Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 26, 2024 16:22:29 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2022 17:06:19 GMT
Was watching an old series and someone had to adjust the tv. That reminded me of how we used to have to adjust the horizontal or vertical holds in order to stabilize the image. Do you remember doing that? How about moving around an antenna in order to get a better signal?
|
|
|
|
Post by Skellinton on Mar 3, 2022 17:08:04 GMT
Was watching an old series and someone had to adjust the tv. That reminded me of how we used to have to adjust the horizontal or vertical holds in order to stabilize the image. Do you remember doing that? How about moving around an antenna in order to get a better signal? I don't remember adjusting hold, but I remember using tinfoil on the antenna to improve the picture. |
|
zella
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,884 
|
Post by zella on Mar 3, 2022 17:14:09 GMT
Oh my word. Yes, I am old enough to remember that. When I left the UK I believe we still only had three stations: BBC1, BBC2 and ITV/ITN. And the programming stopped late at night. And the colorbars popped up. I'm pretty sure the last thing they did each night was play "God Save the Queen." Hopefully some of our British peas can confirm that. I can even remember when we only had black and white tvs. Sounds insane now, doesn't it?
I also recall the rabbit antennae, and the two long metal rod antennae, and moving the antennae all over the place to try and get reception, both in the UK and the US. And the tinfoil. Okay, this thread REALLY makes me feel old!
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 26, 2024 16:22:29 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2022 17:19:58 GMT
My grandparents had a small TV that had hold dials. They used it while camping and then at their breakfast table to watch the morning news. As a little kid, I wasn't allowed to touch those dials as grandpa had gotten them in the perfect spot for where the TV was.
|
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Mar 3, 2022 17:43:17 GMT
All stations signed of every night with the flag and the National Anthem fade to the color charts...
Oh yes I do remember the rolling picture!
We got a TV after my grandfather had a heart attack so he could watch baseball in 1952.
My uncle already had a roundish TV in a huge cabinet and an overlay to make it look like color?
|
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Mar 3, 2022 17:53:46 GMT
I remember when we had a tv where the dial was going bad. To get certain channels, we had to use a rubber band or string to hold the hold dial in a certain position.
Also, back when the remote made a clicking sound that changed channels, apparently, as a 2 year-old, I found a way to change the channel by clicking two coins together. I don’t remember doing that, but my parents told me the story.
|
|
|
|
Post by workingclassdog on Mar 3, 2022 17:58:50 GMT
OH yeah.. I remember that.. the squiggly lines!
Until I hooked up Directv again last month, we were using antenna.. we were the ones walking around the room finding the signal. My 26 year old son was being a smart ass and posing with the antenna in the family room and on the porch.. he was silly. haha... we were not very klassy with that dang thing.
|
|
|
|
Post by malibou on Mar 3, 2022 18:28:44 GMT
Just yesterday I spent several minutes holding and micro adjusting the antenna on my mil tv. 😆
|
|
|
|
Post by scrapmaven on Mar 3, 2022 19:13:22 GMT
Yup. Growing up we had 13 channels on our television and not all of them were actually working.
|
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Mar 3, 2022 19:16:17 GMT
Yup. Growing up we had 13 channels on our television and not all of them were actually working. 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13... |
|
purplebee
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,753
|
Post by purplebee on Mar 3, 2022 19:35:18 GMT
Yup. Growing up we had 13 channels on our television and not all of them were actually working. 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13... Me too! And I also remember the test patterns and the National Anthem at the close of broadcasting. |
|
|
|
Post by monklady123 on Mar 3, 2022 19:43:47 GMT
Oh yes. lol. And in addition to the foil on the antenna I remember one of my parents from time to time saying "okay hold that right there" as we had out hands on it. Like we were supposed to just stand there holding it for the entire time they watched their program.  |
|
DEX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,357
|
Post by DEX on Mar 3, 2022 19:56:10 GMT
I think I have you all beat. The first time I watched TV was Howdy Doody on a TV in NYC hotel in 1957. We got our first color TV in 1963. We had 2 channels growing up; Channel 3 and Channel 6. I was the remote!  |
|
peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,676
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
|
Post by peabay on Mar 3, 2022 20:24:40 GMT
Yup. Growing up we had 13 channels on our television and not all of them were actually working. 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13... Same here! Sometimes you could get a PBS channel on 21. |
|
|
|
Post by peasapie on Mar 3, 2022 20:29:33 GMT
I sure do remember adjusting the hold. It was a special skill! I also remember trying to use UHS, thinking there were a bunch of secret shows on there we were missing. Turns out, not so much!
|
|
|
|
Post by bc2ca on Mar 3, 2022 20:35:38 GMT
Yup. Growing up we had 13 channels on our television and not all of them were actually working. Yes, the dial might have had 13 spots, but we sure didn't get 13 channels. We had 3 Canadian channels with the antenna and, if the atmospheric conditions were just right and the rabbit ears pointed the right way, we might pick up the Seattle stations, still fuzzy and staticky though. When I was about 9, my parents upgraded to cable so then we did get the major US networks.  It was a few more years before a hardwired remote came into the house. |
|
|
|
Post by Gem Girl on Mar 3, 2022 20:41:04 GMT
I remember my father's being excited when he obtained a rotating antenna that worked from a box attached to the TV. I think he called it a 'tennarater," but I'm not able to verity that.
|
|
milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,465
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
|
Post by milocat on Mar 3, 2022 21:01:14 GMT
Yup. Growing up we had 13 channels on our television and not all of them were actually working. We had 2 channels and 1 of them pretty much sucked. Had it until I moved out in 1995. Not sure when they got satellite. I never had to adjust any dials. We had a big tower, with an antenna on top on our house. |
|
oh yvonne
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,035
Jun 26, 2014 0:45:23 GMT
|
Post by oh yvonne on Mar 3, 2022 21:11:50 GMT
Oh I remember the frustration with that, trying to time the two so you 'catch' the screen from rolling by. And the triumph you felt when you got it synched together and could watch tv.
And the groan you made when it started rolling. What was that anyway? LOL
I remember when we'd break the knob off we'd use a pair of plyers to change the channel until dad bought a replacement knob.
Did anyone else had a stereo obsessed dad who forbid you to play your records on HIS good hi fi stereo cause we'd ruin the 'diamond needle' on it?
And then dying for him to leave the house to go to work so you could pull out your Sly and the Family Stone album and BLAST it on the sacred stereo instead of your stupid cheap little record player box?
ahhh..fun times.
|
|
twinsmomfla99
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,010
|
Post by twinsmomfla99 on Mar 3, 2022 21:35:25 GMT
We got reception for the Big 3 networks on 5 stations: 2 stations in WV and 3 out of Pittsburgh. Sometimes we also picked up a station out of Steubenville, OH (I think). During the prime viewing hours, we only got the network shows, but after school and on weekends, each station pretty much had its own programming, so we could watch bowling, wrestling, local game shows, local kid shows, cartoons, etc.
We lived up on a mountain, so we did not have access to cable, but our reception wasn't bad. We had an antenna that reached above our second floor, and there was a wire connecting it to the TV that came through the corner of the window closest to the TV. We had some contraption that sat on top of the TV that was supposed to turn the antenna to adjust to the signal, but it didn't do a lot of good up on our hill where we got a lot of wind. Most of the time, my parents relied on kid-power to adjust the antenna LOL. One of us would go outside and twist the pole the antenna was mounted on until someone banged on the window to tell you to stop turning. That would give us a good picture for a little while, but inevitably, someone would have to go back out in the cold wind to turn it back! Mom and Dad never made us go out in really bad weather (rain or snow or bitter cold), but we knew that if we wanted to watch TV, someone had to take one for the team.
Of course, if it was storming, we had to unplug the TV and put the antenna leads in a glass jar so that if lightning struck the antenna, it wouldn't make it into the house. We were absolutely forbidden to touch the antenna pole or wire if there was any threat of lightning!
Ahhhh, good times LOL. And my kids think they have it rough when I won't spring for the monthly subscription costs for a streaming service LOL.
I guess being a living antenna adjuster is the digital equivalent of walking to school uphill both ways in 3 feet of snow!
|
|
|
|
Post by auntkelly on Mar 3, 2022 22:42:37 GMT
I remember it being really entertaining to play w/ the button which adjusted the color. You could turn it all the way one way and everything had a yellow cast. If you turned it in the opposite direction, everything looked purple.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jen in NCal on Mar 3, 2022 23:08:09 GMT
I remember when we had a tv where the dial was going bad. To get certain channels, we had to use a rubber band or string to hold the hold dial in a certain position. Also, back when the remote made a clicking sound that changed channels, apparently, as a 2 year-old, I found a way to change the channel by clicking two coins together. I don’t remember doing that, but my parents told me the story. My family still calls the remote a clicker. Kind of like rolling the window down. |
|
edie3
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,507
|
Post by edie3 on Mar 4, 2022 3:49:38 GMT
We had to go to a neighbor's house to be able to watch Wizard of Oz in amazing technicolor!
|
|
AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
|
Post by AmeliaBloomer on Mar 4, 2022 4:23:52 GMT
I remember when we'd break the knob off we'd use a pair of plyers to change the channel until dad bought a replacement knob. OMG. Recovered memory. The pliers to turn the channel…and then having to figure out what channel it was on and count your pliers twists. Also, I just got a memory flash of slamming my hand against the side of the TV to make the picture better. Sometimes I think everybody looked better in black-and-white. |
|
ModChick
Drama Llama
True North Strong and Free
Posts: 5,069
|
Post by ModChick on Mar 4, 2022 4:50:07 GMT
We had 3 channels in Canada in the 80s and one was CBC so really only 2 had anything good on 😋 but serious I eventually grew up enough to enjoy a few shows on CBC 😁. My grandparents lived on the acreage next to us and they got a satellite dish in the mid 90s. Remember those massive big metal mesh black dishes, that’s what they got and it was pretty neat being able to watch a ton of channels. Im pretty sure my grandpa mostly watched sports and Young and the Restless at 4pm though 😂 💗
|
|
|
|
Post by Skellinton on Mar 4, 2022 17:16:28 GMT
When I would visit Alaska in the 80's their tv shows were 2 weeks behind. So, Family Ties would air two weeks later then in the "lower 48". Eventually it transferred to just a week late and then when cable started up it was on schedule with the rest of the states. My family did have something called "Visions" which was a precursor to widespread cable down here and I loved watching all the old tv shows like Bachelor Father, You Bet Your Life, Our Miss Brooks, Love That Bib, etc.
|
|
