Remembrances of vacuum tube days
As a young teenager, I developed a love for electronics which became a lifelong love affair. In those days vacuum tubes were the norm and solid state devices such as transistors weren't in usage then....
Forum Discussion
I have to tell a true story of the late 1950’s. We had just gotten our first black and white TV, it died. My bedroom was just a bed in the unfinished basement. The TV was moved there. I was a teenager at the time and had a bicycle propelled paper route and there was a radio/TV repair shop on the route. The shop owner never had to pay me for the paper, I was always buying parts for something from him. Anyway, I told him what it was doing, I think it was a vertical or horizontal stabilizer control issue (remember those).
He told me to bring the tubes to him and he would test them. Sure enough one was bad. A new tube and the TV worked again. For almost a year I had a working TV in my bedroom and nobody knew it but me. I could only use it after everyone else had gone to bed upstairs and had to keep the volume down, but mine alone. Mom also stored her home baked cookies in the freezer next to my bed. I rotated which bag I raided to make it less obvious what I was doing, but I think she was wise to me.
One night after we all went to bed, dad surprised me eating cookies and watching TV, with an unexpected visit. The next day the TV was back up stairs.
Anybody remember Heath kits and Lafayette radio?
He told me to bring the tubes to him and he would test them. Sure enough one was bad. A new tube and the TV worked again. For almost a year I had a working TV in my bedroom and nobody knew it but me. I could only use it after everyone else had gone to bed upstairs and had to keep the volume down, but mine alone. Mom also stored her home baked cookies in the freezer next to my bed. I rotated which bag I raided to make it less obvious what I was doing, but I think she was wise to me.
One night after we all went to bed, dad surprised me eating cookies and watching TV, with an unexpected visit. The next day the TV was back up stairs.
Anybody remember Heath kits and Lafayette radio?
