Here it is 2022, and my electronics repair shop of nearly 30 years has no walkin customers at all. No TVs, no microwaves, only a few quality audio pieces and lots of junk, with broken screens, torn connectors and cables, just a few computers, etc. We can get the parts, ICs, caps, resistors, etc. but no one wants to pay for a quality repair. Now, our trained, experienced techs service equipment from insurance claims, medical equipment and industrial devices. Most of our scopes and meters wont help with the new circuits. We are down from 9 techs, to only two. And it doesn't look like it will last very long. And the schools are NOT training anyone to do this anymore. What a shame. What a waste.
I was just getting passionate about electronics when my junior high school shop teacher (who lived just a few blocks from me) invited me over to replace the deflection yoke on a little 13" black and white TV. He supplied the yoke and tools to do the job, as well as supervising me and telling me which wires to connect to what. This is the early 70's, so I said 15 dollars when he asked how much he owed me. He upped it to 25 and paid me in cash. Of course he was perfectly capable of changing out a yoke, so a special thank you to Richard Blowers for going out of his way to encourage my growth in the field. Thanks Mr. Blowers!
This is absolutely amazing! Me and my brother as kids, we used to collect old radios and TVs from out neighbours in late 80s. We tried to fix them, learn how things works , taking them apart. We got some books of our parents friends dated 1950-60 and learned basics from them. By the time I got to electrical & electronical high school. I had a very solid understanding and knowledge of electronics to a level that I didn't have to study as I have already known 90% of material. To this day I love old radios. As a kid it was amazing to sit at night and listen to different stations from all over the world , Morse code... it was magical.
When I was 10 years old in 1960 I had my " laboratory / fix it " shop in the basement. Many a scrounged radio, TV, toaster etc ended up on my work bench. I also learned how to change fuse's in the electrical panel cause I let the smoke out of many of them..
Am 68 now. From the Philippines. Graduated from The National Technical Schools, Black/White Tv-Radio Technician's Course in mid-70's. It was a correspondence school based in the United States. They had a set of kits that we had to build. A black and white television, a 5-tube radio, a 6-transistor pocket radio, a Heathkit VOM, a tube tester and a signal generator. The lessons and kits were shipped to my address in study sequence. The lessons came in brochure-type prints straight to my door. The kits, I had to claim from the post office for a chargeable fee by customs. It was all such a nice experience growing up with them. The instructors were really friendly and started a little chat through snail mail, but I did not have the money to maintain it, and we lost touch by the time I graduated. I still have my diploma with me. I just wish they had not closed down and sort of maintained the school.
I cut my teeth on this stuff back in the early 60s in Clarksdale MS. I was 14 years old. Radios and TVs fascinated me. Then Mr Fitzgerald showed me how to set up and check the tubes on the Simpson Tube Checker. For 35 years I was a radio and TV repairman! Best years of my life!!
This brings back memories. It was in the late 1950's and our television quit. My dad and I took it to a repair shop to have it fixed and I was fascinated by all the equipment sitting around. Another time, with the same set, my dad took it to be repaired and came back home with a story. This proved the honesty of the repairman. Another customer was there to pick his set up. His eyes got big when he looked at the bill. He then showed it to my dad. It read "One drop of solder, 5 cents. Knowing where to put it, 10 dollars!" Later, when I was ten years old my dad gave me an old truck radio to play with. I started tearing it to pieces, then started wondering what all those crazy looking things were and what they did. I went to the public library and started teaching myself electronics. When I was in the eleventh grade I repaired the PA systems in both the high school auditorium and the football stadium, and was even asked to teach electronics to the senior science class. Later I started repairing radios and tvs, first as a hobby, then as a profession. I also got my Ham radio license. I never studied for the exam but just walked in and took the exam and passed it.
That's awesome. I've been learning electronics in my spare time. I'm in my 30's, but also have a home music studio. I bought reel to reel equipment to use and some of it I have had to repair. Real fun stuff! Oh, and I also have a HAM radio license :)
I'm 72 and learned tube theory in the Army in the 1970s. I've since taught radio theory, become interested in computing, have run and spliced fiber optic cable as a contractor overseas. This hour was so enjoyable. Mr Langhout's wonderful memory is inspiring (I forget what I had for breakfast today) and is to be thanked for preserving this slice of Americana.
I learned tube theory in detail in RETS in the late '70's, fully in detail via an old Air Force correspondence course the Army offered. Did OK before, it only made me a lot more proficient. Learned transistors and IC's, then VLSI, etc on my own over the years. They're electrons, not magic. ;) Left the consumer electronics business when they started to become throwaways, which was around when DVD's were maturing and the CRT era was coming to a close and went into IT. Wouldn't mind working on them now, but my arms are a tad too short. :/
Im 75, started learning electronics (tubes, etc) in ~55. joined the army in 67 for mos 35F and then got my EE degree after my enlistment. i really loved electronics back then. i had a real flash back when i was working on russian equipment in the 80's.
I guess my first real job in high school was in a TV shop...1969...I had finished a correspondence course from CTI out of Chicago and "went to work"... worked there until I graduated then went in the Navy as an Electronic Technician. I quit the TV repair field due to one of the senior technicians and my mentor....he said it wouldn't be long and all electronics would be throw-aways...I couldn't believe it but I so trusted this man I looked for something else after a couple years....He was so right! Thanks Fred...great advise and turns out I had an awesome career in the Navy.
When I first saw this pop up, I thought no way would it be interesting enough to listen to for over an hour, but found it fascinating. Thanks for allowing us a glimpse back into electronic history.
When I was a kid in high school I got a job in a radio TV shop, the year was 1963. My boss was an old Navy guy who learned electronics there and he was a very good tech. I used to fix all the new transistor radios that came into the shop. Back then the circuit boards were very crude and mostly I'd solder them back together. There would be a big pile every week when I came in to fix. I worked on tube stuff too and learned how to fix TV's and tube radios too. It was a great part of my life, I really loved it! When I graduated I went into the Navy and worked on the first top secret computers. I finally got my degree in electronic engineering years later but I never forgot that TV shop! Thanks for this video, it really brings back the wonderful memories!
I build and repair guitar Amps in my spare time as a hobby, man I would really love to hang out in this shop and play with all the test equipment. what a treasure.
At 60 I am just old enough to remember the repair shops. What I remember most vividly were the DIY tube testers in the 7/11’s. You would pull the tubes out of your tv or radio and take them down to the store. You would plug each tube into the right socket. Then you would select the correct switches for your test from a booklet and then press the button. Depending on the type, you would see a yes no light or you would read an analog meter. The booklet would tell you if you were reading a good tube or not. If you had a bad tube you just opened the cabinet under the tester. Inside were hundreds of the most popular tubes. Find the one you need and take it up to the counter. This was a great service to the owner. If he was a little handy, he might fix his broken tv himself, sparing the expense of taking it into the shop. I say he because it was almost always a male back then. Now of course it was a total crap shoot testing the tubes. Just as likely you would take your new tube back, stick it in and turn it on, only just to blow it up! At least that was my limited experience. That was a long time ago. Now a days, TVs are not a repairable item. At best you replace the entire circuit board - there are just three parts: power supply, circuit board, led screen. Each part would cost as much as the TV if you tried to buy it. So now I build kits to do stuff. Reminds me of my childhood. Makes me happy to know that there are still young people making stuff with their hands and minds. Digikey still sells parts to the little guy. The Chinese markets are mind blowing - their kids are not lazy and useless. Worlds gonna be different in the future.
I remember the tube testers at 7-11 and at Radio Shack. I knew they were DIY, but I didn't know they had tubes for sale inside them. I think my father would test tubes and then go to the TV shop or Radio Shack to buy the tubes he needed. Maybe the prices were high at 7-11, because you were paying for the, "convenience." Everything was expensive at 7-11, until they got into a price war with High's, at least for milk.
When you were a kid in the sixties the TV repairman still made house calls! It was like a seeing a rocket scientist work to a young mind. Those glowing tubes were mesmerizing too.
