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  3. Were TV remotes a mistake?

Were TV remotes a mistake?

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  • suearcher@toot.walesS suearcher@toot.wales

    @JimmyB @afewbugs

    Not quite to the point, but when I was a mature student, I had a black and white telly until they turned the signal off (cheaper licence) I got it at a charity shop, and it had a DIAL to find the channels....

    (this was post-year 2000, BTW. I was a true dinosaur.)

    helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
    helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
    helenclayton@mas.to
    wrote last edited by
    #13

    @suearcher @JimmyB @afewbugs I had a black and white tv in my room at home when I was a college student and it came with me to uni. It also had a dial and I used a bamboo cane to reach it from my bed and turn the dial - the hollow end just fitted over the tapered end of the dial and as the dial was ridged the bamboo would grip it. Remote control 😁

    jimmyb@mas.toJ unicorndeburgh@hachyderm.ioU suearcher@toot.walesS 3 Replies Last reply
    0
    • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

      @suearcher @JimmyB @afewbugs I had a black and white tv in my room at home when I was a college student and it came with me to uni. It also had a dial and I used a bamboo cane to reach it from my bed and turn the dial - the hollow end just fitted over the tapered end of the dial and as the dial was ridged the bamboo would grip it. Remote control 😁

      jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
      jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
      jimmyb@mas.to
      wrote last edited by
      #14

      @afewbugs @helenclayton @suearcher beautiful!!! And - B&W - lower TV license fee!

      helenclayton@mas.toH 1 Reply Last reply
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      • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

        @suearcher @JimmyB @afewbugs I had a black and white tv in my room at home when I was a college student and it came with me to uni. It also had a dial and I used a bamboo cane to reach it from my bed and turn the dial - the hollow end just fitted over the tapered end of the dial and as the dial was ridged the bamboo would grip it. Remote control 😁

        unicorndeburgh@hachyderm.ioU This user is from outside of this forum
        unicorndeburgh@hachyderm.ioU This user is from outside of this forum
        unicorndeburgh@hachyderm.io
        wrote last edited by
        #15

        @helenclayton @suearcher @JimmyB @afewbugs

        In college, I had a large-ish color TV with a picture, and a small B&W TV that had sound. We'd turn them both on. Had to use a pair of pliers to turn the channel selector on the B&W TV.

        suearcher@toot.walesS 1 Reply Last reply
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        • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

          @suearcher @JimmyB @afewbugs I had a black and white tv in my room at home when I was a college student and it came with me to uni. It also had a dial and I used a bamboo cane to reach it from my bed and turn the dial - the hollow end just fitted over the tapered end of the dial and as the dial was ridged the bamboo would grip it. Remote control 😁

          suearcher@toot.walesS This user is from outside of this forum
          suearcher@toot.walesS This user is from outside of this forum
          suearcher@toot.wales
          wrote last edited by
          #16

          @helenclayton @JimmyB @afewbugs

          Brilliant! My dial was much bigger, an inch across, so I had to get up to twiddle it.

          I did put stickers around it indicating where each channel was.

          jimmyb@mas.toJ 1 Reply Last reply
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          • suearcher@toot.walesS suearcher@toot.wales

            @helenclayton @JimmyB @afewbugs

            Brilliant! My dial was much bigger, an inch across, so I had to get up to twiddle it.

            I did put stickers around it indicating where each channel was.

            jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
            jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
            jimmyb@mas.to
            wrote last edited by
            #17

            @suearcher @helenclayton @afewbugs all these students who had TV’s! Cue 4 Yorkshiremen…

            helenclayton@mas.toH 1 Reply Last reply
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            • jimmyb@mas.toJ jimmyb@mas.to

              @afewbugs @helenclayton @suearcher beautiful!!! And - B&W - lower TV license fee!

              helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
              helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
              helenclayton@mas.to
              wrote last edited by
              #18

              @JimmyB @afewbugs @suearcher it was really small though so I did upgrade it to a colour version with an actual remote control.

