UHF tuner is set. Great if you live in an area with only one UHF station (try to find a city or town like that today--most have at least two), or if you have a favorite UHF station (the PBS affiliate or a favorite movie station, etc). I used to do that a lot with my sets that had separate VHF and UHF tuners.

How many UHF stations does the metropolitan Chicago area have? You said in one of your posts a few months back (an answer to one of mine) that your area has quite a few UHF stations. How does this compare to Cleveland (I live about 30 miles east of the city), which only has a half-dozen UHF channels (including the PBS station on channel 25)? I'd say the greater Chicago area alone must have at least a dozen UHF channels, and still more if you have a high-power antenna and can get stations from other cities, such as Milwaukee.

The Zenith power tuning sets included all of the motors to drive the power operated functions such as the channel selector, it just lacked the space command receiver. Some of these sets use a single-knob tuner system that uses a conventional VHF and UHF tuner but works like the later Zenith Varactor single knob tuners in that they allow you to pre-program desired UHF channels into the UHF positions on the knob.

One thing I have found is that on TV's with varactor tuners the UHF channels are not usually set up. The sets all came with channel numbers that you could replace the asterisks or the U1, U2, etc. with on the tuning display or dial but very few ever have these numbers installed, or are set up for UHF channels. I have observed this both in N.E. Ohio where I collected TV's as a kid and also in West Tx. where I live now.

My 1967 Zenith with power tuning is in the "show us your rectangular sets" thread.
That one is interesting as I have never seen another of that model like it.

Here it is, 1968 Space Command 600 combo. All finished with a working remote too!

Originally posted by Chad Hauris
One thing I have found is that on TV's with varactor tuners the UHF channels are not usually set up. The sets all came with channel numbers that you could replace the asterisks or the U1, U2, etc. with on the tuning display or dial but very few ever have these numbers installed, or are set up for UHF channels. I have observed this both in N.E. Ohio where I collected TV's as a kid and also in West Tx. where I live now.


Chad,

Just out of my curiosity, where in northern Ohio did you live when you were growing up? Anywhere near Cleveland? I grew up in Wickliffe, a Cleveland suburb east of town about 15 miles. I live in Fairport Harbor today, which is a village about 30 miles east of Cleveland, very close to the south shore of Lake Erie. TV reception is so bad here everyone in town has cable; however, my FM radio reception is great. Can't figure that out for the life of me (the great FM reception, that is; I do know why the TV reception is so bad--the transmitters are about 45 miles southwest of here, and there is one channel [NBC channel 3] I do not get here at all with rabbit ears. Ironically, three of four of the Cleveland UHF stations, including channel 19 which is the CBS affiliate, do come in well enough to watch even using an indoor antenna. The only one that doesn't is channel 25, the PBS affiliate).

BTW, I remember seeing a lot of those TVs with the preset UHF positions (usually six) on a 12-position channel selector (I owned one of those sets, a Zenith, in the early '80s). You're right about most of those sets never having had the UHF channel tabs installed on the dial. Many if not most of the newer sets I have seen in the past and still see every now and then on curbs here have not had these tabs installed, so the UHF positions still show U1, U2, U3 (or even nothing at all) where the numbers should be. I guess people just didn't want to be bothered with setting up the tab positions, or didn't want to pay a service person to do it for them. They may have figured they know where their favorite stations are (U1, for example, is channel 14, U2 is 29, U3 is 47 . . . etc.), so why bother with the tabs?

Of course, in this day and age of cable, there is no need to have these UHF positions set up at all--almost. If you use a cable box, as I do, your TV's channel selector stays on channel 3 or 4 all the time, with the channel selection done at the box or by remote. The only time you'd have to have the UHF positions set up, with or without the number tabs on the channel selector drum, is if you are still getting your TV reception over an antenna (as you and at least one other AK member, Carmine I think, still do).