This brought back so many memories of me working at the bench in a TV shop when I was in 7th grade. I learned how to use the BK 415 sweep generator and was quite fast at alignment on the IF and Chroma circuits of tube type TV sets starting in 1968. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.y Grandfather had one of the Hoffman sets like yours with the bass and treble controls. They had push-pull 6V6 audio outputs. I used to crank up the volume on American Band Stand!
I run an electronic repair shop in the UK, and must say your reproduction shop looks great - those were the days when you could repair things much easier. Its a shame that today we are so wasteful making and selling items that are just thrown away when they go faulty. One of the problems for the future, is lots go to landfill and will slowly start to decompose and release all the toxic sustances into the water table. I can see in many years time, there is going to be massive problems and subsequent clean-ups of the environment. Electronics is one industry that has changed beyond recognition over the last 70 or so years, and in many respects not for the better.
I guess thats the thing things are not built today with repair in mind . Its funny but with such great advances in technology that have given us smart phones internet facebook utube to name a few . Cant help that feeling that weve also lost somthing whether thats the nostalgia the warm glow of the vacuume tube .a wanting to go back to simpler times before internet where tv radio video was what we knew .
Very large Thank You to the two gentlemen that appeared in this & to whomever else helped with this fantastic presentation. This is marvelous history, more people should see & hear all this. Its the story of the modern age, so interesting.
In the late '60s, 1967, I think, I wanted to know how a TV worked. I was 14 where upon I disassembled my first television set. Cataloging every component and learning what it did in the circuit. I tried to reassemble the TV, BUT was unsuccessful :). This quest for knowledge defined the rest of my life. I am now a retired computer network hardware/software wizard. Still fixing friends & neighbors computers. Thanks for the step back in time, I remember it all.
My Grandpa started Crawford Radio and TV repair after WW2 in Hibbing MN. He ran a radar station in England during the War and that is how he got started in electronics repair. He had a bomb land near him on his way to repair a radar station and sustain serious injuries. He rented the back of Abe Zimmerman's (Bob Dylans Dad) store in 1945 or 46. He finally had his own store in the late 50s. My Dad and uncle worked there. mainly installing TV antennas around the Range He retired in the mid 70s, but kept busy in the basement fixing radios at home. As a kid I remember a long wall of tubes and other misc parts and test equipment. I grew up west of the cities so I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with him. This video of yours brought back memories of my Grandpa and stories my Father told me of the good ol days. Thanks so much for posting this video!
Great video. Brings back good old memories. Back then there were few channels but lots of good programs, and today we have a lot of channels with no good programs. Way better to watch videos such as this online now.
My granddad and dad owned Earle's TV Sales and Service in Frankfort, NY. The shop existed at least since I became aware as a grammar school student in the 50's and spent a lot of time helping in the shop as I grew up. Watching this video brought back so many memories! I have forgotten so much if what I learned! I worked my way from vacuuming out the chasies on the work bench (bugs love to set up housekeeping and die there in the accumulation of dust and webs) and testing/replacing tubes to answering calls and scheduling service calls. I had a script to go through so I could gather information that helped dad or granddad determine what equipment and parts to take with them. If they couldn't fix it in the home the Studebaker station wagon was a workhorse for moving those big TV's. So many memories sorting parts by color code, learning to solder, and making trips to the major distributors to purchase parts and watch presentations for new test jigs and new models that were coming out. I remember the excitement of stereo sound systems, color TV, remote controls, and more. I wish I had photos of the shop! All the time I spent in the shop kept me from going stir crazy because I had hip surgery at age 8 and had to use crutches and be very careful until my junior year in high school. Zenith, RCA, Magnavox, and Motorola were a few brands we sold. Then Motorola came out with their Works In a Drawer. Things changed rapidly after that. Yes, all those antennas! (We use one today!) Grandad did the roof work and had a small Zenith portable he would take up with him when he worked alone so he could easily adjust the antenna to get the best signal. One day he lost his grip and that TV fell from that second floor roof on it's face on the driveway. Granddad climbed down, thinking it was destroyed, but that Zenith fired right up and worked for years. That spoke volumes for the brand. Here is a question for you. Did you make house calls, and if you did - did you have problems dealing wit lonely housewives meeting you at the door dressed with seduction on their minds? Dad told me some of his horror stories! Dad did get some formal electronics education in our local college (about a year) but learned most of his trade by hands on with his dad, supplier educational presentations, and reading a lot. He later taught TV repair in our community college and earned college credits for the classes he taught - so he finally he got that covered sheepskin. Oh the memories! Oh! When I was in my early 20's my dad would borrow my German shepherd dog and she ride in his service station wagon after it had been broken into! She also spent the night in the shop several nights after it was broken into once. Great theft deterrent! I could go on and on, but I will stop now.☺️
Susan: My dad said never go into a house during a service call when a female is alone. Take someone with you or wait till there are more people in the home. Too much to lose.
@@jgstargazer I agree! Things were different back then, and my dad and grandpa were both very trusting. Dad told me that he judged each situation individually. Once he packed up and left when the woman of the house suddenly reappeared in a different outfit than what she had on when she answered the door! Often he would take ME with him because kids are a great distraction. When I was an adult he took my German shepherd with him - and she was the best deterrent ever. Even the men in the house kept their distance and didn't crowd him. Small towns yield some very interesting stories!
Wow, what memories this brings, My condolences to Buddy's family!! I grew up in southern WVa, Beckley, to be exact, and we,( the family) knew an older gentleman named E.M.Smith. he had a radio/ tv shop in his garage directly behind his home.Mom and dad had an old Muntz television, 1956, model, that in 1962-63 had begun to get real tired. Dad and I would pull the chassis out of the cabinet, and off to " Smitty's" we would go. E M. Didn't make house calls, he owned part of Haley's electronics in Beckley, as his main vocation. Any way, we took the chassis to smitty, and his shop was exactly set up as the one in this video. Im now 63, and because of Mr. E M Smith, i now repair antique radios and televisions in my shop. The amazement and wonder in a 5 year old childs eye,seeing how circuitry, worked, and a gentleman who would spend the time, to show, and explain how systems operated was priceless, or was to me. RIP Mr.E M Smith, and your friend Buddy! May they repair that big TV in the sky!
The store reminds me of my youth. I learned this in 1956 and I loved repairing old radios. Saba, Mende, Pioneer etc. Then came the television, our station was 100 km away, mostly there was only noise, and it was a special task to align the antennas in such a way that a picture really came out.
Thanks for the video. I got interested in my dads fascinating Helicrafter shortwave radio receiver when I was a small boy. Then when in my late teens learned how Tvs, Radios & Vcrs worked. I started a repair shop out of the house and my customer base grew rapidly. Back in the late 80’s tvs were still CRT based units with solid state components. I found it very enjoyable doing component level repairs. I worked on just about everything electronic I could fit on my bench. There was a great sense of reward in the detective work involved in the repair of devices. Unfortunately later on, many Tvs and radios became disposable, for the price for repair could sometimes exceed more than 1/2 the price of a new set. It became harder and harder to turn a profit, unless repairs could be done quickly, with inexpensive parts being the cause, and a upfront diagnostic fee became a necessity. The upfront fee helped weed out the serious customers from the uncaring, and also put some coins in the pocket to get started diagnosing. Then the surface mount revolution took over with micro size chips, transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc. This then further complicated the component level repair task. Things such as Televisions became for the most part circuit board swap outs, which took much of the fun out, “unless it was bad electrolytics in the power supply section.” Also as of recent, many manufactures of Televisions don’t even contain schematics anymore in their digital based service literature found on thumb drives and cd’s. These newer service manuals contain flow charts for diagnosing issues and provide component propagated circuit board assemblies for purchase only. Since I have found joy in the restoration of old tuner/amp equipment, and the repair of vacuum tube based guitar amplifiers. At age 55 I still love fixing things after about 35 years of self-taught learning.
