from now on, I will only use a remote control for tv

[lordsmurf]

See my avatar? That was me last night.

A piece of my equipment zapped itself when I turned it on, and I got a kickback.

Not really sure why. Only guess is static, but unlikely.

Lesson learned: never touch the damned things anymore. I'm sticking to remotes.

Equipment already fixed under warranty, but still pissed me off.

[galactica]

mmmmmmmmmm fried smurf!

[adam]

It must have had a short in it.

Once I forgot to turn off the breaker or even the lightswitch when installing a ceiling fan. It blew me off the ladder. Luckily I had already hung the fan onto the mount or it probably would have landed on me.

[jeex]

ls,

did you have the tv open, or was it normal operating procedure stuff?

[Will Hay]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

[teegee420]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

[Craig Tucker]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

The first one I had came with a long stick

[Will Hay]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

The first one I had came with a long stick

That's nothing, my parents very first one came with a hammer, the bastard buttons were so hard to press
Oh, where for art thou Sony Betamax?
Will

[Craig Tucker]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

The first one I had came with a long stick

That's nothing, my parents very first one came with a hammer, the bastard buttons were so hard to press
Oh, where for art thou Sony Betamax?
Will

Top loader ?. The eject mechanism was so violent the VCR would jump about 6 inches in the air.

[Will Hay]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

The first one I had came with a long stick

That's nothing, my parents very first one came with a hammer, the bastard buttons were so hard to press
Oh, where for art thou Sony Betamax?
Will

Top loader ?. The eject mechanism was so violent the VCR would jump about 6 inches in the air.

Top loader?
Yeah, it was.
It jumped up so hard once it knocked the TV over
Will

[VCDHunter]

Top loader?
Yeah, it was.
It jumped up so hard once it knocked the TV over
Will

Top loader ? You were lucky ! When I were young we had to make do with a silhouette show we were that poor, tell that to kids today and they won't believe you !

[Guest]

I'd follow the same proceedure as you smurfie, but I'm sick of tripping over the remote control cable
Bastard thing.
Will

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

The first one I had came with a long stick

That's nothing, my parents very first one came with a hammer, the bastard buttons were so hard to press
Oh, where for art thou Sony Betamax?
Will

Top loader ?. The eject mechanism was so violent the VCR would jump about 6 inches in the air.

Top loader?
Yeah, it was.
It jumped up so hard once it knocked the TV over
Will

Mine used kerosene rather than batteries.

[shoozleboy]

Why is this begining to sound like the old stories like "i used to walk 20 miles through blinding snowstorms, uphill, bothways to school when I was a kid"??

Or the old "I caught a fish and it was THIS big", "Yeah, well mine was THIS big!"....

[flaninacupboard]

i know, all these people bragging about their great stuff! i was happy with my grandads cave paintings!

i think top loading VCR's were some kind of experimental VCR/toaster hybrid. it obviously went horribly horribly wrong.

[curryman]

this top loading, earth quaking, jumping, ear shattering vcr - it wasn't a ferguson videostar was it?

[flaninacupboard]

yeah, one of the early auto-circumsizer models!!!!!

[curryman]

I used to think that machine was amazing, I would sit there and watch it for ages - beautiful it was, sat under my mam's telly with a brand new 30 minute blank tape stood against it.

[Will Hay]

You know curryman, I think somwhere along the line we are related; you type just like I talk
Will

[lordsmurf]

ls,
did you have the tv open, or was it normal operating procedure stuff?

Normal procedure. It was an editing deck. I went to turn on the power, and got a jolt instead. Nothing out the the ordinary, should not have done it at all.

I once had a push-button VCR when I was young. Used a stick for the remote too with the first push-button tv. Everything else was knobs before that.

[flaninacupboard]

I just got a shock from my TV too! turns out it was the aerial lead. stuck a multimeter on it, there's 75volts coming down it! surely that's not normal.......

[jeex]

ls,
did you have the tv open, or was it normal operating procedure stuff?

Normal procedure. It was an editing deck. I went to turn on the power, and got a jolt instead. Nothing out the the ordinary, should not have done it at all.

I once had a push-button VCR when I was young. Used a stick for the remote too with the first push-button tv. Everything else was knobs before that.

did the manufacturer fix it? or was it a 3rd party?

i used do to tech support for hp a few years ago (my silence contract is over) and there use to be a few models of the pavilions that would have the power supplies die a fiery death.. many desks/walls suffered quite a burn.. the company didnt want us to make a big deal out of it, so we handled the situations very carefully, we would have the PC's picked up, power supplies replaced, and any damage done would be paid for..

twas pretty obvious it was the power supply when you've got the computer sitting on the floor near a wall and in the morning the computer is off, the rooms stinks and the wall behind the computer is a bit charred..

there were never any reports of anybody getting hurt or house fires..

but i'm sure the manufacturer was/would be more than willing to remove any evidence you had for a law suit.

[lordsmurf]

I took it to a place in town I trust. Cost me a few bucks, but they always do right by me.

[ChrisX]

Wow, that brings back memories. The first VCR I had came with a wired remote.

Me too, my first was a Sanyo Beta VCR with wired remote control and this way back 1980.

This was 24 years ago and equipment come and goes over the years since then.

The remote controls for every component ever since 1980, the TV, the VCR, the DVD player and the surround receiver are all as wireless.

Even the Microwave 2.4 GHz AV sender to receiver is wireless remote control compatible using the VCR as the source.

I use the remote control of the VCR for TV to the computer or to another TV in another area of the home.

I am using the microwave sender device due to TV connectivity as unavailable in that part of the house and due to poor reception.

So, I use the VCR remote control to change the channels of the remote VCR when I am in another room.

[curryman]

You know curryman, I think somwhere along the line we are related; you type just like I talk

You know Will, I think you're right. That Avatar looks damn familiar and Buggleskelly railway station, God!! where have I heard that before

[indolikaa]

How about those very first Panasonic VCRs with the digital timer AND the clicker knobs for VHF and UHF. And the top-loader was so stiff it took 2 kids to close the thing when they wanted to watch Star Wars...

We were cool. Ours had Fast-Forward Visual Search. On the wired remote, too. Sat right there next to the Atari 2600.

Shit! 32 is starting to feel REAL old...

[curryman]

Atari 2600

Atari 400xl for me with the keyboard swapped over because i could never get used to the touchpad

[Tiny71]

Using a remote at home is good, using a remote at a hotel is bad....it is one of the worst items in a hotel. Oh, and always where foot protection(slippers or shoes) while staying there.

On a side note, I was reading a test of some different airlines, and one guy found live TB on the flip down tray. And lice on the headrest.

[gmatov]

What the hell is live TB, and how the hell did he see lice? Superman vision?

Does the term full of shit as a Christmas Goose fit here?

Good grief!!!

George

[gmatov]

I hate to bust bubbles here, but 2.4 ghz is UHF, not microwave. Beauty of it is it will go through the house, not line of site as is infrared, as are most remotes as you generally use them from in front oif the device.

Radio waves, pure and simple. As opposed to light waves.

Cheers,

George

[vitualis]

Technically you are right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum

But since anything above 3 GHz is the lower end of microwave it's pretty close to the boundary.

BTW, radio waves ARE light waves...

Best regards.