The days of 18-position varactor tuners are behind us, though. Today's sets all have quartz-synthesized cable-ready tuners, so the need for channel setup has been eliminated. Just find the auto channel search option on the set's main menu, press a button to start it, and a minute or two later you're all set. The preset varactor tuner has gone the way of the clunk-clunk drum detent tuner in most sets, all but those cheap under-$50 5-inch portables with AM/FM radios you can get at any drug or discount store. Who knows--some day even those cheap portables may have quartz tuners as well, although I personally don't see the sense in having a 181-channel cable-ready tuner in a battery-operated portable, as these sets are not ordinarily used on cable (though I suppose they could be--IIRC, these sets have 75-ohm antenna inputs).

Originally posted by captainmoody
Here it is, 1968 Space Command 600 combo. All finished with a working remote too!


Captainmoody,

Congratulations on getting that set working. You now have a Zenith TV which should serve you well for many years. (The cabinet looks great too.) I know the feeling. In the early '70s I restored a 1963 Zenith b&w 23" console in a dark wood cabinet (trash day find) from the ground up (new tubes, etc.), and was very pleased with the results. That set had an excellent picture, even using rabbit ears as an antenna, and the sound quality was excellent (6BN6 gated-beam detector, 6BQ5 output, and a huge speaker--6x9 oval, IIRC, like the one in a Zenith radio I have here--in the base of the cabinet). Hated to have to give it up :( when I moved (the first time) 32 years ago, but I was moving to a house with no room for a big console.

BTW, I've been looking in the rectangular sets thread for the pic of your 1967 Zenith with power tuning, but haven't found it yet. Is it still there?

Here is a new picture of it, The one on the bottom with the dark Mediterranian cabinet.
When I trash picked it in 1987 I thought I had a remote set, Not so! Just had power tuning.

way to go on that 600 dwight! Im so glad someone else has a space command 600. So far, I think you and me are the only ones with a 600 set.
I dont watch my 600 too much, as I am always distracted with the remote changing the hue and channels etc:D

Jeff, I grew up in Aurora, where my parents still live. I do remember that TV reception was not too great, especially UHF.
I have noticed that most of the cheapo portables today usually use a varactor tuner with a potentiometer and slide rule dial rather than an actual mechanical tuner. Even the cheapest color sets now have all of the special features such as autoprogram, cable ready, closed captions, electronic control of color, tint, brightness, etc. I think the R&D has been paid off on these electronic chips and now the technology is cost-effective even for the cheapest sets.

Here is a Zenith Chromacolor SC (tube) that has been waiting out in the shed for me for a few years. I really don't know too much about this one, except that I lent it out onetime & got a call-the channel selector motor was stuck on! It was working pretty good. Not sure if I'll find room to keep it.

Here is my late 50s "Space Command 400"; I fired it up for this picture, the first time its been on in years. I don't know that I've ever had the back off this set. The tuner motor is stuck but the mute & on-off work fine. Set is being fed by a cheap UHF convertor & an old settop UHF antenna.

Here is the CTC31 from the other thread. This was the best shot I could get without moving a bunch of stuff around. Only about half the remote functions work right now, the least of my problems!

Believe it or not, this old Philco is remote! Wired remote, and it worked, at least it did the last time I tried this set, back in the 80s! The remote just controls the tuner & is just an on-off switch on a wire. ( I don' t have the original)

20X1C38, 1967. All fixed up and running great now. An original factory wiring error caused the HOT to run way to high. This would explain a new hot installed 4 years after the set was made, yet the rest of the tubes original and good. Even the 6HA5!

After comparison to the schematic, and then the other 20X1C38 sets I had, definitly a wiring error. A 470K resistor was supposed to be wired from 250 B+ to the convergence panel, instead it was hooked to the 200V plate of the horizontal discharge to the convergence panel. Because this resistor was soldered to the plate of the H. discharge, a load was across it lowering the plate to 140 volts. The screen of the 6JS6 is to be running at -60V, but with the lowered plate voltage, the screen voltage went to -45 causing the js6 to run 260-280ma, when its to be running at 220ma!!!
Whats an important note, the 200V plate voltage, and the 250V B+ were next to each other on the Pin boards, so the error was appeared to simply an accident, the resistor was just one pin out of place! I guess thats why RCA ads always bragged about the elimination of "hand wiring errors" in their "new" printed circuit boards! I would have never expected zenith to let this one slip by! 37 years later the problem was solved. Im glad zenith screwed up, it saved this TV because the owners were paranoid to use it!!!!