I was born during WWII and grew up in the 1950s in my father's radio and television repair shop. Transistors did not replace all of those tubes. Transistors functionally replaced tubes in newly designed circuits in radios and televisions that replaced older equipment. Transistors were initially functionally equivalent to triode tubes. The most recognizable failed component smell was selenium rectifier! I had a 1939 Philco console radio with a working Mystery Remote Control that a customer abandoned, rather than paying the five or ten dollars for the repair. While abandoned radios were not a daily occurrence, it happened frequently enough to provide me with a junkbox full of components stripped from older radios. I used these parts for all sorts of personal projects.
In Canada a lot of former RCAF Radar Technicians opened TV Repair Shops. They received their training in the Airforce and translated it into great paying employment.
a very interesting video... thanks guys!! I learned a lot. I use vacuum tubes to this day in guitar amplifiers. I have been playing guitar for well over 50 years and have saved almost all the tubes I replaced, even some of the used vintage tubes are worth a pile of money... there are some that still work at 100%, and some that don't work at full spec, but they still give me a sound. Again, many thanks!
Thank you and God bless you 🙌🏽🙏🏽 Great video! Loved it! I used to work after high school in 1976, 77 & 78 at a grocery store called "Kiles Korner" it was a Texaco station, full service, we had to pump the fuel and squeegee the windows, and if asked, check and put engine oil in, inside the store was a " Vacuum Tube checker" and a selection of new Vacuum Tubes! LoL, I'll be 63 this year, born in 1959, Godspeed from The Yakima Valley in Washington State...
Love the stories, the camaraderie, and the history. It's hard to imagine an era down the road where a couple of old timers get together and reminisce about cell phones and laptops. But it _will happen_ someday.
Great video. It's a miracle the guy that fell twenty feet from the top of the tower, that he is still alive. He did alot of great work in Electronics, which helped mankind, all because he got sick and while in that state, his dad taught him about Radio Repair. Thanks for sharing.
In 1938 my father was an apprentice scientific instrument maker with Standard Telephone and Cable (London) by 1939 he was RAF Aircrew Air Gunner/Signals. He wanted to be a Watchmaker, but never lost his interest in electronics... Some of which I apparently acquired by osmosis... I made my first electric guitar pickups aged about 14, or 15 years!
Talk about a walk down memory lane! I ‘m 74 and have fond memories of assembling Knight, EICO, and Heath kit stuff. I also repaired radios and tv’s for the neighbors. Thanks so much for the memories and great video!
My senior year in high school I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. One day the TV repairman was at our house and I was watching him fix the set and I decided to go to Vo-Tech school and take radio and television repair. There was a good state vo-tech school seventy five miles away in the “big city” so when I graduated I moved there and studied from 1977-1980 and got a diploma. I got a job with the school system there as their audio-visual equipment repair tech. I was the best job I ever had. I maintained AV equipment for thirty schools. In 2000, everything was becoming computer based and I was able to get transferred to the computer support dept. and worked there for thirteen years and retired at age 56. I had dreamed of someday having my own TV repair shop but it wasn’t meant to be. Repairing analog electronic stuff was great.
What a fantastic video! So many stories. Sure glad he grabbed those cables on the tower. I worked for the power company and used the belt to snap on to the structure to change a light bulb. Maybe 25 ft up and heard the snap! Luckily Mine snapped in rather than out. I never forgot it. What experience he has shared with us. Thanks so much!
Takes me back to when I was a kid working in a TV repair shop in the 1970's. Even though it was a time of transitioning from vacuum tubes to transistors, we had a wall of tubes (though not as large as in the video), a book that said which tubes could be substituted, and Sam's Photofact schematics. I forgot the benches with the power strips. The next shop was smaller and didn't have all the stuff.
My dad sold and serviced TV's from right after the war up until about 1963 as a side job. He was a fireman full time. I went on service calls with him from time to time. "Hand me a 6sn7!". Sometimes he'd have to pull the chassis and take it in to his bench in the basement. SOme times if I was sick and had to stay home from school that chassis would come up to my bedroom for a day or two till I was better,. Good memories.
I remember building antenna's for better signal as a kid, no rotator system we turned it by hand haha. There are still kids learning this stuff out there. Thankfully you can still find the old RCA tube manuals, and find some tube that will work with a little biasing. I really wish I could just run down to the old repair shop and test my tubes and pick one up. I loved the comment he made about the Shadow( The Shadow Knows ah ah ahhaaa), you can still find and listen to the old episodes on TH-cam.. you have to build your own tube testers now haha.
Awesome! My dad was a well respected electronics repair technician through the 60s, 70s, and 80s and would well relate to this video. I remember his repair shops with the tubes even testing vacuum tubes myself. I helped install lots of television antennas and helped with TV pickups and deliveries for repairs. He had piles of parts he stripped from old electronic equipment and was able to repair units that might have obsolete parts. He built some of his own test equipment and shopped at Army Surplus for stuff he could put to use. He was fascinated as a kid, built his own radio and rigged up generated power for his parent's home. From kid up he studied electronics books he collected and eventually went to NAIT in Edmonton to certify himself as a licensed technician. He helped found the local radio station of Wetaskiwin, Alberta where we lived as the station engineer. His home hobby was ham radio. Thanks for the video!
I remember Mazel Radio in Manchester when I went with my Dad to test a valve out of our t.v. All sorts of gear on the shelves. We had an old m.w./l.w. valve radio and I got interested in the stations marked on the dial. A neighbour gave me some radio magazines and I saw a one valve radio kit: the H.A.C., Hear All Continents. A pre-drilled chassis and all parts supplied and I got two extra coils to cover about 1 MHz to 30 MHz. I was aged 13 so 1968. A wire around the kitchen and one on the water pipe, 2,000 Ω headphones my neighbour gave me, a 90 Volt battery and a 3 Volt cycle lamp dropped via a resistor to 2 Volts, a few squeals then a bird whistling. Odd! Then they announced, "This is Radio South Africa". I heard local radio amateurs on Top Band and thought I want to do that one day. Aged 19 I studied and sat the radio exam and here I am. I made an xtal a.m. transmitter for 2m, converted a Pye Bantam for 4m, an xtal one valve transmitter, and other things. In 2017 I obtained a 1944 Wireless 19 Set which needed much work, I like 60m and low H.T. gives me just under 3 Watts out, furthest so far about 280 miles. I have collected old parts and a few used 2 Volt heater valves, PM2DX types, and want to make my own one valve set. G4GHB
My interest and life-time career in Electronics started when I was 6 years old taking the back cover of off our Zenith 21 inch television set and removing the vacuum tubes. The interlock saved my life! Oh well .... Dad was not too happy.
As a side note, I spend a lot of time watching Videos since my retirement. This Video is probably one of my Favorite ones. I Loved the History of Electronics well before I started Loving History.
My friend closed his tv and domestic appliance shop here in Ireland, back in March 2018 after 44 years. He started out in Marconi at sea as a radio officer, at sea he met his future wife, an American lady and moved to the States where he served his time on tv with RCA. Then returning to Ireland work for various tv outfits before opening his own shop.
Reminds me of being told that at the 1st place I lived a neighbor used to work with Marconi. Never did find out if that meant the company or the man himself.
@@robertsutton8894 It was the company; my late brother in law who was from Germany worked for Marconi in Canada for 28 years and was servicing ACBM equipment. He was very detailed and if there was no schematic available he'll draw one and trace/troubleshoot and repair problem.
Great video! I was born in the early 1960's in the UK, and as soon as I heard the opening music I instantly recognized the radio shows. "Ray's A Laugh" and "Much Binding In The Marsh", bringing back memories of my childhood, BBC Radio and my parent's Rediffusion branded 405 line black and white TV!
Thank you for this walk through radio, tv, and cable tv history. I was co-owner of Somerset Electronics Co. in Somerset Kentucky from 1994-2005. We did third party equipment repair for cable companies. It was founded by Joe Alcorn, WA5GSP (SK), in 1980. I started working for Joe in 1983. Headend, trunk, line extenders... Jerrold B-T, DBC (Delta Benco Cascade - a Canadian company - we were U.S. authorized warranty repair center). I held on as long as I could, but changes in technology (fiber) required investment in bench equipment that we just could not afford. Combined with a glut of surplus equipment in the early 21st century, and a couple of BIG mso bankruptcies that left us holding the bag... and MANY other factors; satellite tv, internet - I could go on - forced me to close the doors in 2005. But I have great memories of the evolution of cable tv and satellite tv - from BUD to directv and others. Thanks again for the romp down memory lane. de N8UX
Thanks for making this video. I came of age in the '50s so I can relate to most of this. The advances and progress in electronics over the past 70 years are astounding to think about, and this video really rattled up some memories.
