Free Receiver of the Week Contest 6.12.2008 - Satellite AV

[GreatFTA]

Ah, Sweet Memories!
My family first entertainment center had:
-Phonograph
-8 track player
-front loading VHS VCR
-19 inch RCA color TV with rabbit ears and
-C band satellite system with 8 foot dish (the dish I still use today!)
-AM/FM radio with cassette
-bunch of vinyl albums
-bunch of 8 track music
-bunch of cassettes
-couldn't afford any VHS movies, So we rented them!

 

[Tron]

When I was a kid, we had:

-25" (I think) console Zenith television (tube-based electronics)
-19" Zenith B&W solid state (WOW!!) television for the Library room
-Delmonico console stereo system with AM/FM radio and phonograph (tube-based electronics), this one was put out of its misery by Katrina

As I grew up, we got:

-Panasonic VHS "portapack" style VCR with separate tape machine and tuner/timer
-Pioneer Laserdisc player (WooHoo!)
-A new JVC 27" television, since the tube-based Zenith died

 

[linuxman]

My first recollection of anything like a home entertainment center was simply a cabinet style Black and White TV. Don't remember the size, but the cabinet was big. The screen wasn't. We had an antenna on the roof that pulled in two stations from Hannibal and Quincy. Couldn't get St. Louis. We also had a separate cabinet style AM radio to listen to the Cardinal games on KMOX radio.

I later got a 45/78 RPM record player for my birthday to listen to viny records.

 

[sikma]

We had a very large cabinet-style am/fm/record player. The thing was the size of a coffin. It wasn't until my dad had a stroke and they had to move into an apartment did they part with it.

I can't remember what their first tv looked like, but I remember the first color set we had was in 1972.

 

[voomvoom]

Phonograph (vinyl)
AM Radio
Black and White TV (VHF /UHF)
FM Radio
FM Stereo
Eight Track

all this in a four legged Walnut Cabinet
the tv was centered on the front with speakers on each side of it
all the rest was accessed from the top (under 2 closed lids)
seems like the left side had the electronics and the right side stored albums/records and tapes




and it was heavier than a car engine

 

[Gary Z]

My family's first home entertainment center included:

Zenith Trans-Atlantic Short wave Radio
Phonograph (vinyl)
AM Radio
Black and White TV (VHF /UHF)
FM Radio
Eight Track
VHS VCR--I paid $800 for the VCR!

 

[wainwright]

My family's (parents) first home entertainment center included:

A 17" tube B&W TV in the living room
A tube AM radio in the kitchen

My own first home entertainment center included:

A 13" B&W TV
An FM stereo radio with internal 8 track and external record player

I still remember my father taking a paper bag full of vacuum tubes to the local drug store to test them when we had a problem with either the radio or the TV.

 

[intrepid]

My family's first entertainment center consisted of
an Emerson stereo 13 watt system
Emerson vhs recorder
RCA 19 inch color tv

 

[spudz160]

My family's first home entertainment center included:

FM Stereo
Color TV
VHS
CD
DVD

 

[Techfizzle]

well since im of the second family (dad divorced in 1980) I cant really say what was the first enertainment center. But the one my parents had when i was born, was a 27" magnavox console tv (hit by lightning in 2000) a 70's 8 track/am/fm/phono system, and thats all. my dad is old (50's) and he was never much for buying electrnoics, he still doesnt know how to turn on a tv or vcr, shame.

 

[netbuilder]

My family's first home entertainment center included:
Phonograph (wax / ceramic / vinyl)
AM/FM Radio
Color TV (VHF /UHF)
Eight Track/Cassette
VHS

and let's not forget that really crummy light brown particle board shelf thingie it sat on!

 

[red2grass]

My family's first entertainment system was a 9 inch b&W TV if that is considered a "system". Otherwise some thing more like a systems is
20 inch color TV,
Stereo audio system with big and separate speakers, cassette decks, phono player
VHS VCR

 

[gremlin411]

My family's first entertainment system. If I remember corectly. This is early 70's
had a big I mean big console tv 25" screen ( all tube type ) cabnet about the size of a small Honda car LOL.... A console radio with record player and a eight track player all in one had to lift the top up to get to it all. Got luckly grandfather own the only tv shop in town got everything at a good deal I guess. They even sold the big C-Band antenna's when they got this far south.

He was a HAM radio guy every sence WWII. AI5D call sign. can still remember that big head mic and him working on those spoons. Man could he talk that code.........

 

[squid385]

My family's first entertainment system was a Westinghouse tube type B&W TV in the living room and AM radio in the kitchen. We got one channel out of Knoxville on the TV and one local station on the radio during the day. We could pick up WLS out of Chicago during the night time on the radio. I used to listen to "The Lone Ranger" on the am radio on saturday nights. I'll be hitting the big 60 in august.

 

[brentb636]

My family's first "entertainment center" was an RCA TV, about 8" diagonal screen size, in a large console cabinet, probably 4 ft high x 3 ft wide. I remember watching stock car racing , football ( LIONs- Bobby Layne, Hopalong Cassidy ), and boxing with my Dad on this little thing. Also remember heading to the drugstore to test tubes on the tube tester when the TV needed some rejuvenation.

 

[melgarga]

We had an old Maggie tube type AM/FM/Phono console. No 8t/cassete back then.The 1st tv was a b/w 13-15 incher on rabbit ears. I remember the 1st color set came somewhat later as a 19" I think.
I saved 2 old Maggies consoles from the dumpster a few years backand have them out in my storage. One still works, even the phono, but the vol/bal pots are scratchy. What's really funny is ya'll all know about the "new" center channel technology?...........it's has actually been around since ~ circa 1960!

 

[jbmiller]

my parents had a 25 " rca console color tv (all tubes) a am-fm phono-8 track console tube type system. my 1st car i put in a 8 track player and the car radio only had AM i installed a fm converter in the car too. and i can remember back in the sixties watching the apollo missions on a 19" black and white tv. in the 70's in high school someone gave me a old philco upright am-fm shortwave tube type receiver. i remember listening to the hams on the ham bands (AM PHONE)and listening to countries all over the world i even wrote to them and got qsl's and info about the countries i heard. got my novice ticket because of that old receiver. now i'm a extra class op. also remember looking for old tube type tv's to build cw transmitters from spring cleanups. i even fixed some for my room lol
john

 

[amc1]

an black and white rca t.v. that only got 2 channels ,cbc and ctv.and a big out door antana that helped to get 1 of those stations. and a radio that
only got a couple stations ,lol. how times has changed .

 

[joem919]

my first family entertainment center was a c band resever a vcr and a old record player that had the monkees on it and cocoa cola collectable bottles .I remember the good old days sit n watch star trek on the canada network on sunday morning about 9 am

 

[Fizbi]

My family's first home entertainment center included:

My dad made:

Heathkit Color TV kit - The fist one in the neighborhood.
Heathkit mobile and base CB
Heathkit AM/FM Stereo system w/record player
Heathkit real to real tape player/recorder

My family has 52" flat screen TV and FTA.
I didn't make anything, but I did the installation.