This set is from 72, and came from the same home as the 600. What I find interesting is that the HOT on the space command 600 set was dated 41-71, I would assume it was replaced in 71 or 72, and this set I have pictured was bought new then. After speaking with captianmoody we tried to figure out how the space command 600 set survived with its extreme cathode current problem. With the problem as bad as it was, this tv should have been junk LONG ago if it got used enough. Here is what we came up with:

a tek who replaced this tube noted the extreme current problem and suggested that the owners purchase a new set, however the current one (the 600) would still work but for not long as he suspected the flyback was bad, and it would not be worth the repair. He probably suggested that the set has only a limited life in it, so they bought a 1972 zenith space command set to replace their 67 600 set. Most likely, the owners were reluctant to use their 600 set because of its problem, but still kept it because it did infact work. Both sets have the exact same TV dealer sticker on them. the 600 was in the bedroom never touched, and the 500 was in the living room as the daily driver, however the 500 must have had very little use as its all original yet, tubes and all. The 500 had an open filter cap in the space command chassis making the entire set inoperative unless the switch on the remote chassis was flipped to the MAN posision. That cap must have opened up years ago and the set inoperative, it hardly has any hours on it either. Thank god those folks never threw these sets out! They will live on now!

Hey guys, I have a question for ya....what happens when you find a set and turns out the picture tube is shot, can you still replace it? I remember some years ago of used picture tubes where the neck would be dewelded and replace with new gun assembly and welded back into place, does this still hold true today?
SX-980







Originally posted by drh4683
This set is from 72, and came from the same home as the 600. What I find interesting is that the HOT on the space command 600 set was dated 41-71, I would assume it was replaced in 71 or 72, and this set I have pictured was bought new then. After speaking with captianmoody we tried to figure out how the space command 600 set survived with its extreme cathode current problem. With the problem as bad as it was, this tv should have been junk LONG ago if it got used enough. Here is what we came up with:

a tek who replaced this tube noted the extreme current problem and suggested that the owners purchase a new set, however the current one (the 600) would still work but for not long as he suspected the flyback was bad, and it would not be worth the repair. He probably suggested that the set has only a limited life in it, so they bought a 1972 zenith space command set to replace their 67 600 set. Most likely, the owners were reluctant to use their 600 set because of its problem, but still kept it because it did infact work. Both sets have the exact same TV dealer sticker on them. the 600 was in the bedroom never touched, and the 500 was in the living room as the daily driver, however the 500 must have had very little use as its all original yet, tubes and all. The 500 had an open filter cap in the space command chassis making the entire set inoperative unless the switch on the remote chassis was flipped to the MAN posision. That cap must have opened up years ago and the set inoperative, it hardly has any hours on it either. Thank god those folks never threw these sets out! They will live on now!

Yes, Most tubes can be rebuilt as long as the gun assy is still avail.
I have a collection of nos tubes for spares and have only used one lately.
All my sets have good tubes and with the little use I give them the life expectency is way up there!

Thanks captainmoody for the reply. Do you
yourself rebuild the tubes, if so what do you use to create the vacuum.
SX-980







Originally posted by captainmoody
Yes, Most tubes can be rebuilt as long as the gun assy is still avail.
I have a collection of nos tubes for spares and have only used one lately.
All my sets have good tubes and with the little use I give them the life expectency is way up there!

No, I don't have all the equipment, Parts or training needed to rebuild picture tubes.
It was always easier to purchase them wholesale from my electronics supplier in the past.
Now and then I occasionally find one on ebay or at an old tv shop for next to nothing.

This is the set that was on ebay not too long ago in which the seller ended his listing. I made the seller an offer that was not too much above the current bid at the time. I was surprised he accepted it, but anyway here it is and it arrived in once peice through parcel post last thrusday. All cleaned up and tuned up working perfect in every way. Has the typical razor sharp clarity in the picture. This set is like brand new, didnt even need to replace any tubes! What is even more rare is that all the original caps are good. CRT is original and bright. This must have been a bedroom set that never got used. Only thing it needed was minor work to the space command drive motor, (grease dried out, was stiff).
This set is a 16D25Q chassis, in which the "Q" in 1960 models indicates that the set is equipped with remote control (sc300).

the inside view. Set looks like it just came off the line.