I worked in a shop that looked a lot like that, except we didn't have an inventory of tubes. The boss didn't like us to keep a large parts inventory. Whenever we needed something we'd drive into town to the TV parts store. You can't do that anymore. Those were some of my fondest memories. That's an absolutely beautiful re-creation.
I love Repairing electronics. Worked for a TV /radio shop right out of high school until the owner retired. I have repaired all the old tube radio/TVs. I am 62 yrs old now and still am a technician and ham radio operator. I like tube equipment a lot !
It was fascinating to hear Buddy's stories and you can tell from the comments how special these TV and radio repair shops were in peoples' lives back then. I grew up in West Cork, Ireland and we got our first TV, a black-and-white Philips, in about 1967. My first memories are of watching I Love Lucy also, and Green Acres, Get Smart and The Virginian. There was a TV repair shop across the street (back in those days everything you ever needed was just across the street!) and when the TV broke Mrs. Hayes would come across and take a look at it. "What seems to be the problem?" she's say...then she's hit it a couple of good hard thumps and usually it would start working again. "There we are, all back to normal!". But if it didn't work we'd then bring it across to the shop and her husband, Mr. Hayes, would take a look at it after coming back from putting up TV ariels, and he's hit it a bit harder, maybe with a hammer, and sure enough it would work fine again. I miss those days when anything could be fixed either by hitting it hard with a hammer or giving it a good kick. The other TV repairman in town took my brother under his wing and taught him some radio repairs and introduced him to ham radio. As a result, my brother went on to study electronic engineering and has had a fantastic career out of it, so these people are much loved and respected.
At 1:03:20, that's not a "peanut" tube, it's a T-3 subminiature tube, sometimes called a "pencil" tube. The first one shown is gray and not clear glass because it has been sprayed with a metallic shielding compound.
My dad used to do TV and Radio repairs from 1960-1980 and I remember it looked much like this, lots of tubes! He was very active Radio Amateur also. Think he got 5 Band DXCC in 70's. Great memories from my childhood!
Very nice and interesting video. As a kid in the '70's, I recall going to an small old radio and TV repair shop. The front area was filled with old radios from ceiling to floor that the owner had taken from customers that didn't want them any more. I recall going from console to console and turning the weighted tuning knobs. I was fascinated by them and it sparked my interest in the hobby.
My recollection of our local Radio and TV repairman was that if you were in a pinch and needed some specific little part: He would be the guy who would go rummaging around and always seemed to be able to dig that exact thing up...and sell it to you for cheap. To me, he was good as gold !
My father became interested in radio back in the 40's..he operated a radio and eventually tv repair shop, and i learned from him.. I still have some of his test equipment and tools, i, ve restored several old radios, used to fix a few a few old school tv' s... This fellow mentions the circuit diagrams in the rca tube manuel.. When i was about 13, i built an audio amplifier from a circuit in the back of the book, which i still have, the book, not the amp.. If you want to learn, old school radio.. Get an old copy of an rca recieving tube manual and "elements of radio servicing" by marcus and levy.. My two "go to" references
I know them well. My father was a TV and Radio repairman. I helped with the heavy lifting. Those old TV's were really heavy. He taught me electronics and that led me to become a computer expert. I got to visit a lot of the other shops in the area so I saw a lot different setups. Brings back fond memories.
Thanks for your videos Doug in Ga , my father had a little, radio shop in Charleston Wv back in the 40's on a street called Brown's alley brought back good memories 😎
I grew up testing tubes and helping my dad in his TV repair shop in the 60s. Until Quasar came out with works in a drawer. Wish I still had my RCA toys I got. 110 tickles I was shocked so many times. My dad learned electronics in the Navy. I could not tell you how many old tubes I shot with a 22. Good times. And I can solder like a champ..lol We would put antennas up the mountain and then run 2 lines all the way down to the customers houses about 8 inches apart. I was a runner with a stick to untangle when birds would hit them. Sounds like our lives were a lot alike. Just a different part of the country. Great Video. Thanks for the memories.
Although I never learned the TV/Radio end, I did learn how to fix old tube audio amps for guitars and stereos. Tube circuits are really cool, and I am glad to have the know-how on getting them fixed.
What a nice guy , your father sounds like my father , he would give th tools and help me learn to fix things , still miss him has been gone since 98 thanks for sharing your talents 😎
Does anyone else remember those silk looking banners advertising TV and radio brands? They often had tassels on them and hung on the walls in TV shops back in the day.
This is a great recreation of vintage TV repair shop! I used to fix TVs back in the mid-1960's, and this brought back many memories. Great information in your video, and excellent vintage tubes and equipment. Thanks for sharing this! ~
I loved it. Lots of memories of growing up with a dad that served in the Signal Corps in WW2 and worked on radios and TV's in the 40's and 50's. Nick WD7JAZ.
You know I really enjoyed this, I remember as a little boy looking in the back of the TV and watching the tube glow orange. Later I found an old portable set that I brought home and tore apart in my bedroom never had so much fun in my life
Broadcast transmitter "buff" here-the large air variable cap shown near the end of the show.I work at the Greenville,NC Marti shortwave transmitter plant.They had some older transmitters that used variable caps to tune a 100W RF stage-that drove a 6000W stage.Then a 250Kw 6 tube power amp-Doherty.These were replaced by transmitters that take up a third of the space and use less power.Only two large tubes!No cool open variable caps-now ceramic variable vacuum caps.
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Wow, I bought parts from Northwest Radio in Duluth as well, I would love to see that place, as an older ham radio guy I could have a lot of fun, I still love vacuum tubes, and work on the older stuff.. Great video.
Enjoyed this a lot. Always interesting to listen to people who have a life-long professional experience. True treasure stores of knowledge. And most of it totally obsoleted by the IC revolution
Oh wow, thank you so very much for posting this. I’m 72, it was a big deal to go see our T.V. repair man. I thought he must be one of the smartest men alive.
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Here it is 2022, and my electronics repair shop of nearly 30 years has no walkin customers at all. No TVs, no microwaves, only a few quality audio pieces and lots of junk, with broken screens, torn connectors and cables, just a few computers, etc. We can get the parts, ICs, caps, resistors, etc. but no one wants to pay for a quality repair. Now, our trained, experienced techs service equipment from insurance claims, medical equipment and industrial devices. Most of our scopes and meters wont help with the new circuits. We are down from 9 techs, to only two. And it doesn't look like it will last very long. And the schools are NOT training anyone to do this anymore. What a shame. What a waste.
I was just getting passionate about electronics when my junior high school shop teacher (who lived just a few blocks from me) invited me over to replace the deflection yoke on a little 13" black and white TV. He supplied the yoke and tools to do the job, as well as supervising me and telling me which wires to connect to what. This is the early 70's, so I said 15 dollars when he asked how much he owed me. He upped it to 25 and paid me in cash. Of course he was perfectly capable of changing out a yoke, so a special thank you to Richard Blowers for going out of his way to encourage my growth in the field. Thanks Mr. Blowers!
A good role model.
So when you said"15 dollars" he didn't say
"You must be yoking"
What was your eventual career?
@@robertsutton8894 Very apropos!
That's the Feel Good story of the year!!! Mr. Blowers sounds like a great man!
Great Video Guys, Im 65 Now and i do remember this stuff. The good old days
Thanks. All of the memories this brings back of B/W turning into color sets with Shadow Masks then LED panels.
