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Old 11th Sep 2018, 9:23 am   #61
mark pirate
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

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Remember in the old days of 3 or 4 channels, you could be quite torn what to watch between BBC and ITV - now with 100's of channels, it's a struggle to find one thing really worth watching!
Quantity up, quality down..
This is why I no longer have a TV licence
I always find something on Youtube worth watching, or can watch vintage VHS/Betamax tapes or my multimedia player.

And yes, I always unplug rather that leave devices in standby.
Older devices always had a proper on/off switch, something sadly lacking on modern equpment.

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Old 11th Sep 2018, 11:31 am   #62
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

In my day we only had one channel but most people who had a TV watched anything that was on, probably because of the novelty aspect, but almost all of the programs were of good quality in those days.

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Old 11th Sep 2018, 12:03 pm   #63
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

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...but almost all of the programs were of good quality in those days...
Rose coloured glasses comes to mind

Way back when, I looked forward to Star Trek coming on in the evening, jump forward umpteen years and the original series was replayed a few months ago.

I'm trying to work out now how I managed to put up with all that bad acting.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 12:48 pm   #64
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When I were a nipper in the 70s and early 80s, mum always insisted on unplugging the TV when we went on a family holiday. Indeed my parents would argue about it because dad couldn't see the point...we'd long passed the time when it might unexpectedly catch fire and he figured the first two things we'd do on returning were turn on the kettle and the TV.

My wife is a real channel hopper, probably comes from her being American and spending her first 25 years there. As soon as the ads come on she's grabbed the remote and is hopping around. Makes sense stateside when there are ads every 7 minutes, I guess. Less so here.

Our family never unplugged the TV during storms, so I was quite surprised when I was visiting a friend aged around 10 and happily watching something on the box when a bit of a storm started...and friend's mum turned off the TV, unplugged the mains and the aerial stating it would blow up otherwise. Seemed very odd to me.

I have a bit of a habit of turning off the VCR and DVD recorder, as they default to displaying the clock when in standby mode. I've always done this going back to getting my first own VCR in 1987...I just like having clocks about.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 1:00 pm   #65
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

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Rose coloured glasses comes to mind
I remember Jeremy Paxman tried to put old TV into Room 101 a few years ago, arguing that for every great series there were lots of complete dross on the air that only got high viewing figures as there was hardly anything else to watch.

To illustrate this were a few clips from the many chintzy variety shows both the BBC & ITV used to churn out in the 1960s & 70s.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 1:19 pm   #66
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

Channels like LP record tracks as the late Gerry Wells said "only one worth having"!
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 1:30 pm   #67
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

I would never unplug the tv aerial from the set or the set from the mains during a storm I would rather, if the aerial was struck,that the power go to earth via the set and mains than jump across the room to the nearest earthed point, which could be via you or a gas pipe
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 1:44 pm   #68
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

When I was growing up..

Everything has to be unplugged not just the TV
The TV channels were preset in BBC1, ITV, BBC2 and Channel 4
'Press the Green button' was a common phrase followed by a hand gesture of squeezing the remote control
The VCR was hidden from view as a strict order from Dad with the magazine rack at a specific angle to prevent it from getting stolen. (that too has a channel preset matching the TV)
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 2:33 pm   #69
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Originally Posted by Terry_VK5TM View Post
Way back when, I looked forward to Star Trek coming on in the evening, jump forward umpteen years and the original series was replayed a few months ago.

I'm trying to work out now how I managed to put up with all that bad acting.
It wasn't bad by the standards of other shows of the same era. The best actors often looked down on TV and refused to do it.

Star Trek also benefited from quite a large budget for it's day, with well designed sets and costumes. With the benefit of 40 years improvement in the overall quality of TV shows, it does look dated. But it's still enjoyable.

Back when we only had three channels, broadcasting perhaps 12 hours a day or less, there really was higher average quality I think. But then I was also a kid...I generally preferred Panorama, Nationwide, Survival, Chronicle and Whicker's World to the game shows or Bonanza...but even they were better than today's endless dross.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 4:15 pm   #70
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I can still remember that motel with the walls that swayed whenever a door was opened or closed. The wobbles were more fun than the rest of the show.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 5:58 pm   #71
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

Have to say I love the old BBC Comedy offerings like Steptoe & Son, the BBC DVD I have has recordings from a 405 line monitor and even on a modern 40 inch LED TV the quality is good, the later ones that have obviously been remastered from a VHS or whatever are grim. The content though is just first class and always makes me laugh. Same with Alf Garnett and others, none of this PC nonsense thank goodness.
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Old 12th Sep 2018, 10:42 am   #72
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

I was referring to the '50s when there were very few hours of television and what was presented then like 'Dixon of dock green' was at least entertaining and not offensive.

When we moved to the West country in 1970 we had Westward TV, on 405 again as UHF hadn't reached here, it was very amateurish by modern standards but I found the individuality delightful, especially when the announcer whose name I can't remember told us about their new baby during a transmission break down. Quite a few well known presenters started on Westward.

