The Zenith Space Command, one of the first wireless television remotes ever to exist.
TV remotes back then used to be so heavy. As a kid when no one was around I used to lay flat on my back and toss the remote in the air over my head and catch it while I was listening to whatever show was on. The remote was about the same weight as a baseball.
One time I missed the catch and it (very predictably) hit me in the face. When I showed up to school the next day with a black eye, the teacher thought I was being abused. It didn’t help that my story was so stupid…
These were so cool. Didn’t they work by the pitch omitted? When a mechanical lever struck a plate that emitted a tone. The tv then receives the tone and completes the task.
I think it’s a noise in the ultrasound spectrum. Humans can’t hear it
Na it made a click, that’s why we call remotes ‘clickers’
The click was the release of a spring-loaded plunger that pushed air through an ultrasonic whistle. The whistle was what controlled the TV or stereo.
Weird I think I saw a YT video explaing it and this is the info I remembered
Looks like it’s a bit of both: while they did work by emitting an ultrasonic frequency, they also made an audible click. https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remote-control-button-of-the-month
I feel like there’s a technology connections video on the topic but I could be hallucinating
I feel like there’s a technology connections video on the topic but I could be hallucinating
Yeah me too
You’re both right, the click actuated the ultrasonic noise, like hitting a xylophone.
They were essentially an ultrasonic kalimba
Yup. Entirely passively powered - no batteries at all. Pretty ingenious stuff.
yep i’ve used one. inside is like a xylophone for dogs.
Is it an acoustic remote?
yea but the notes are super high pitch
I found one of these in an estate sale. I still have it and it’s incredible. The sound when you mash the button all the way down that triggers the tuning forks is so weird and satisfying.
I just looked and saw these go for about $200 US today. WOW!!
I remember as a kid in the early 80s, we still had a VCR that had a remote with a cord. It was like 3 buttons or something. We also had a Beta machine in the garage for a while from before I was born.
Hehe I still have one for the National NV-300. It used a pair of wires and each button presented a different resistance. Only issue was if you half pressed a button it might think you hit record.
We took my grandma’s TV when she bought a new one, it was one of these.
Our dog had one of those steel choker chains, and he’d often change the channel or turn the TV on/off by running around jingling it.
As a teenager I accidentally discovered clinking a handful of coins would also do it.
Hah, we had a TV with one of those when I was a little kid. I remember the TV would sometimes hear just the right tone from its own speaker and change the channel. The buttons on the remote did have a very satisfying click, though.
checks eBay
Those things are apparently going for ~$250 today.
These things are listed at $250. Doesn’t mean people are buying them at that price.
Wow beautiful. Were they metal?
This is a repost. If i remember right, the original post a few months ago explained a dew things about that remote. Like, for example, how each of the buttons mechanically creates an sound signal that the TV reacts to.
I haven’t seen it. There’s no where near enough content on Lemmy to worry about reposts, especially if they are over a month apart, as you say
Let me check I founded this on Reddit.
Maybe this https://lemm.ee/post/2475444. But Image got deleted.
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24810945/236732_BOTM_Zenith_Space_TV_remote_AKrales_0188.jpg){kind=link}