This is absolutely amazing! Me and my brother as kids, we used to collect old radios and TVs from out neighbours in late 80s. We tried to fix them, learn how things works , taking them apart. We got some books of our parents friends dated 1950-60 and learned basics from them. By the time I got to electrical & electronical high school. I had a very solid understanding and knowledge of electronics to a level that I didn't have to study as I have already known 90% of material. To this day I love old radios. As a kid it was amazing to sit at night and listen to different stations from all over the world , Morse code... it was magical.
Man, it still is magical!
Thanks for sharing man.. loved reading it..❤️
When I was 10 years old in 1960 I had my " laboratory / fix it " shop in the basement. Many a scrounged radio, TV, toaster etc ended up on my work bench. I also learned how to change fuse's in the electrical panel cause I let the smoke out of many of them..
Am 68 now. From the Philippines. Graduated from The National Technical Schools, Black/White Tv-Radio Technician's Course in mid-70's. It was a correspondence school based in the United States. They had a set of kits that we had to build. A black and white television, a 5-tube radio, a 6-transistor pocket radio, a Heathkit VOM, a tube tester and a signal generator. The lessons and kits were shipped to my address in study sequence. The lessons came in brochure-type prints straight to my door. The kits, I had to claim from the post office for a chargeable fee by customs. It was all such a nice experience growing up with them. The instructors were really friendly and started a little chat through snail mail, but I did not have the money to maintain it, and we lost touch by the time I graduated. I still have my diploma with me. I just wish they had not closed down and sort of maintained the school.
I cut my teeth on this stuff back in the early 60s in Clarksdale MS. I was 14 years old. Radios and TVs fascinated me. Then Mr Fitzgerald showed me how to set up and check the tubes on the Simpson Tube Checker. For 35 years I was a radio and TV repairman! Best years of my life!!
much much respect for keeping this awesome hobby alive. and for repairing instead of tossing
This brings back memories. It was in the late 1950's and our television quit. My dad and I took it to a repair shop to have it fixed and I was fascinated by all the equipment sitting around. Another time, with the same set, my dad took it to be repaired and came back home with a story. This proved the honesty of the repairman. Another customer was there to pick his set up. His eyes got big when he looked at the bill. He then showed it to my dad. It read "One drop of solder, 5 cents. Knowing where to put it, 10 dollars!"
Later, when I was ten years old my dad gave me an old truck radio to play with. I started tearing it to pieces, then started wondering what all those crazy looking things were and what they did. I went to the public library and started teaching myself electronics. When I was in the eleventh grade I repaired the PA systems in both the high school auditorium and the football stadium, and was even asked to teach electronics to the senior science class.
Later I started repairing radios and tvs, first as a hobby, then as a profession. I also got my Ham radio license. I never studied for the exam but just walked in and took the exam and passed it.
That's awesome. I've been learning electronics in my spare time. I'm in my 30's, but also have a home music studio. I bought reel to reel equipment to use and some of it I have had to repair. Real fun stuff! Oh, and I also have a HAM radio license :)
I'm 72 and learned tube theory in the Army in the 1970s. I've since taught radio theory, become interested in computing, have run and spliced fiber optic cable as a contractor overseas. This hour was so enjoyable. Mr Langhout's wonderful memory is inspiring (I forget what I had for breakfast today) and is to be thanked for preserving this slice of Americana.
Thank you for your military service.
Thanks Steve, the family is indebted to David for producing this video.
Trained at Ft Monmouth 1962..got out spent 30 years in NYC Post production .Reeves. and Edtel.
I learned tube theory in detail in RETS in the late '70's, fully in detail via an old Air Force correspondence course the Army offered. Did OK before, it only made me a lot more proficient.
Learned transistors and IC's, then VLSI, etc on my own over the years. They're electrons, not magic. ;)
Left the consumer electronics business when they started to become throwaways, which was around when DVD's were maturing and the CRT era was coming to a close and went into IT.
Wouldn't mind working on them now, but my arms are a tad too short. :/
Im 75, started learning electronics (tubes, etc) in ~55. joined the army in 67 for mos 35F and then got my EE degree after my enlistment. i really loved electronics back then. i had a real flash back when i was working on russian equipment in the 80's.
Wonderful little film and stories... and the rest... is history. Just beautiful. 73
I guess my first real job in high school was in a TV shop...1969...I had finished a correspondence course from CTI out of Chicago and "went to work"... worked there until I graduated then went in the Navy as an Electronic Technician. I quit the TV repair field due to one of the senior technicians and my mentor....he said it wouldn't be long and all electronics would be throw-aways...I couldn't believe it but I so trusted this man I looked for something else after a couple years....He was so right! Thanks Fred...great advise and turns out I had an awesome career in the Navy.
very nice!,i was born in 57 and can relate to a lot of the stuff,i love the history,
When I first saw this pop up, I thought no way would it be interesting enough to listen to for over an hour, but found it fascinating. Thanks for allowing us a glimpse back into electronic history.
When I was a kid in high school I got a job in a radio TV shop, the year was 1963. My boss was an old Navy guy who learned electronics there and he was a very good tech. I used to fix all the new transistor radios that came into the shop. Back then the circuit boards were very crude and mostly I'd solder them back together. There would be a big pile every week when I came in to fix. I worked on tube stuff too and learned how to fix TV's and tube radios too. It was a great part of my life, I really loved it!
When I graduated I went into the Navy and worked on the first top secret computers. I finally got my degree in electronic engineering years later but I never forgot that TV shop!
Thanks for this video, it really brings back the wonderful memories!
I build and repair guitar Amps in my spare time as a hobby, man I would really love to hang out in this shop and play with all the test equipment. what a treasure.
that guy is a character. ;) enjoyed radios and tv history. I remember using it at the end of tubes or close to it in the 1970s early '80s
At 60 I am just old enough to remember the repair shops. What I remember most vividly were the DIY tube testers in the 7/11’s. You would pull the tubes out of your tv or radio and take them down to the store. You would plug each tube into the right socket. Then you would select the correct switches for your test from a booklet and then press the button. Depending on the type, you would see a yes no light or you would read an analog meter. The booklet would tell you if you were reading a good tube or not. If you had a bad tube you just opened the cabinet under the tester. Inside were hundreds of the most popular tubes. Find the one you need and take it up to the counter.
This was a great service to the owner. If he was a little handy, he might fix his broken tv himself, sparing the expense of taking it into the shop. I say he because it was almost always a male back then. Now of course it was a total crap shoot testing the tubes. Just as likely you would take your new tube back, stick it in and turn it on, only just to blow it up! At least that was my limited experience.
That was a long time ago. Now a days, TVs are not a repairable item. At best you replace the entire circuit board - there are just three parts: power supply, circuit board, led screen. Each part would cost as much as the TV if you tried to buy it.
So now I build kits to do stuff. Reminds me of my childhood. Makes me happy to know that there are still young people making stuff with their hands and minds. Digikey still sells parts to the little guy. The Chinese markets are mind blowing - their kids are not lazy and useless. Worlds gonna be different in the future.
I remember the tube testers at 7-11 and at Radio Shack. I knew they were DIY, but I didn't know they had tubes for sale inside them. I think my father would test tubes and then go to the TV shop or Radio Shack to buy the tubes he needed. Maybe the prices were high at 7-11, because you were paying for the, "convenience." Everything was expensive at 7-11, until they got into a price war with High's, at least for milk.
When you were a kid in the sixties the TV repairman still made house calls! It was like a seeing a rocket scientist work to a young mind. Those glowing tubes were mesmerizing too.
This brought back so many memories of me working at the bench in a TV shop when I was in 7th grade. I learned how to use the BK 415 sweep generator and was quite fast at alignment on the IF and Chroma circuits of tube type TV sets starting in 1968. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.y Grandfather had one of the Hoffman sets like yours with the bass and treble controls. They had push-pull 6V6 audio outputs. I used to crank up the volume on American Band Stand!
I run an electronic repair shop in the UK, and must say your reproduction shop looks great - those were the days when you could repair things much easier. Its a shame that today we are so wasteful making and selling items that are just thrown away when they go faulty. One of the problems for the future, is lots go to landfill and will slowly start to decompose and release all the toxic sustances into the water table. I can see in many years time, there is going to be massive problems and subsequent clean-ups of the environment.
