Sentinel Remote Control
 

How does it work?

http://www.earlytelevision.org/sentinel_remote.html

I've never seen a Sentinal set so I'm operating in a vacuum here.

I could guess at least two methods. One requires a special tuner. The other maybe.

You have four bits which could generate 16 codes and you only need 12. They could switch relays that switch in capacitors and coils. But, the code you show doesn't make sense for that.

The other possibility would be using a motor as you suggest. The shaft that the motor turns would turn a switch with a common wiper that generates the compliment of the code that you show. The wiper would be connected to the motor and the motor would turn until the switch reached the compliment value. There would be no matching on state on the two switches to power the motor.

The potentiometer could control a reactance tube for the fine tuning.


John

Maybe it's like the Flintstones remote, you turn the knob, a bird flies out the back and makes the adjustment then flies back in.

I'm sorry, I'm no help at all. :D

Hopefully someone can find the Sams that goes with the set this is for.

:lmao:

We now know how the remote control works, thanks to information provided by several collectors:


http://www.earlytelevision.org/sentinel_remote.html

Alright! My second guess was right!

John

I bet it's the same as the Kaye-Halbert remote from '54. That one had a stepper motor and a synchronous rotary switch, like the one I see here. You would rotate the knob to the desired channel, and the motor would start and run until the matching switch on the back of the tuner arrived at the right place (in sync with the remote switch), and break the circuit.

I have a working Kaye-Halbert chassis with Robot remote. Sadly the cabinet & CRT were lost in my fire, but the chassis & remote still worked fine when I last tested it. I should drag that out and put a CRT in it, and demonstrate the remote. Oh Fuzz: I should have done that before the digital changeover!

Charles

Did it have fine tuning also?
John

isn't that a speaker inside of the remote? If it is, what is that for?

I was thinking along the lines of a hospital set, not saying this one is but I think is is set up like one. With that on the table next to you that little speaker would be perfect.

No... Just the channel switch. Although the front end in the Kaye-Halbert was kind of cheap, they were fairly stable. If you set the slugs properly, the fine tuning wouldn't need much fooling with unless you move the TV or change antennae.

There were two versions of the Robot remote; one was on-off-volume and a single-direction channel change button, and the deluxe one with the rotary switch/latching relay as I suspect with the Sentinel.

Charles