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*OT* Dragnet Episode

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Duh_OZ

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Dec 7, 2010, 11:10:51 AM12/7/10
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Deals with repair service scams.

As 'bait, the used a Kaye-Halbert 16'' TV and shorted out 5u4g tube.
Estimated house visit and replacement of a 5u4g tube: $4.50.

http://www.archive.org/download/dragnet/Dragnet-Big_Screen.mp3

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 7, 2010, 11:21:02 AM12/7/10
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> As bait, they used a Kaye-Halbert 16'' TV and shorted 5U4G.
> Estimated house visit and tube replacement: $4.50.

The viewing quality... priceless.

I'm old enough to remember when a GP charged /five dollars/ for a house
call. Five dollars was a lot of money then (ca 1955).


William Sommerwerck

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Dec 7, 2010, 11:25:12 AM12/7/10
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I'm listening, and unfortunately (???), Stan Freberg permanently ruined
"Dragnet".


William Sommerwerck

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Dec 7, 2010, 11:34:32 AM12/7/10
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Just wondering whether that new brand of rosin-core solder ever took off...

Was there really a Kaye-Halbert TV? I assume that's one of the names changed
to protect the innocent.

I wonder if all those green dots the guy applied improved the picture and/or
sound quality...


Plain...@yawho.com

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Dec 7, 2010, 12:23:24 PM12/7/10
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Yes, there was. Don't you ever do any research?

http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-KAYE-HALBERT.htm

PlainBill

Plain...@yawho.com

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Dec 7, 2010, 12:26:14 PM12/7/10
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I'd place the show as somewhat earlier - probably 1952 or 53. $100
would be a good month's pay at that time.

PlainBill

Jeff Liebermann

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Dec 7, 2010, 1:59:33 PM12/7/10
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Not really off topic. What one charges for repair service is
relevent.

Using an inflation calculator at:
<http://www.westegg.com/inflation/>
I find that $5 in 1952 is worth $41 in 2009. Not even close to what I
would charge for this type of service call today.

The best I can do for a field service call, to replace a single
component, is about $125 today. However, much of this added overhead
isn't from inflation. It's from increased tax burden, increased
overhead, insurance requirements, anticipated warranty funding,
inventory depreciation charges, and supporting my decadent and lavish
lifestyle.

Even the 5U4 has lost much of its value. Only $5.75 today:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260690412075>

As I vaguely recall, my first minimum wage job in the early 1960's was
for about $1/hr.
<http://www.dir.ca.gov/iwc/MinimumWageHistory.htm>
At the time federal minimum wage was about the same. Today, I charge
$75/hr for shop labor. As I vaguely recall, shop labor in the late
1960's (TV/Audio repair) was about $12/hr.

--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 7, 2010, 3:35:28 PM12/7/10
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> Yes, there was. Don't you ever do any research?
> http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-KAYE-HALBERT.htm

I do. I did a browser search, and nothing at all showed up.


William Sommerwerck

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Dec 7, 2010, 3:37:11 PM12/7/10
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> The best I can do for a field service call, to replace a single
> component, is about $125 today. However, much of this
> added overhead isn't from inflation. It's from increased tax
> burden, increased overhead, insurance requirements,
> anticipated warranty funding, inventory depreciation charges,
> and supporting my decadent and lavish lifestyle.

As Stan Freberg would say... a second dress for your wife.


JW

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Dec 8, 2010, 5:29:22 AM12/8/10
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On Tue, 7 Dec 2010 12:35:28 -0800 "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote in Message id:
<idm5q7$pu3$1...@news.eternal-september.org>:

>> Yes, there was. Don't you ever do any research?
>> http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-KAYE-HALBERT.htm
>
>I do. I did a browser search, and nothing at all showed up.

Perhaps you should try Google instead of searching your browser?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1306&bih=862&q=Kaye-Halbert&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 8, 2010, 5:46:39 AM12/8/10
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Who are you, anyway? You don't have the guts to use your own name.