Peter

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Old 12th Sep 2018, 10:43 am   #73
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

Most of these actions date back to the early days of TV. Reading manufacturers customer instruction manuals suggest that you turn the brightness down before switching off. Not turning on again before five minutes has elapsed. [rectifier flash over] Not turning the brightness too high as this might 'injure' the CRT [HMV] and removing the aerial plug if a storm is imminent.. As Peter mentioned, switching on 15 mins before the programme to allow the receiver to 'settle'. I had one customer who refused to go to bed until the cabinet had cooled down..There are many more!

It must also be remembered that watching the ITA was considered a sin by many.
'Oh yes the telly has the ITA but we never watch it.'

Mention is also made of screen burn if the receiver is allowed to operate with a line or frame collapse. I don't think many older flyback EHT chassis would have stored enough EHT on switch off to cause any problems.

Ion burn is an entirely different phenomenon not caused by the whole electron stream landing on a small area of phosphor. John.
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Old 13th Sep 2018, 9:39 am   #74
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The on/off switch used to be on the Brilliance control, to ensure it was turned down before switching off.
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Old 13th Sep 2018, 10:57 am   #75
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

Bear in mind that a faulty tube was a major worry to most viewers. TVs were a high value item in days gone by, as were most electronic items. Anything, real or imaginary, that protected that investment had followers.
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Old 13th Sep 2018, 12:00 pm   #76
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

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Most of these actions date back to the early days of TV. Reading manufacturers customer instruction manuals suggest that you turn the brightness down before switching off. Not turning on again before five minutes has elapsed. [rectifier flash over] Not turning the brightness too high as this might 'injure' the CRT [HMV] and removing the aerial plug if a storm is imminent.. As Peter mentioned, switching on 15 mins before the programme to allow the receiver to 'settle'.
This was certainly the routine in our household. The first TV was purchased in 1953 and would have been very expensive and the inevitable repairs also. It was regarded as a delicate item and fear of damaging the tube was a major concern. The set lasted about ten years. Probably my first encounter with the adjustment of any electronic apparatus was learning, when still a small child, how to adjust the horizontal hold.

Dad became an unplugger after investigation of a night-time hotel fire where fatalities occurred traced the cause to the TV set. The 'unplug' advice came from a BBC TV consumer show and in the day such information was considered gospel. By the time Dad graduated to a transistorised CRT TV with remote he turned it of with a press of the button with no worry for the CRT but still unplugged it at night.

My uncle and aunt experienced a lightning strike which came down the aerial and did damage. My aunt claimed to have seen the effect as it ran along the coax tacked to the windowsill.

I am an unplugger of items not in use. I once lost what was at the time a very expensive fax machine during a thunderstorm. I am especially suspicious of modern power supplies and wall warts which often seem to run very warm. Where I use multiple socket extensions I go for switched versions and if I know a storm is coming I turn off the computer and unplug until it has passed.
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Old 13th Sep 2018, 4:29 pm   #77
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

The lack of an on/off switch is a bit of a moot point. Those of us repairing TVs in the 90s will remember the switches in the Sony KV2092 which caused several fires, also the Ferguson ICC5/IKC2 and the Philips large screen with the switch under the CRT. All these had different makes of switch and burn-ups or worse often happened. The high inrush current, coupled with the physical movement of the switch, often on the PCB, caused dry joints and/or internal failure. Designing moving parts out of a TV was a major consideration. Customers still bemoan the lack of a switch, and often elderly people wishing to unplug their sets at night have to risk all sorts of personal injury in order to reach the socket.
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Old 13th Sep 2018, 7:32 pm   #78
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

Computer screens often got round the problem by fitting a relay in the degaussing circuit and added a button on the front to activate it after the screen had been adjusted for viewing angle.
It split the inrush.
Have you ever seen the Phillips 1Khz degaussing circuit?
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Old 14th Sep 2018, 9:27 am   #79
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

Slightly off topic I know but failure of mains EHT transformers were a fear of many owners, although they probably didn't know what they were. The cost of a replacement was around five pounds (sorry my pounds key doesn't work) which was about my weeks wages in those days, many people just couldn't afford it.

We had a solution, we made up a voltage doubler circuit on a piece of paxolin using two selenium stick rectifiers, K3/45 I think they were, and three TCC visconol capacitors and fed it from the line OP valve anode. The picture was not as bright as from the transformer but they could see it, even if they did have to close the curtains. We charged about 2 pounds ten shillings for that job.

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Old 15th Sep 2018, 2:48 am   #80
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Default Re: TV viewing behaviour.

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Originally Posted by Terry_VK5TM View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter.N. View Post
...but almost all of the programs were of good quality in those days...
Rose coloured glasses comes to mind

Way back when, I looked forward to Star Trek coming on in the evening, jump forward umpteen years and the original series was replayed a few months ago.

I'm trying to work out now how I managed to put up with all that bad acting.
Living in the US all my life, I never was what was considered to be a Trekkie, meaning a person that followed the entire series. The program just never appealed to me. It just seemed to be too far-fetched.
Dave, Midwest USA.
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