Electronics is one industry that has changed beyond recognition over the last 70 or so years, and in many respects not for the better.
Well said
I guess thats the thing things are not built today with repair in mind . Its funny but with such great advances in technology that have given us smart phones internet facebook utube to name a few . Cant help that feeling that weve also lost somthing whether thats the nostalgia the warm glow of the vacuume tube .a wanting to go back to simpler times before internet where tv radio video was what we knew .
Very large Thank You to the two gentlemen that appeared in this & to whomever else helped with this fantastic presentation.
This is marvelous history, more people should see & hear all this. Its the story of the modern age, so interesting.
In the late '60s, 1967, I think, I wanted to know how a TV worked. I was 14 where upon I disassembled my first television set. Cataloging every component and learning what it did in the circuit. I tried to reassemble the TV, BUT was unsuccessful :). This quest for knowledge defined the rest of my life. I am now a retired computer network hardware/software wizard. Still fixing friends & neighbors computers. Thanks for the step back in time, I remember it all.
My Grandpa started Crawford Radio and TV repair after WW2 in Hibbing MN. He ran a radar station in England during the War and that is how he got started in electronics repair. He had a bomb land near him on his way to repair a radar station and sustain serious injuries. He rented the back of Abe Zimmerman's (Bob Dylans Dad) store in 1945 or 46. He finally had his own store in the late 50s. My Dad and uncle worked there. mainly installing TV antennas around the Range He retired in the mid 70s, but kept busy in the basement fixing radios at home. As a kid I remember a long wall of tubes and other misc parts and test equipment. I grew up west of the cities so I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with him. This video of yours brought back memories of my Grandpa and stories my Father told me of the good ol days. Thanks so much for posting this video!
Great video. Brings back good old memories. Back then there were few channels but lots of good programs, and today we have a lot of channels with no good programs. Way better to watch videos such as this online now.
Thank you...
Precisely correct!
Sweet! I have about 60% of the tubes pictured here with much of the same equipment. I have it as a hobby.
absolute gem of a story....
love it
This bring memories by my TV days working in Cervantes TV in the late 1970s
My granddad and dad owned Earle's TV Sales and Service in Frankfort, NY. The shop existed at least since I became aware as a grammar school student in the 50's and spent a lot of time helping in the shop as I grew up. Watching this video brought back so many memories! I have forgotten so much if what I learned! I worked my way from vacuuming out the chasies on the work bench (bugs love to set up housekeeping and die there in the accumulation of dust and webs) and testing/replacing tubes to answering calls and scheduling service calls. I had a script to go through so I could gather information that helped dad or granddad determine what equipment and parts to take with them. If they couldn't fix it in the home the Studebaker station wagon was a workhorse for moving those big TV's. So many memories sorting parts by color code, learning to solder, and making trips to the major distributors to purchase parts and watch presentations for new test jigs and new models that were coming out. I remember the excitement of stereo sound systems, color TV, remote controls, and more. I wish I had photos of the shop! All the time I spent in the shop kept me from going stir crazy because I had hip surgery at age 8 and had to use crutches and be very careful until my junior year in high school. Zenith, RCA, Magnavox, and Motorola were a few brands we sold. Then Motorola came out with their Works In a Drawer. Things changed rapidly after that. Yes, all those antennas! (We use one today!) Grandad did the roof work and had a small Zenith portable he would take up with him when he worked alone so he could easily adjust the antenna to get the best signal. One day he lost his grip and that TV fell from that second floor roof on it's face on the driveway. Granddad climbed down, thinking it was destroyed, but that Zenith fired right up and worked for years. That spoke volumes for the brand.
Here is a question for you. Did you make house calls, and if you did - did you have problems dealing wit lonely housewives meeting you at the door dressed with seduction on their minds? Dad told me some of his horror stories!
Dad did get some formal electronics education in our local college (about a year) but learned most of his trade by hands on with his dad, supplier educational presentations, and reading a lot. He later taught TV repair in our community college and earned college credits for the classes he taught - so he finally he got that covered sheepskin. Oh the memories!
Oh! When I was in my early 20's my dad would borrow my German shepherd dog and she ride in his service station wagon after it had been broken into! She also spent the night in the shop several nights after it was broken into once. Great theft deterrent! I could go on and on, but I will stop now.☺️
Loved reading it man… thanks a lot for sharing… 👌👌👌👌
Awesome to read .I live in New Hartford.
Susan: My dad said never go into a house during a service call when a female is alone. Take someone with you or wait till there are more people in the home. Too much to lose.
@@jgstargazer I agree! Things were different back then, and my dad and grandpa were both very trusting. Dad told me that he judged each situation individually. Once he packed up and left when the woman of the house suddenly reappeared in a different outfit than what she had on when she answered the door! Often he would take ME with him because kids are a great distraction. When I was an adult he took my German shepherd with him - and she was the best deterrent ever. Even the men in the house kept their distance and didn't crowd him. Small towns yield some very interesting stories!
@@PKEDRM: My sister would say "I'll go along so they won't kiss you" sister was funny.
Wow, what memories this brings, My condolences to Buddy's family!! I grew up in southern WVa, Beckley, to be exact, and we,( the family) knew an older gentleman named E.M.Smith. he had a radio/ tv shop in his garage directly behind his home.Mom and dad had an old Muntz television, 1956, model, that in 1962-63 had begun to get real tired. Dad and I would pull the chassis out of the cabinet, and off to " Smitty's" we would go. E M. Didn't make house calls, he owned part of Haley's electronics in Beckley, as his main vocation. Any way, we took the chassis to smitty, and his shop was exactly set up as the one in this video. Im now 63, and because of Mr. E M Smith, i now repair antique radios and televisions in my shop. The amazement and wonder in a 5 year old childs eye,seeing how circuitry, worked, and a gentleman who would spend the time, to show, and explain how systems operated was priceless, or was to me. RIP Mr.E M Smith, and your friend Buddy! May they repair that big TV in the sky!
I thoroughly enjoy this interview!
The store reminds me of my youth. I learned this in 1956 and I loved repairing old radios. Saba, Mende, Pioneer etc.
Then came the television, our station was 100 km away, mostly there was only noise, and it was a special task to align the antennas in such a way that a picture really came out.
Thanks for the video. I got interested in my dads fascinating Helicrafter shortwave radio receiver when I was a small boy. Then when in my late teens learned how Tvs, Radios & Vcrs worked. I started a repair shop out of the house and my customer base grew rapidly. Back in the late 80’s tvs were still CRT based units with solid state components. I found it very enjoyable doing component level repairs. I worked on just about everything electronic I could fit on my bench. There was a great sense of reward in the detective work involved in the repair of devices. Unfortunately later on, many Tvs and radios became disposable, for the price for repair could sometimes exceed more than 1/2 the price of a new set. It became harder and harder to turn a profit, unless repairs could be done quickly, with inexpensive parts being the cause, and a upfront diagnostic fee became a necessity. The upfront fee helped weed out the serious customers from the uncaring, and also put some coins in the pocket to get started diagnosing. Then the surface mount revolution took over with micro size chips, transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc. This then further complicated the component level repair task. Things such as Televisions became for the most part circuit board swap outs, which took much of the fun out, “unless it was bad electrolytics in the power supply section.” Also as of recent, many manufactures of Televisions don’t even contain schematics anymore in their digital based service literature found on thumb drives and cd’s. These newer service manuals contain flow charts for diagnosing issues and provide component propagated circuit board assemblies for purchase only. Since I have found joy in the restoration of old tuner/amp equipment, and the repair of vacuum tube based guitar amplifiers. At age 55 I still love fixing things after about 35 years of self-taught learning.
I was born during WWII and grew up in the 1950s in my father's radio and television repair shop. Transistors did not replace all of those tubes. Transistors functionally replaced tubes in newly designed circuits in radios and televisions that replaced older equipment. Transistors were initially functionally equivalent to triode tubes. The most recognizable failed component smell was selenium rectifier! I had a 1939 Philco console radio with a working Mystery Remote Control that a customer abandoned, rather than paying the five or ten dollars for the repair. While abandoned radios were not a daily occurrence, it happened frequently enough to provide me with a junkbox full of components stripped from older radios. I used these parts for all sorts of personal projects.
