Zenith TV Ad - PCBs Not Inside |
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"PCBs? We ain't got no PCBs in our TV sets†... We don't have to give you no stinking PCBs." That is effectively what the Zenith television advertisement from a 1958 edition of Radio-Electronics told its potential customers. According to the Zenith communications department, even though their head R&D guy, Dr. Alexander Ellett‡, was "the daddy of printed circuit boards," they stuck with the traditional point-to-point wiring in all their TV chassis. I have to agree with them from a troubleshooting and component replacement perspective. There's nothing easier than heating a solder lug or terminal post to unwrap a leaded R, L, or C either to measure its value, isolate it from the rest of the circuit for making tests, or to replace it. There is no worry about solder splatter or bridges, overheating the PCB material to cause delamination, or lifting metal traces from the surface. There is also no issue with getting a component lead out of a plated-through hole. Yes, of course modern circuits need multilayer, high density circuit boards, but back when surface mount components were unheard of and component lead pitches were measured in tenths of an inch rather than thousandths, point-to-point made a lot of sense. † The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (video clip) ‡ Dr. Ellett was a busy guy. A Google patent search turns up 92 patents for him while at Zenith. None, BTW, appear to pertain to printed circuit board technology. RF Cafe visitor Frank Provasek suggests that is because classified inventions during wartime were assigned to the U.S. Government. Here is a tome entitled "Radio Proximity Fuzes for Fin-Stabilized Missiles," printed in 1946, that contains references to Dr. Ellett's PCB (with photos) on pages 166 and 258. Zenith TV Ad
My Life with Printed Circuits article in New Scientist magazine, December 9, 1989.
"Attached is something else you are welcome to use, or just good for a smile. TV Guide's 1966 TV Set Buyers Guide, a section of the Sept. 18-24, 1965 issue. Dueling ads for RCA and Zenith color TV. Zenith calls PCBs PLASTIC -- in the meaning of "easily formed" -- knowing consumers would think "cheap and breaks easily." RCA calls printed circuit boards SOLID COPPER CIRCUITS, so they win for most misleading... " − Frank Provasek.
Even though the Daddy of printed circuitry is head of Zenith's research dept.*, there's No Printed Circuitry in Zenith TV Chassis
3 reasons why there are no printed circuits in Zenith TV chassis
Zenith standard HANDcrafted circuitry means: 1 Less Service Headaches Zenith standard HANDcrafted circuitry means: 2 Easier Servicing for Dealer and Serviceman Alike Zenith standard HANDcrafted circuitry means: 3 More Satisfied Customers for Zenith Dealers
We think it's worth the extra cost and extra care of handcrafted standard circuitry to get the best performance and least service headaches and so do thousands of dealers who would sooner sell customer satisfaction than a price tag.
Zenith Radio Corporation Chicago 39, Illinois The quality goes in before the Zenith name goes on. Backed by 39 years of leadership in radionics exclusively. Also makers of Radio, High Fidelity Instruments and fine Hearing Aids; * Even though Dr. Alexander Ellett, head of Zenith's research department, is recognized as the daddy of printed circuitry through his work on radio proximity fuses, still Zenith uses no printed circuitry in its TV chassis because it means more service headaches and often causes service delays.
Posted April 29, 2020 |
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