Brenda Ann

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Dec 8, 2010, 7:39:30 AM12/8/10
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"Duh_OZ" wrote in message
news:b4c70d5e-e873-450a...@p8g2000vbs.googlegroups.com...

http://www.archive.org/download/dragnet/Dragnet-Big_Screen.mp3


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a Sam's for one on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PhotoFact-Manual-KAYE-HALBERT-014-024-044-146-/360171633416?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item53dbe6fb08

And a video from someone that owns one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkrkSgtOvw

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 8, 2010, 9:00:45 AM12/8/10
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> And a video from someone that owns one.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkrkSgtOvw

What other obscure brands of television am I ignorant of (he asked, with
more than a touch of sarcasm)?

I should have realized the name was legit, when one of the characters
started bragging about his Leica IIIf, the penultimate of the Leica
screw-thread cameras.


JW

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Dec 8, 2010, 9:15:52 AM12/8/10
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On Wed, 8 Dec 2010 02:46:39 -0800 "William Sommerwerck"

<grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote in Message id:
<idnnm4$eit$1...@news.eternal-september.org>:

>Who are you, anyway? You don't have the guts to use your own name.

I'm assuming you're talking to me, but you didn't quote me. They're my
real initials. But since when was using one's name a requirement for
posting to Usenet?

In any case, lighten up - I was only teasing you a bit.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Dec 8, 2010, 9:34:04 AM12/8/10
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William Sommerwerck wrote:
> I should have realized the name was legit, when one of the characters
> started bragging about his Leica IIIf, the penultimate of the Leica
> screw-thread cameras.

The ultimate being a Canon 7s with f0.95 lens?

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 8, 2010, 9:51:33 AM12/8/10
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>> I should have realized the name was legit, when one
>> of the characters started bragging about his Leica IIIf,
>> the penultimate of the Leica screw-thread cameras.

> The ultimate being a Canon 7S with f0.95 lens?

No, the Leica IIIg. Not that I wouldn't mind having one.


William Sommerwerck

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Dec 8, 2010, 9:52:35 AM12/8/10
to
>> Who are you, anyway? You don't have the guts to use your own name.

> I'm assuming you're talking to me, but you didn't quote me. They're my
> real initials. But since when was using one's name a requirement for
> posting to Usenet?

> In any case, lighten up - I was only teasing you a bit.

I don't at all mind being teased, but your remarks seemed rather blunt. I
have been -- and sometimes still am -- guilty of such things, myself.


Jeff Liebermann

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Dec 8, 2010, 10:39:38 AM12/8/10
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I had a Leica IIIc, with almost all the accessories, lenses, and
enlarger many years ago. Nobody builds cameras like that any more. I
did some side by side comparisons with a common SLR of the time (Asahi
Pentax Spotmatic). The picture quality difference was really obvious.
I replaced the focal plane shutter, mirrors, and rebuilt the
self-timer several times. Unfortunately, I sold everything in the
late 1980's for peanuts. Sniff...

<http://www.westlicht-auction.com/index.php?lang=3>
$500,000 for a Leica MP2. $200,000 ea for some others.

Plain...@yawho.com

unread,
Dec 8, 2010, 12:28:16 PM12/8/10
to
On Wed, 8 Dec 2010 06:00:45 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote:

>> And a video from someone that owns one.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkrkSgtOvw
>
>What other obscure brands of television am I ignorant of (he asked, with
>more than a touch of sarcasm)?
>

I don't know. Why don't you list the ones you DO remember, then go
here http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-ALL-USA.htm to fill in the
blanks? FYI: They list 104 TV manufacturers for the years 1950-1959,
running from A (Admiral) to Z (Zenith).

>I should have realized the name was legit, when one of the characters
>started bragging about his Leica IIIf, the penultimate of the Leica
>screw-thread cameras.
>

PlainBill

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 8, 2010, 12:52:16 PM12/8/10
to
> I don't know. Why don't you list the ones you DO remember, then go
> here http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-ALL-USA.htm to fill in the
> blanks? FYI: They list 104 TV manufacturers for the years 1950-1959,
> running from A (Admiral) to Z (Zenith).