In Canada a lot of former RCAF Radar Technicians opened TV Repair Shops. They received their training in the Airforce and translated it into great paying employment.
a very interesting video... thanks guys!! I learned a lot. I use vacuum tubes to this day in guitar amplifiers. I have been playing guitar for well over 50 years and have saved almost all the tubes I replaced, even some of the used vintage tubes are worth a pile of money... there are some that still work at 100%, and some that don't work at full spec, but they still give me a sound. Again, many thanks!
This was time well spent. Thank you.
Thank you and God bless you 🙌🏽🙏🏽 Great video! Loved it! I used to work after high school in 1976, 77 & 78 at a grocery store called "Kiles Korner" it was a Texaco station, full service, we had to pump the fuel and squeegee the windows, and if asked, check and put engine oil in, inside the store was a " Vacuum Tube checker" and a selection of new Vacuum Tubes! LoL, I'll be 63 this year, born in 1959,
Godspeed from The Yakima Valley in Washington State...
Love the stories, the camaraderie, and the history. It's hard to imagine an era down the road where a couple of old timers get together and reminisce about cell phones and laptops. But it _will happen_ someday.
Great video. It's a miracle the guy that fell twenty feet from the top of the tower, that he is still alive. He did alot of great work in Electronics, which helped mankind, all because he got sick and while in that state, his dad taught him about Radio Repair. Thanks for sharing.
In 1938 my father was an apprentice scientific instrument maker with Standard Telephone and Cable (London) by 1939 he was RAF Aircrew Air Gunner/Signals. He wanted to be a Watchmaker, but never lost his interest in electronics... Some of which I apparently acquired by osmosis... I made my first electric guitar pickups aged about 14, or 15 years!
Talk about a walk down memory lane! I ‘m 74 and have fond memories of assembling Knight, EICO, and Heath kit stuff. I also repaired radios and tv’s for the neighbors. Thanks so much for the memories and great video!
My senior year in high school I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. One day the TV repairman was at our house and I was watching him fix the set and I decided to go to Vo-Tech school and take radio and television repair. There was a good state vo-tech school seventy five miles away in the “big city” so when I graduated I moved there and studied from 1977-1980 and got a diploma. I got a job with the school system there as their audio-visual equipment repair tech. I was the best job I ever had. I maintained AV equipment for thirty schools. In 2000, everything was becoming computer based and I was able to get transferred to the computer support dept. and worked there for thirteen years and retired at age 56. I had dreamed of someday having my own TV repair shop but it wasn’t meant to be. Repairing analog electronic stuff was great.
What a fantastic video! So many stories. Sure glad he grabbed those cables on the tower. I worked for the power company and used the belt to snap on to the structure to change a light bulb. Maybe 25 ft up and heard the snap! Luckily Mine snapped in rather than out. I never forgot it. What experience he has shared with us. Thanks so much!
i would have been done if that happened to me but he went back up and finished the job
Takes me back to when I was a kid working in a TV repair shop in the 1970's. Even though it was a time of transitioning from vacuum tubes to transistors, we had a wall of tubes (though not as large as in the video), a book that said which tubes could be substituted, and Sam's Photofact schematics. I forgot the benches with the power strips. The next shop was smaller and didn't have all the stuff.
My dad sold and serviced TV's from right after the war up until about 1963 as a side job. He was a fireman full time. I went on service calls with him from time to time. "Hand me a 6sn7!". Sometimes he'd have to pull the chassis and take it in to his bench in the basement. SOme times if I was sick and had to stay home from school that chassis would come up to my bedroom for a day or two till I was better,. Good memories.
What an interesting man , he explains the electronics well, brings back great memories of when you could fix things.
I remember building antenna's for better signal as a kid, no rotator system we turned it by hand haha. There are still kids learning this stuff out there. Thankfully you can still find the old RCA tube manuals, and find some tube that will work with a little biasing. I really wish I could just run down to the old repair shop and test my tubes and pick one up. I loved the comment he made about the Shadow( The Shadow Knows ah ah ahhaaa), you can still find and listen to the old episodes on TH-cam.. you have to build your own tube testers now haha.
Awesome! My dad was a well respected electronics repair technician through the 60s, 70s, and 80s and would well relate to this video. I remember his repair shops with the tubes even testing vacuum tubes myself. I helped install lots of television antennas and helped with TV pickups and deliveries for repairs. He had piles of parts he stripped from old electronic equipment and was able to repair units that might have obsolete parts. He built some of his own test equipment and shopped at Army Surplus for stuff he could put to use. He was fascinated as a kid, built his own radio and rigged up generated power for his parent's home. From kid up he studied electronics books he collected and eventually went to NAIT in Edmonton to certify himself as a licensed technician. He helped found the local radio station of Wetaskiwin, Alberta where we lived as the station engineer. His home hobby was ham radio. Thanks for the video!
I remember Mazel Radio in Manchester when I went with my Dad to test a valve out of our t.v. All sorts of gear on the shelves.
We had an old m.w./l.w. valve radio and I got interested in the stations marked on the dial.
A neighbour gave me some radio magazines and I saw a one valve radio kit: the H.A.C., Hear All Continents. A pre-drilled chassis and all parts supplied and I got two extra coils to cover about 1 MHz to 30 MHz. I was aged 13 so 1968.
A wire around the kitchen and one on the water pipe, 2,000 Ω headphones my neighbour gave me, a 90 Volt battery and a 3 Volt cycle lamp dropped via a resistor to 2 Volts, a few squeals then a bird whistling. Odd!
Then they announced, "This is Radio South Africa".
I heard local radio amateurs on Top Band and thought I want to do that one day. Aged 19 I studied and sat the radio exam and here I am.
I made an xtal a.m. transmitter for 2m, converted a Pye Bantam for 4m, an xtal one valve transmitter, and other things. In 2017 I obtained a 1944 Wireless 19 Set which needed much work, I like 60m and low H.T. gives me just under 3 Watts out, furthest so far about 280 miles.
I have collected old parts and a few used 2 Volt heater valves, PM2DX types, and want to make my own one valve set.
G4GHB
The smallest production tube was the "Nuvistor". Came right around the time transistors were becoming more popular..
My interest and life-time career in Electronics started when I was 6 years old taking the back cover of off our Zenith 21 inch television set and removing the vacuum tubes. The interlock saved my life! Oh well .... Dad was not too happy.
I Love the stories told by this Gentleman.
As a side note, I spend a lot of time watching Videos since my retirement. This Video is probably one of my Favorite ones. I Loved the History of Electronics well before I started Loving History.
story of falling from the tower was bone chilling and made me think of my lineman grandfather.
My friend closed his tv and domestic appliance shop here in Ireland, back in March 2018 after 44 years. He started out in Marconi at sea as a radio officer, at sea he met his future wife, an American lady and moved to the States where he served his time on tv with RCA. Then returning to Ireland work for various tv outfits before opening his own shop.
Reminds me of being told that at the 1st place I lived a neighbor used to work with Marconi.
Never did find out if that meant the company or the man himself.
@@robertsutton8894 It was the company; my late brother in law who was from Germany worked for Marconi in Canada for 28 years and was servicing ACBM equipment. He was very detailed and if there was no schematic available he'll draw one and trace/troubleshoot and repair problem.
Great video! I was born in the early 1960's in the UK, and as soon as I heard the opening music I instantly recognized the radio shows. "Ray's A Laugh" and "Much Binding In The Marsh", bringing back memories of my childhood, BBC Radio and my parent's Rediffusion branded 405 line black and white TV!
No digital multimeters in the 1950's TV shop.
Люди эпохи лампового радио!
People of the era of tube radio!