Another ebay grab is this 1963 zenith. Space command 300, newer generation of course and a solid state remote chassis. I got lucky again, this set is like brand new inside and out. A blown B+ fuse made it non functional and leaky electrolytics in the space command chassis caused very poor performance of the remote. Changed all 4 lytics and aligned it. I can chance channels from upstairs with it now! This set was built in 40th week of 1962 as its the latest date and thats the crt. Being a K chassis, its for 1963. This chassis has a 3DG4 LV rectifier.

Access to the controls (fine tuning and volume) are behind the top metal door that flips down. The space command 300 remote is a different arrangement on this set. The left button controls channel selection, the "UHF" posistion will turn the set off. The left button controls the volume stepper and then mutes it continously. Never knew zenith had a space command 300 like this. I have tons of the 300 remotes but none say "channel/on/off, and volume/mute" like the buttons like this does, so Im glad the original remote was still with it. Most space command 300's are arranged as channel only, then volume on/off as the remote functions.

Originally posted by drh4683
Another ebay grab is this 1963 zenith. Space command 300, newer generation of course and a solid state remote chassis. I got lucky again, this set is like brand new inside and out. A blown B+ fuse made it non functional and leaky electrolytics in the space command chassis caused very poor performance of the remote. Changed all 4 lytics and aligned it. I can chance channels from upstairs with it now! This set was built in 40th week of 1962 as its the latest date and thats the crt. Being a K chassis, its for 1963. This chassis has a 3DG4 LV rectifier.

Access to the controls (fine tuning and volume) are behind the top metal door that flips down. The space command 300 remote is a different arrangement on this set. The left button controls channel selection, the "UHF" posistion will turn the set off. The left button controls the volume stepper and then mutes it continously. Never knew zenith had a space command 300 like this. I have tons of the 300 remotes but none say "channel/on/off, and volume/mute" like the buttons like this does, so Im glad the original remote was still with it. Most space command 300's are arranged as channel only, then volume on/off as the remote functions.


Doug, I had a Zenith 19" set with SC300 in the late '70s. Portable, 19", b&w, and it worked as soon as I got it home (it was a trash day find in my hometown). Couldn't tell if the SC receiver worked, though, as the hand unit was missing. I couldn't figure out how the power tuning was supposed to work, either. Couldn't find a power tuning button or bar anywhere on the front panel; besides, I could turn the channel selector freely by hand, so I'm almost convinced the gear train between it and the drive motor had either been removed by the previous owner or was defective some way (stripped gears, etc).

I thought this was rather unusual (a TV with remote power tuning, but no front-panel control of the function); further, the set didn't have a manual channel selector knob to allow operation of the tuner in case the power tuning went bad for any reason. Perhaps that was why it was still possible to turn the front panel channel selector knob manually.

BTW, I had a K-series Zenith 23" console TV in the late '60s until 1972. The model number was K2739. No remote, b&w, VHF only. The set also had a 3DG4 LV rectifier, like yours (never could understand or never really knew why they couldn't have used a 5U4 or some other more common tube in this position) and the largest power transformer I ever saw before or since in black-and-white or color sets; the only one I ever saw with cooling fins as well.

I have often wondered why other manufacturers didn't pick up on the idea and use fin-cooled transformers in their sets. What was so special about Zenith's finned transformer? Was the idea patented so the other manufacturers couldn't touch it?

Also, my Zenith 19" SC300 portable was probably set up to use a three-button remote (the 3 in "three hundred"). Channel up/down, volume/mute and power on/off, I think.

I might have had that 19" SC300 set for years if the horizontal output tube hadn't gone gassy after a year. The tube wound up messing up the keyed AGC circuit, which overbiased the IF strip, as I eventually had a picture so weak and washed out I couldn't watch it (contrast control or AGC control had no effect). I was not in a position to get a new tube at that time, so I put it in my basement when it started acting up and bought a new Zenith 12" b&w solid-state portable the next day. That set lasted 22 years without one bit of trouble (except when the detent mechanism of the UHF tuner broke some time in the '80s).