Thanks for the ref. At least 20% of the names were unfamiliar.

The most-interesting was "Natalie Kalmus", the woman whose name appears as
"Technicolor consultant" on pre-1950 films. She was the once-wife of Herbert
Kalmus, the principal developer of Technicolor.


David Nebenzahl

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Dec 8, 2010, 6:06:13 PM12/8/10
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On 12/8/2010 6:51 AM William Sommerwerck spake thus:

Since we've drifted off-topic anyhow, I'd certainly settle for a Leotax
(Showa Opt. Co.), or a Nicca, or a Robot Royal: now *there's* a camera.
Or a Canon, for that matter ...

What is that f/0.95; a Nocton?


D "settles for a Zorki-1" N


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 8, 2010, 6:57:17 PM12/8/10
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> What is that f/0.95; a Nocton?

The 0.95 was a Canon lens. The Nocton/Nokton was a Voigtlander lens. It
appears a 25mm version has been developed for the Four-Thirds System:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/137627-voigtlander-nocton-25-f-0-95-a.html

I'll tell you what I'd like to see... A full-frame OM DSLR, the same size as
an OM-4, that takes all the Zuiko OM lenses. Now, that would be something
very, very special.

I had a beautiful OM system that, unfortunately, had to be sold because I
would otherwise have lost my home. But the OM camera was truly what it was
designed to be -- an "SLR Leica" -- if only in size and elegance. Olympus's
Four-Thirds SLRs, even the smallest, are pathetically clunky next to an OM.
As are the lenses. Even the "fast" OM lenses are unbelievably tiny.


Jeffrey Angus

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Dec 9, 2010, 6:44:32 PM12/9/10
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*laughs* And when he got out of prison, he opened Mark C. Bloom Tires.

Jeff

jeff_wisnia

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Dec 10, 2010, 4:41:49 PM12/10/10
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My first job out of grad school in 1958 was with an R&D company,
Comstock and Wescott, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before WWII ("The big
one") the company's name was Kalmus, Comstock and Wescott, and I came to
know them as the developers of the Technicolor color movie process
through that association.

When I joined them one of the products they had already developed and
were trying to make a market for was a combination household
refrigerator and domestic water heater. The heater tank was on top of an
upright refrigerator and served as the condenser for the refrigeration
system, recovering the heat removed from the refrigerator. They had
named it "Stator".

AFAIK that product never made it to market, possibly because it was too
tall for the reduced ceiling heights prevalent after the war.

While I was working there they were also developing household heating
systems based on using off peak electrical energy to melt some kind of
salt with a high latent heat of fusion stored in multiple narrow
containers inside a "furnace plenum." The stored heat warmed air blown
over those containers and was used to provide forced air heating.

That one didn't take off back then either, but in the past year I've
seen reference to something under development (again) which sounded similar.

Thanks for the mammaries,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

Michael A. Terrell

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Dec 10, 2010, 11:10:50 PM12/10/10
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Have you ever seen a common water fountain hat was modified to
produce hot water? A second coil is added, near the condenser to adsorb
heat to provide hot water for a bathroom sink.


--
For the last time: I am not a mad scientist, I'm just a very ticked off
scientist!!!

David Lesher

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Dec 30, 2010, 1:16:22 AM12/30/10
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"William Sommerwerck" <grizzle...@comcast.net> writes:

>I'm listening, and unfortunately (???), Stan Freberg permanently ruined
>"Dragnet".

Not Dan Aykroyd...?

--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

William Sommerwerck

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Dec 30, 2010, 9:14:59 AM12/30/10
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>> I'm listening, and unfortunately (???), Stan Freberg
>> permanently ruined "Dragnet".

> Not Dan Aykroyd...?

Freberg did it 30 years before Aykroyd...


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