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My father was an engineer at Zenith when they were developing the Space Command TV remote control. This was a couple years before I was born, so by the time I g
by Zigurd 6mo ago
My father was an engineer at Zenith when they were developing the Space Command TV remote control. This was a couple years before I was born, so by the time I got interested in hacking, Zenith TVs with this remote were commonplace. When visiting my friends homes I would prank them by jangling my keys and making the TV louder or quieter and randomly change channels. This presents new opportunities.
- mmooss 6mo agoWow, I never heard of these. They operated on sound. Here's an article with photos, including some internals and the history of its engineering: https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remote-control-button-of-the-month https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remot... I wonder how reliable they were?
- MrEricSir 6mo agoNot very reliable. The remote only had four buttons (volume up/down, channel up/down) and various sounds like kitchen appliances, flushing toilets, and jingling keys would be interpreted as remote control actions by the TV. My grandfather had one; he seemed to find it more entertaining to talk to people about it than to actual use it.
- jacquesm 6mo agoBlaupunkt (in the early 80s) had a similar system which was a lot more reliable also based on ultrasound, they used an encoding that was a bit less likely to show up in normal environmental sounds.
- mmooss 6mo agoDoesn't / didn't Blaupunkt make hi-fidelity audio equipment? I would think the range of sounds output by its speakers would make finding distinct sounds difficult. Maybe their audio expertise came in handy.
- jacquesm 6mo agoYes, they did, but this was on a TV set, a - for the time - large color TV. It was a pretty weird little box, I have been searching but can't find an image for it.
- robocat 6mo agoZenith Space Command remote “clicker” remotes did not use batteries: they were mechanical. Pressing a button struck a small aluminum rod inside the remote, producing an ultrasonic tone that the TV detected. > making the TV louder or quieter and randomly change channels The 4 buttons were labelled: channel lower, volume mute, on off, channel higher. Or on an older version: ON OFF, LEFT, RIGHT, MUTE As per photos: https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remote-control-button-of-the-month https://www.theverge.com/23810061/zenith-space-command-remot...