wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (03/08/85)
I hope somebody out there has access to some data that could help answer
this query, regarding a Zenith TV with remote control.
I have a Zenith "System 3" color TV (model SK1961W5, s/n 3059752), bought
new some years ago. It came with a remote control ("Space Command 1200
with Zoom", part number (on the card that the remote was blister-packed
on -- does this mean the remote's part number, or that card's part
number?) 202-4187). The set is designed with a door over the controls
so that it is normally run by the remote control.
Not too long after I got the set, the remote control unit began to
deteriorate. (After warranty expired, that is.) I disassembled it
and found that the switches controlled by the buttons on the unit
were not real mechanical switches, but simply flexible metal discs
held on a circuit board by a sheet of adhesive plastic. Pressing the
buttons depressed the disc center, which caused pips on the disc to
touch the circuit traces on the board, making a momentary connection.
I could make a short-term fix by bending the discs, but that soon
didn't work, as the metal fatigued. I finally gave up on keeping
it "original" and, since I couldn't find any spring-return momentary
contact switches small enough to install in place, I ended up with a
jury-rigged deal where I ran a wire with a test-probe contact on the end
from the main side of the circuit, and activated the control functions
by touching the circuit traces with that probe, through the holes in
the remote box where the pushbuttons used to be. This sort-of works,
but response deteriorates and is erratic.
What I want is a new remote control, of course. What I DON'T want is
another one of the same model. It will just die the same way the old
one did. What I want is a different remote control unit, made better
than this one was. It doesn't matter if it is another brand than
Zenith, as long as it activates the same control functions. Even if
the button legends on the new one do not correspond with the functions,
that's OK -- I can paint on new legends or relabel the remote somehow.
The problem is that I have no idea where to look or how to determine
what works, short of gathering a bushel of all the remote control
units made and trying them out. Since I don't work in a store selling
TV's, this approach is infeasible.
I don't even know if this Zenith remote works on ultrasonic or infrared
or some other principle. (The signal-emitting device in the remote is a
little metal can with a grid on the end and two terminals on the other.
It could be anything, as far as I know.)
The "1200" remote has 7 buttons, one for on-off, two for channel-up and
channel-down, two for volume-up and volume-down, one for the Zoom feature
(enlarges the center image to fill the screen -- I want to keep that, as
it is one of the reasons I selected this TV), and one for muting the audio.
Can anyone tell me if a Sony or another Zenith or Panasonic or other
brand remote will produce the same sorts of signals that will trigger the
TV's remote-sensing circuits? Can anyone point to a model or part number
for a remote that will function with this TV? And can anyone point me to
mail-order sources for this sort of thing? (A couple places I've talked
to have had the remote-receive circuits as surplus for sale, but no
remote controls. Local stores don't carry extra remotes in stock [that seems
silly -- I would think many people would want to buy an extra!].)
Will Martin
ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin