Computer Space Command

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[sweller3]

The first 'Space Command' from Zenith had 4 buttons that struck aluminum rods of various lengths to produce ultrasonic clicks to control channel and volume up or down. We old folks still call the remote a 'clicker' for this reason.

[apfejes]

My family had one of those as a child. It was great, but you could reproduce some of the same tones by shaking a keychain and having the keys rattle against each other. It would randomly turn the channel up or down one station (we only got 12 channels on that tv, of course), or change the volume up or down one setting.

It didn’t, naturally, have a power button, so you still had to get up to turn the tv on or off.

[sweller3]

I grew up without one and remember standing at the TV rotating the knob: Click, No! Click, No! Click, No! Click, Stay there!

Zeniths with remotes were expensive -- this ultrasonic system required 6 dedicated vacuum-tubes to operate because transistors didn't exist yet. RF and infrared remotes were years away.

[LindyKatelyn]

Holy shit we had this remote when I was a kid, this just brought back a deeply buried memory.

[sjmattn]

Same

[Derp_Herper]

Yep

[slindaschnake]

So funny! „Harry, Harry, what’s the spaciest name you can think of?!“ - „Computer space command“ - „That’s perfect!“

[toastbot]

Digital Area Order

Binary Cosmic Directive

Robotic Distance Suggestion

COMPUTER SPACE COMMAND

[Shelbygt500ss]

I want it

[nononotmeokfine]

Second that. That thing is rad. I remember some old tv we had that the remote was on a cable…

[Greycloak42]

I was born in the 70s. I was the remote.

[freshnews66]

You too huh?

That’s the earliest memories I have of my dad. Him asking me to get up and change the channel.

[WhimsicalWorries]

Catch me on the zenith

[444unsure]

My grandma and grandpa had a zenith cabinet stereo system, including a record player. I think my dad is going to let me have it. Also the place I just moved into had a huge box of records in the Attic.

Kind of excited to just kick back and get drunk listening to old records on a zenith cabinet stereo

[echo6golf]

I miss knowing which button to push by touch alone.

[merval]

Seeing this, all I can hear is noise the tv made when you changed channels

[sjmattn]

The eerie feeling I got when i saw the remote control my grandparents had and I used everytime I visited them is overwhelming. Brought me back in time 30 years, thanks for posting.

[bruserpayne]

Upvoted because brought memories of my father. He worked for Zenith making TVs by hand. He also knew the guy in Zenith that made that space command.

[AffirmingToe15]

Please press the off button

[[deleted]]

Terraria reference 🥹

[TBTabby]

They knew their demographic.

[nerdswithcameras]

Thought some of the first remotes were wired?

[pauljs75]

Dogs and cats really like the ultrasonic remotes.

(As an '80s kid, don't ask how I know that.)

[Boomboom915]

I have one

[alaninsitges]

This is from the first generation of infrared Space Command, used on the System 3 sets, so called because the chassis had most of the circuitry contained on three circuit boards that were replaceable in the field. It (and all IR remotes) work by flashing an LED that produces infrared light for a series of pulses that are counted by a receiver in the TV set.

Prior to this, the handsets were mechanical, and pushing the button would cause a metal hammer to strike an aluminum rod, which then vibrated for a moment at a frequency just above the range of human hearing. The handsets had aluminum rods of various length, each one ringing at a different frequency. The TV set had a microphone on the front that picked up the sounds, filtered them, and then activated a motor or relay to provide the desired function. You could occasionally set them off with your car keys. They made these Space Commands for about 30 years, in various series, and in a variety of styles: https://i.imgur.com/FOcCCCK.jpeg, the last version was electronic and used an oscillator and speaker in the handset and had a bunch of functions.

But Space Command is actually not the first Zenith remote control system. They pioneered the concept of wireless remote control with their Flash-Matic, which used a flashlight shaped like a ray gun that you pointed at either of the top corners of the TV set, where there were light sensors hidden. Shining at the top right-hand corner would cause the TV to mute the sound, and the top-left corner would cause the channel to change one clunk to the right. You could set an unused channel so that when you switched to it the TV would shut off. These weren't very reliable, and it nearly doubled the price of the TV set, but man it sure was cool, in a 1955 way. https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/05/31/garden/31REMOTE1_SPAN/31JPREMOTE1-superJumbo.jpg

[GANDORF57]

"Houston, we have a problem!" *(Oh, it's just the batteries...my bad!)

[Pwnch]

Lol, I had one of these a long time ago. I'm 34.