Thank you for this walk through radio, tv, and cable tv history. I was co-owner of Somerset Electronics Co. in Somerset Kentucky from 1994-2005. We did third party equipment repair for cable companies. It was founded by Joe Alcorn, WA5GSP (SK), in 1980. I started working for Joe in 1983. Headend, trunk, line extenders... Jerrold B-T, DBC (Delta Benco Cascade - a Canadian company - we were U.S. authorized warranty repair center). I held on as long as I could, but changes in technology (fiber) required investment in bench equipment that we just could not afford. Combined with a glut of surplus equipment in the early 21st century, and a couple of BIG mso bankruptcies that left us holding the bag... and MANY other factors; satellite tv, internet - I could go on - forced me to close the doors in 2005. But I have great memories of the evolution of cable tv and satellite tv - from BUD to directv and others. Thanks again for the romp down memory lane. de N8UX
4 years later and TH-cam sent this my way.... a late Thank You, I really enjoyed watching this and it brought back a lot of memories.
Thanks for making this video. I came of age in the '50s so I can relate to most of this. The advances and progress in electronics over the past 70 years are astounding to think about, and this video really rattled up some memories.
ah what a great video. love learning about this being younger guy that loves saving old radios and tvs
I worked in a shop that looked a lot like that, except we didn't have an inventory of tubes. The boss didn't like us to keep a large parts inventory. Whenever we needed something we'd drive into town to the TV parts store. You can't do that anymore. Those were some of my fondest memories. That's an absolutely beautiful re-creation.
I love Repairing electronics. Worked for a TV /radio shop right out of high school until the owner retired. I have repaired all the old tube radio/TVs. I am 62 yrs old now and still am a technician and ham radio operator. I like tube equipment a lot !
That was a fantastic video. Thanks so much for documenting this and talking with the real Wizard of Oz!
I really hope repairing things comes back into popular culture. In many cases we are throwing good things away and replacing them with garbage.
It was fascinating to hear Buddy's stories and you can tell from the comments how special these TV and radio repair shops were in peoples' lives back then.
I grew up in West Cork, Ireland and we got our first TV, a black-and-white Philips, in about 1967. My first memories are of watching I Love Lucy also, and Green Acres, Get Smart and The Virginian. There was a TV repair shop across the street (back in those days everything you ever needed was just across the street!) and when the TV broke Mrs. Hayes would come across and take a look at it. "What seems to be the problem?" she's say...then she's hit it a couple of good hard thumps and usually it would start working again. "There we are, all back to normal!". But if it didn't work we'd then bring it across to the shop and her husband, Mr. Hayes, would take a look at it after coming back from putting up TV ariels, and he's hit it a bit harder, maybe with a hammer, and sure enough it would work fine again. I miss those days when anything could be fixed either by hitting it hard with a hammer or giving it a good kick.
The other TV repairman in town took my brother under his wing and taught him some radio repairs and introduced him to ham radio. As a result, my brother went on to study electronic engineering and has had a fantastic career out of it, so these people are much loved and respected.
At 1:03:20, that's not a "peanut" tube, it's a T-3 subminiature tube, sometimes called a "pencil" tube. The first one shown is gray and not clear glass because it has been sprayed with a metallic shielding compound.
Reminder, you can get digital broadcast TV also. Works fine for me.
My dad used to do TV and Radio repairs from 1960-1980 and I remember it looked much like this, lots of tubes! He was very active Radio Amateur also. Think he got 5 Band DXCC in 70's. Great memories from my childhood!
Who doesn't love valves.... even today they have their place and advantages
Very nice and interesting video. As a kid in the '70's, I recall going to an small old radio and TV repair shop. The front area was filled with old radios from ceiling to floor that the owner had taken from customers that didn't want them any more. I recall going from console to console and turning the weighted tuning knobs. I was fascinated by them and it sparked my interest in the hobby.
My recollection of our local Radio and TV repairman was that if you were in a pinch and needed some specific little part: He would be the guy who would go rummaging around and always seemed to be able to dig that exact thing up...and sell it to you for cheap. To me, he was good as gold !
My father became interested in radio back in the 40's..he operated a radio and eventually tv repair shop, and i learned from him.. I still have some of his test equipment and tools, i, ve restored several old radios, used to fix a few a few old school tv' s... This fellow mentions the circuit diagrams in the rca tube manuel.. When i was about 13, i built an audio amplifier from a circuit in the back of the book, which i still have, the book, not the amp.. If you want to learn, old school radio.. Get an old copy of an rca recieving tube manual and "elements of radio servicing" by marcus and levy.. My two "go to" references
I know them well. My father was a TV and Radio repairman. I helped with the heavy lifting. Those old TV's were really heavy. He taught me electronics and that led me to become a computer expert. I got to visit a lot of the other shops in the area so I saw a lot different setups. Brings back fond memories.
Thanks for your videos Doug in Ga , my father had a little, radio shop in Charleston Wv back in the 40's on a street called Brown's alley brought back good memories 😎
Great video and memories...keep up the good work...best wishes from Ireland...73 Nicky/Ei9JF.
I grew up testing tubes and helping my dad in his TV repair shop in the 60s. Until Quasar came out with works in a drawer. Wish I still had my RCA toys I got. 110 tickles I was shocked so many times. My dad learned electronics in the Navy. I could not tell you how many old tubes I shot with a 22. Good times. And I can solder like a champ..lol We would put antennas up the mountain and then run 2 lines all the way down to the customers houses about 8 inches apart. I was a runner with a stick to untangle when birds would hit them. Sounds like our lives were a lot alike. Just a different part of the country. Great Video. Thanks for the memories.
beautiful story! great man!
Although I never learned the TV/Radio end, I did learn how to fix old tube audio amps for guitars and stereos. Tube circuits are really cool, and I am glad to have the know-how on getting them fixed.
What a nice guy , your father sounds like my father , he would give th tools and help me learn to fix things , still miss him has been gone since 98 thanks for sharing your talents 😎
Thanks so much. Totally awesome!
Good morning for all !!!
Incredible . nothing else .........
Eric from France....
Does anyone else remember those silk looking banners advertising TV and radio brands? They often had tassels on them and hung on the walls in TV shops back in the day.
i love this it is very Nostalgic and reminds me of my Dad's generation tyvm 73s
What a great trip down Memory Lane
Excellent video, super informative, love your workshop 🎶
This is a great recreation of vintage TV repair shop! I used to fix TVs back in the mid-1960's, and this brought back many memories. Great information in your video, and excellent vintage tubes and equipment. Thanks for sharing this! ~
I loved it. Lots of memories of growing up with a dad that served in the Signal Corps in WW2 and worked on radios and TV's in the 40's and 50's. Nick WD7JAZ.
Hi David I'm Haytham from Lebanon. I'm working electronic maintenance especially radio tubes and TV antique. And I have some tubes in my store
You know I really enjoyed this, I remember as a little boy looking in the back of the TV and watching the tube glow orange. Later I found an old portable set that I brought home and tore apart in my bedroom never had so much fun in my life
I did the same thing..
i enjoyed that so much. thank you.
Radio building and repair is here to stay especially for those who got interested about how diodes work, like I did.
Great Memories! I still have tons (literally) of similar test equipment, radios, TVs, tubes and parts. It is probably time to part with them.
Broadcast transmitter "buff" here-the large air variable cap shown near the end of the show.I work at the Greenville,NC Marti shortwave transmitter plant.They had some older transmitters that used variable caps to tune a 100W RF stage-that drove a 6000W stage.Then a 250Kw 6 tube power amp-Doherty.These were replaced by transmitters that take up a third of the space and use less power.Only two large tubes!No cool open variable caps-now ceramic variable vacuum caps.
Wow, I bought parts from Northwest Radio in Duluth as well, I would love to see that place, as an older ham radio guy I could have a lot of fun, I still love vacuum tubes, and work on the older stuff..
Great video.
Thank you , would love to work in that shop right now.
Enjoyed this a lot. Always interesting to listen to people who have a life-long professional experience. True treasure stores of knowledge. And most of it totally obsoleted by the IC revolution
Love your shop
Oh wow, thank you so very much for posting this. I’m 72, it was a big deal to go see our T.V. repair man. I thought he must be one of the smartest men alive.