recogitare.com

Just curious, did he actually manage to implode the picture tube in the thing with a shot gun?

Others who had 'blow up the fucking tv' parties have reported that a .22 magnum face on to the CRT wouldn't touch it.

It's been awhile - that must have been January of 1975 - but I remember that tube was utterly destroyed. Bit of a flame momentarily inside afterward. Pretty sure we got sprayed with tiny pieces of broken glass. TV was across the room, maybe fifteen feet away from where the shot was fired. If I remember right there was real damage to the wall behind the TV, not sure if it was 12 or 20 gauge shotgun.

75?

Too bad. I'd pay real money to see that on video.

sparks wrote: ↑Mon Sep 02, 2024 1:21 am 75?

Too bad. I'd pay real money to see that on video.

Yes, quite sure about the time frame. Just came back to me, we all fired our beer bottles at it afterward. Probably half dozen of us, I was the young 'un.

Back in the 'day', we had a shared shit-hole apt. and an old b&w cabinet tv. It must have died. No one watched it.
So i heaved a brick at it, full force, maybe 10 feet away. (it had a domed glass cover to protect the tube) The brick bounced off the screen with vengeance. I was shocked. And i was hoping for some final release of iconic symbology; street theater victory; nope. I was 20-ish and dumb as a post, like all the other bozos with the nearly identical schooling. Glass is supposed to break easily, in my mind. Not in that shape. It took 5 hard throws with a new regulation brick each time because they broke.

there was zero coolness in the gesture. just a mess to fix and shame, as though i was the anti-hercules.

sigh...why'd i have to re-live that?

I don't know for sure as TV was never my thing in life but... it seems to me that the screen is the heaviest piece of the CRT puzzle just because if it were flimsy like the rest of the glass envelope it'd be susceptible to nasty accidents. The neck, however, is what you're looking for! Easy peazy to break. In fact, it happened by accident a lot. Remember how the back panel used to have a round cylinder of plastic planted in it? The neck of the envelope extended into this widget. Saved on making the whole cabinet big enough to get the job done. Unfortunately, many peeps who fancied themselves DIY repairmen would fire right into removing the screws holding the back panel on and upon undoing the last screw would let the entire panel fall which promptly broke the neck of the glass envelope.

Now you really needed repairs along with a new picture tube!

Don't know what kind of noise the vacuum of a CRT makes, but outdated and retired transmitter vacuum tubes like an 833A are very hard to break because of the incredible vacuum. But when you finally do it sounds like a high powered rifle going off.

Linky for the curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/833A

Two of those in parallel running class C would easily get you a 1kW AM carrier and two more running class B push-pull would give you the 500 watts of audio you needed to modulate the carrier properly.

Great fun learning all that jazz. Radio wasn't particularly good to me financially but I'd do it over again given the same conditions because it was so damned much fun.

Nowadays you can pack a 1kW AM transmitter under one arm and plug it into any regular wall outlet 15 amp circuit provided there's nothing else on the same circuit.

What's a CRT?

We use to drag the b&w picture around with a magnet when the folks weren't around.
Didn't seem to trash the tv.
TV was so exotic at first, we'd sneak out of bed to watch the 'off-the-air' symbol.
We'd get caught and Pa would get rid of the set. He always hated it.
Funny, even early into it, people called them 'idiot boxes' and 'boob tubes'.
And long before the warnings, cigarettes were called 'coffin nails' and 'cancer sticks'.

stanky wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 5:49 am
Funny, even early into it, people called them 'idiot boxes' and 'boob tubes'.

I am the slime...



https://youtu.be/JPFIkty4Zvk?feature=shared

stanky wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 5:49 am What's a CRT?

We use to drag the b&w picture around with a magnet when the folks weren't around.
Didn't seem to trash the tv.
TV was so exotic at first, we'd sneak out of bed to watch the 'off-the-air' symbol.
We'd get caught and Pa would get rid of the set. He always hated it.
Funny, even early into it, people called them 'idiot boxes' and 'boob tubes'.
And long before the warnings, cigarettes were called 'coffin nails' and 'cancer sticks'.

Cathode Ray Tube. A vintage television picture tube is just one variant.

Dragging the image around with a magnet would probably not hurt things as sets with CRTs had degaussers (demagnetizers) built into them to prevent the metal bits up front from becoming permanently magnetized due to normal use, which would fuck up performance.

As for the metaphors of the day you mentioned, people aren't all idiots and it doesn't take too much to realize that the TV industry was and still is shit. And that smoking might not be very good for you.

They just aren't smart enough to throw the TV out as your dad did or quit the smokes. I must plead guilty to both counts. My lame ass excuse is that there are some, not many, but some redeeming bits of programming on TV. As for smokes and booze, no, not quitting. I'm soon to be 67. Like quitting now is going to add years to my life. Right. Fuck that shit.

I was older than that when i quit smoking and drinking and even coffee. Lost 45 lbs and had a tick disease.
And after that, i turned into a dottering old man. You'd think it might feel like some kind of victory; over coming bad habits and losing weight i didn't want. Nope.

All that changed was the enslavement i was feeling and resented. Like when it would snow and I was out of my drugs, i'd have to risk lives to get the dumb fix. The worst part is the people that think not drinking is a big accomplishment; that an alcoholic is an identity you're stuck with. B.S. on that. Used my own withdrawl method, much to the drs. chagrin. Must say, it was easy. Same with the butts. They're nothing, really. Refuse to identify with the label and fuck AA. It ain't for all.

The real addiction for me is sugar. Holy shit. Fighting it daily; growing stevia.