Found this at Electronic House. Mostly Zenith.

veg

Linky (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/a_history_of_tv_remote_controls/)

Early RCA IR remote control development story

Back around 1980, friend of mine was developing an IR remote control using the then new low power microprocessor chips, "COPS" chips IIRC. This was at the Smirnoff Labs. At Indy, our product development place and near the manufacturing plant in Bloomington, they were designing an analog audio tone (that would modulate an IR light beam) based remote. Lots of circuitry, and would be expensive. The Labs design was much cheaper and simplier. But as you would expect, the "Not Invented Here" syndrome happens in Indy, and they eventually come down to a "bake-off" test run, with two TVs (one equipped with one remote system, the other the other) out in the parking lot, in the sunlight. My friend says neigher would work in the Sun. Well, theirs kept changing channels and whatnot, out of control, but his microprocessor based remote worked perfectly. And it was cheaper. So they be-grudingly had to go with the microprocessor based remote in production. The remote's plastic case was designed to house the bulky circuitry of the analog scheme, but as they already had a few million cases made, they just had a very bare circuit board with a microprocessor chip on it put inside. http://www.geocities.com/wa2ise/radios/rcaremote.jpg

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www.remotes.com has a history of remotes go look it up on there and you will be surprized how many remotes there were

it was cool when the space command came out in 1957

I got this remote at Kutztown over the weekend just for curiosity. KRK 84 it appears. It is a hefty little brick weighing close to a pound. On/off, channel, and sound are the only controls. B&W I suspect. Three transistors visible. Uses a 9v battery, so that starts to date it. Could be as early as 1956 given the Eveready claim to the 9v in that year.

http://www.energizer.com/learning-center/Pages/battery-history.aspx

I don't remember seeing this one mentioned here before.

Dave A

RCA KRK 84 is in Sams Photofact #433, so that is 1959 I am pretty sure.