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • unicorndeburgh@hachyderm.ioU unicorndeburgh@hachyderm.io

                @helenclayton @suearcher @JimmyB @afewbugs

                In college, I had a large-ish color TV with a picture, and a small B&W TV that had sound. We'd turn them both on. Had to use a pair of pliers to turn the channel selector on the B&W TV.

                suearcher@toot.walesS This user is from outside of this forum
                suearcher@toot.walesS This user is from outside of this forum
                suearcher@toot.wales
                wrote last edited by
                #19

                @unicorndeburgh @helenclayton @JimmyB @afewbugs

                Isn't it wonderful the bodges we'll come up with (and put up with!).

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • jimmyb@mas.toJ jimmyb@mas.to

                  @suearcher @helenclayton @afewbugs all these students who had TV’s! Cue 4 Yorkshiremen…

                  helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                  helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                  helenclayton@mas.to
                  wrote last edited by
                  #20

                  @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs mine would have been via my dad and probably came with ‘university of Exeter’ written on them in yellow paint marker. I also don’t think you needed a tv licence if away from home at uni, covered by home licence. I may be imagining that.

                  afewbugs@social.coopA jimmyb@mas.toJ highlandlawyer@mastodon.socialH 3 Replies Last reply
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                  • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

                    @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs mine would have been via my dad and probably came with ‘university of Exeter’ written on them in yellow paint marker. I also don’t think you needed a tv licence if away from home at uni, covered by home licence. I may be imagining that.

                    afewbugs@social.coopA This user is from outside of this forum
                    afewbugs@social.coopA This user is from outside of this forum
                    afewbugs@social.coop
                    wrote last edited by
                    #21

                    @helenclayton @JimmyB @suearcher no you definitely did, everyone in my hall at Durham University put them on the roof of the building when the license inspectors came round so they only got the ground floor

                    helenclayton@mas.toH suearcher@toot.walesS 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

                      @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs mine would have been via my dad and probably came with ‘university of Exeter’ written on them in yellow paint marker. I also don’t think you needed a tv licence if away from home at uni, covered by home licence. I may be imagining that.

                      jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
                      jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
                      jimmyb@mas.to
                      wrote last edited by
                      #22

                      @helenclayton @suearcher @afewbugs I’m remembering our halls in Camden (met my missus on the first day 😀) and I don’t think there was a TV? Don’t think anyone had one and I can’t remember a common room or anything? Seems impossible now!

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • suearcher@toot.walesS suearcher@toot.wales

                        @afewbugs @JimmyB

                        Now I'm wondering how long there was an overlap between the invention of the remote and TV's losing visible accessible buttons.

                        maker_of_things@cupoftea.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
                        maker_of_things@cupoftea.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
                        maker_of_things@cupoftea.social
                        wrote last edited by
                        #23

                        @suearcher @afewbugs @JimmyB
                        The secondhand TV, we recently got for Mum, has a small grid of seven buttons behind a bottom corner of the screen.

                        The buttons worked but to navigate the menu the instructions require up/down, left/right, enter/back.

                        Took a fair bit of guess work and trail and error to tune and programme it when one button is for 'power' and the other six are all left/right rockers for channel selection, volume, menu, and source.

                        pete@social.coopP 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • afewbugs@social.coopA afewbugs@social.coop

                          @helenclayton @JimmyB @suearcher no you definitely did, everyone in my hall at Durham University put them on the roof of the building when the license inspectors came round so they only got the ground floor

                          helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                          helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                          helenclayton@mas.to
                          wrote last edited by
                          #24

                          @afewbugs @JimmyB @suearcher oh well I guess my parents sorted that out for me because I didn’t 😁

                          jimmyb@mas.toJ 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

                            @afewbugs @JimmyB @suearcher oh well I guess my parents sorted that out for me because I didn’t 😁

                            jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
                            jimmyb@mas.toJ This user is from outside of this forum
                            jimmyb@mas.to
                            wrote last edited by
                            #25

                            @helenclayton @afewbugs @suearcher well… maybe they saved a few quid! 😀😀

                            helenclayton@mas.toH 1 Reply Last reply
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                            • jimmyb@mas.toJ jimmyb@mas.to

                              @helenclayton @afewbugs @suearcher well… maybe they saved a few quid! 😀😀

                              helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                              helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                              helenclayton@mas.to
                              wrote last edited by
                              #26

                              @JimmyB @afewbugs @suearcher 😂

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • helenclayton@mas.toH helenclayton@mas.to

                                @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs mine would have been via my dad and probably came with ‘university of Exeter’ written on them in yellow paint marker. I also don’t think you needed a tv licence if away from home at uni, covered by home licence. I may be imagining that.

