
The origins of the TV remote - sohkamyung
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180830-the-history-of-the-television-remote-contro
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rconti
Wow, now I know where the term 'clicker' came from.

Funny that they mention sunlight changing the channel on the original optical
sensor-based systems. Even in the 80s I could change channels on the VCR by
strobing a maglight across the IR receiver. I guess the flashlight emitted
enough IR or the IR sensor was not selective enough about what wavelengths it
received.

As a kid of the 80s (with a late 70s TV in the family), I always left the TV
on '3' for the RF adapter from the VCR, and used the VCR (with its IR remote)
as the tuner, to change channels. Of course, I still did most of my watching
on my back, with my feet up against the VCR to change channels, and I could
reach up with my leg to turn the volume knob on the TV.

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gumby
> Wow, now I know where the term 'clicker' came from.

Where is this term used?

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foldor
I've heard it amongst older people here in Ontario.

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jsjohnst
I’ve heard it used in many places around the globe, but almost entirely always
by folks 70+ years of age.

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aj7
We didn’t get our first TV until 1960. It had that space command. As a child,
I could hear that ping, but it wasn’t unpleasant. When you pinged it, the
predecessor of a stepping motor actually rotated the mechanical channel
selector. Or, a relay cut off the sound. The TV was black and white, and it
was horrible. The humidity of NYC soon rendered the TV tuner very touchy: it
was an art to fine- tune channels manually at the TV and this rendered the
channel clicker useless. The synch circuit was also unreliable and given to
long bouts of screen rolling. But on that TV, I watched the 1960, 61, and 62
World Series, which included Bill Mazeroski’s home run which beat the Yankees,
and the whole drama surrounding the Kennedy asassination. And most of the
Mercury and Gemini launches.

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fuzzfactor
When the new Kennedy silver half-dollars came out, you could change channels
by rattling them against other coins in your pocket.

This was discovered by accident of course.

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imglorp
I used my grandfolks' Zenith Space Command remote on their 50s b+w console (of
course). Its carrier was ultrasonic but it still sounded like striking a
couple small pieces of metal together. I felt it more of a Clunker than a
Clicker.

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joezydeco
That’s exactly how it worked. Tuning fork with ultrasonic harmonics.

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TheAndruu
> "One idea was radio waves, but that was dismissed early on, says Taylor. “If
> you were in an apartment building, you might start changing the channel on
> the TV in the next room as well as your own.”

This reminded me how as kids in the 90s, the remote unlock button for our
parents' car would set off our neighbor's car alarm if you were too close to
them.

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m-i-l
> "frequencies used in remotes like the Space Command were too high for the
> human ear to pick up"

Pretty sure I used to be able to hear the different high pitched whines as a
child (bearing in mind children can hear higher pitched sounds than adults).

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jsjohnst
Some adults have unusually high hearing range too. I’m almost 40 and yet can
easily detect sounds up to 25khz, sometimes higher depending on the strength.

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FearNotDaniel
When I was very little my uncle had one of those ultrasound remotes, I'm
pretty sure it literally had only one button (next channel). If you pressed it
when the dog was in the room, she would go crazy.