In addition to the Zenith sets, both B&W and Color, I have seen a few Curtis Mathis sets with the finned power transformer. I am not sure if the chassis was made by CM or purchased by them

These chassis were from Curtis Mathis Color roundie sets in the 1960s.

I'm working right now on a 1960 Motorola bw console that has a finned transformer-nothing real fancy, though, just 2 simple fins.

First time post- I found this site by accident. I was wondering if there are any pictures available of the Zenith Commander ( early 1960's) with the remote control; when broken, you could press one of the switches on it and it would keep on flipping through the channels as if it had a mind of its own. Also, any pictures of the 19 inch portable ( a heavy portable) from around 1968. Boy, did we ever love our T.V.'s back then. I can remember going to the drugstore with my dad to test the tubes from our sets to see if they were still good or needed to be replaced. I did find a site which shows some of the old sets from the 50's and 60's. We had at one time a Natalie Kalmus that I climbed on when I was a tot and the doors to the unit flipped open when it fell over on top of me; the doors broke the fall and saved me from any injury. The site with the pictures is www.tvhistory.tv

Ahh, one of these days I'll get a pic of my RTC color roundie with remote.

It's a CTC-7 :D

Welcome, Bill! In this thread

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38539

look at the second picture, the set at the top of that pile is a '68 Zenith bw portable I just brought home. Minus the knobs so it might look a little funny. This one is actually listed as a 20". Not a remote set, of course!

Here's the CTC 31 remote set that I just got from bgadow. It will need some work but I will do that in the winter months.

looks nice! You probably know this, but the remote chassis has a green pilot bulb between the two channel indicators. The pilot indicates that the remote chassis is on.
Good luck with the rest of the restoration.

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?

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

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.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=32685&stc=1

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.

General Electric wired remote of the late 50s
http://tvontheporch.com/images/remote.jpg
tethered to a 21C2550
http://tvontheporch.com/images/21c2550.jpg

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Here's the pic.

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?

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.

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!

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? :eek:

Weird.

That IS a great find. I recently bought a similar set, but no Flashmatic hand-held.

I'd give good money for one-anybody got one for sale or trade??

I did think it was strange that they didn't label the functions of each photocell on the front. I guess you were just supposed to memorize it. I did power it up. It has promise. The raster came up & it just has the typical vertical problems, short with foldover. The remote motor works fine with the manual switches but none of the "eyes" are responding. The bad news is the crt is pretty well shot. It had a brightener on it; I hooked it up to the tester & the needle didn't even move. I ran the filaments all night at 8 volts but it never budged from about 1/4 through the "bad" scale. So now I can look for a 21ALP4A or equivalent. I looked up all the substitutes-will have to check on the ETF classifieds & see if the poster on there has something. I have some other 21" tubes but they are not on the list, I think maybe I could make one of them work but for now I won't worry about it.

I was searching for something else, and came across this thread, thought it would be a good one to bring back, seeing all the pictures had been lost. Here's my two remote sets, both from 1960: a Zenith 17" SC300 and an RCA CTC-10.

You guys have probably already seen this pic but this is a 1966 Magnavox U910 Chassis and motor varactor tuning, uses the 2 button air bellow remote that changes VHF channels and a 3 setting Volume that if pressed the fourth time set turns off. When I bought the set the chassis was smoked, flyback was cooked and the horiz and chroma boards were badly damaged. I replaced the chassis from a similar model that used the 23EGP22 crt and a non remote unit. Got the remote from KX250rider, and it works great!

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff144/freakaftr8/P1010001.jpg

just got a ctc 15 remote set .craigslist,mt.vernon ,ohio.they were asking 250.00. i got for 40.00. very sharp cabinet,2 remote units,all paperwork,brochures,etc.it has a replacement 21fjp22 from video display corporation. installed 1991.tuner is
very bad and it has a few adjustment issues-purity,convergence,vertical.the son is a tinkerer,and i think he turned everything he could! i drug this around my job from 9:00 a.m untill 8:30 last night.over 300 miles,hopong it wouldnt get damaged.the owner went to a nursing home and the son quickly sold everything she had. i will post pics later.