On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 05:01:30 GMT, (Beachcomber)
wrote:

On 23 Jan 2006 19:16:13 -0800, "buffalobill"
wrote:

TN climate may have rusted out your 300 ohm rooftop antenna, making
your old system low quality or possibly useful to a radio.
see hdtv antenna compass directions from entering just your zipcode at:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx


That old twin-lead cable reminds me of the setup in our city apartment
building back in 1961. The twin-lead was connected directly to the
back of the TV with screw terminals. Occasionally a wire would break
and it would be necessary to re-attach it. The problem was how to
strip it... The plastic dielectric was the most awful, stiff material
around.

Thankfully my father showed me the way. He lit it with a match and
burned away the plastic from the bare copper wires. I still remember
the drip drip of hot plastic and the nasty smell it produced.

There weren't many stations, just the ABC, CBS, NBC and a struggling
PBS affiliate that ran shows about "math lessons" for educational TV.
There was also one big-city independent station that ran Laurel &
Hardy, Abbott & Costello, the 3 stooges and some fine local children's
programs.

Every few months a tube on the set would go bad. Then we called the
Zenith Repairman who brought no less than 3 giant tube caddies and
filled up the living room with spare replacement tubes when the cases
were open. Later, every drugstore had a tube-tester available and we
could test and sometimes even replace our own tubes.

Beachcomber


It really ****es me off that you cant find tube testers in drug stores
any longer. Whatever happened to "SERVICE". I finally had to buy my
own tube tester and now I have to test them alone in my own home. The
drugstore tube tester used to be a great place to pick up women,
particularly those who had broken tvs. It's no wonder there is so
much violence in today's society. People no longer have a place to
gather and test tubes. It was always a big thrill to watch them light
up, and slowly watch that meter climb into the "GOOD" (green)
zone. That was so much more exciting than all these boring computer
games these kids play these days.

By the way, 300 ohm tv cable will still work if it's still properly
attached to the antenna and the antenna is still intact. To splice
it, strip it back about an inch on each piece. Twist the two wires
and bend them down along side the cable. Wrap with tape. Connect to
tv and see what happens. On newer tvs you will need an adaptor. A
couple bucks at Radio Shack.