These were so cool. Didn’t they work by the pitch omitted? When a mechanical lever struck a plate that emitted a tone. The tv then receives the tone and completes the task.

I found one of these in an estate sale. I still have it and it's incredible. The sound when you mash the button all the way down that triggers the tuning forks is so weird and satisfying.

I just looked and saw these go for about $200 US today. WOW!!

TV remotes back then used to be so heavy. As a kid when no one was around I used to lay flat on my back and toss the remote in the air over my head and catch it while I was listening to whatever show was on. The remote was about the same weight as a baseball.

One time I missed the catch and it (very predictably) hit me in the face. When I showed up to school the next day with a black eye, the teacher thought I was being abused. It didn't help that my story was so stupid...

Hah, we had a TV with one of those when I was a little kid. I remember the TV would sometimes hear just the right tone from its own speaker and change the channel. The buttons on the remote did have a very satisfying click, though.

checks eBay

Those things are apparently going for ~$250 today.

This is a repost. If i remember right, the original post a few months ago explained a dew things about that remote. Like, for example, how each of the buttons mechanically creates an sound signal that the TV reacts to.