                                highlandlawyer@mastodon.socialH This user is from outside of this forum
                                highlandlawyer@mastodon.socialH This user is from outside of this forum
                                highlandlawyer@mastodon.social
                                wrote last edited by
                                #27

                                @helenclayton @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs
                                The rule was you could use your home TV licence for battery powered devices elsewhere, which would include term time accomodation. But mains powered needed a licence for where-ever they were plugged in.

                                helenclayton@mas.toH 1 Reply Last reply
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                                • highlandlawyer@mastodon.socialH highlandlawyer@mastodon.social

                                  @helenclayton @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs
                                  The rule was you could use your home TV licence for battery powered devices elsewhere, which would include term time accomodation. But mains powered needed a licence for where-ever they were plugged in.

                                  helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                                  helenclayton@mas.toH This user is from outside of this forum
                                  helenclayton@mas.to
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #28

                                  @HighlandLawyer @JimmyB @suearcher @afewbugs is there a statute of limitations for that? 😁

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • afewbugs@social.coopA This user is from outside of this forum
                                    afewbugs@social.coopA This user is from outside of this forum
                                    afewbugs@social.coop
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #29

                                    @BashStKid @helenclayton @JimmyB @suearcher nothing so fancy, Mildert muck me

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • afewbugs@social.coopA afewbugs@social.coop

                                      @helenclayton @JimmyB @suearcher no you definitely did, everyone in my hall at Durham University put them on the roof of the building when the license inspectors came round so they only got the ground floor

                                      suearcher@toot.walesS This user is from outside of this forum
                                      suearcher@toot.walesS This user is from outside of this forum
                                      suearcher@toot.wales
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #30

                                      @afewbugs @helenclayton @JimmyB

                                      I also think there was a time when the home licence covered a student, but then they changed it.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • maker_of_things@cupoftea.socialM maker_of_things@cupoftea.social

                                        @suearcher @afewbugs @JimmyB
                                        The secondhand TV, we recently got for Mum, has a small grid of seven buttons behind a bottom corner of the screen.

                                        The buttons worked but to navigate the menu the instructions require up/down, left/right, enter/back.

                                        Took a fair bit of guess work and trail and error to tune and programme it when one button is for 'power' and the other six are all left/right rockers for channel selection, volume, menu, and source.

                                        pete@social.coopP This user is from outside of this forum
                                        pete@social.coopP This user is from outside of this forum
                                        pete@social.coop
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #31

                                        @Maker_of_Things @suearcher @afewbugs @JimmyB In the early 80s, when I would have been ~10, we had a telly with 8 channel buttons which could be individually tuned. Pressing one would release the other, but I discovered you could press two in at once and get a different frequency. So I experimented, which inevitably led to pressing all eight in at once, except there was now no spare button to release them.

                                        Mum had to call in an engineer…

                                        suearcher@toot.walesS maker_of_things@cupoftea.socialM 2 Replies Last reply
                                        0
                                        • suearcher@toot.walesS suearcher@toot.wales

                                          @afewbugs @JimmyB

                                          Now I'm wondering how long there was an overlap between the invention of the remote and TV's losing visible accessible buttons.

                                          pthane@toot.walesP This user is from outside of this forum
                                          pthane@toot.walesP This user is from outside of this forum
                                          pthane@toot.wales
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #32

                                          @suearcher
                                          Not long but there were some weird early attempts at remote control including one that had a handset connected by a cable to the TV. I wonder how many people tripped over those?
                                          @afewbugs @JimmyB

                                          suearcher@toot.walesS 1 Reply Last reply
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