Second Chance LJI, Week 2: Front Porch
"Alright, what's the rate at now?"
Penny twiddled the knobs. "Um...about 3.42 megahertz...not too stable, though, maybe some kind of feedback through the transformer..."
Landon snarled. "God damn this thing! How are we gonna get a stable picture on it? The test signal looks fine on the scope," he said, flapping a hand towards the oscilloscope, "color burst, front porch, back porch, blanking all where they're supposed to be, and this Piece! Of! Crap!" (he emphasized his point with a thump on the ancient television set for each word) "won't act like it’s getting it steady!"
"I told you," Penny said with an eye roll, "you can't just pick up any crappy old TV set at a garage sale and think you can get it to work..."
He threw up his hands. "I'm gonna degauss the tube."
"With what?"
"The buildup on the tube has the transformers magnetized, that's why it won't sync to the signal."
"I'm not arguing with you," she said through clenched teeth, "but I repeat, what are you going to degauss it with? We don't even have a coil."
"We don't need a coil." He pulled out a giant flat blade screwdriver.
She looked at him for a moment. "You're an idiot."
"What? I just need something long and metal to tap the ultor and short it to ground."
"That's not degaussing, that's discharging the shadow mask. And on an ancient set like that, there's probably fifty thousand volts stored up. Discharging it like that could kill you."
"But it'll get it degaussed." He clipped the ground lead to the handle of the screwdriver. "All I have to do is touch the terminal..."
"Landon, you're gonna--"
There was a crack, like a tiny thunderclap, and Landon flew across the room, smashing into the glass cabinet where their mother kept her collection of porcelain cows. It was a valuable collection, renowned throughout the state.
A faint, high-pitched whine, slowly dropping in pitch filled the air. Penny unplugged the set they had been working on, then crossed unhurriedly to her brother, now scattered among pieces of glass and broken bovine porcelain, and felt for a pulse. She found it, strong and slightly elevated, and sat back on her heels, waiting for him to wake up.
After a minute, he opened his eyes. They slowly focused on his older sister. She pointed a finger at him.
"YOU get to explain to mom what happened to her cows."
Penny twiddled the knobs. "Um...about 3.42 megahertz...not too stable, though, maybe some kind of feedback through the transformer..."
Landon snarled. "God damn this thing! How are we gonna get a stable picture on it? The test signal looks fine on the scope," he said, flapping a hand towards the oscilloscope, "color burst, front porch, back porch, blanking all where they're supposed to be, and this Piece! Of! Crap!" (he emphasized his point with a thump on the ancient television set for each word) "won't act like it’s getting it steady!"
"I told you," Penny said with an eye roll, "you can't just pick up any crappy old TV set at a garage sale and think you can get it to work..."
He threw up his hands. "I'm gonna degauss the tube."
"With what?"
"The buildup on the tube has the transformers magnetized, that's why it won't sync to the signal."
"I'm not arguing with you," she said through clenched teeth, "but I repeat, what are you going to degauss it with? We don't even have a coil."
"We don't need a coil." He pulled out a giant flat blade screwdriver.
She looked at him for a moment. "You're an idiot."
"What? I just need something long and metal to tap the ultor and short it to ground."
"That's not degaussing, that's discharging the shadow mask. And on an ancient set like that, there's probably fifty thousand volts stored up. Discharging it like that could kill you."
"But it'll get it degaussed." He clipped the ground lead to the handle of the screwdriver. "All I have to do is touch the terminal..."
"Landon, you're gonna--"
There was a crack, like a tiny thunderclap, and Landon flew across the room, smashing into the glass cabinet where their mother kept her collection of porcelain cows. It was a valuable collection, renowned throughout the state.
A faint, high-pitched whine, slowly dropping in pitch filled the air. Penny unplugged the set they had been working on, then crossed unhurriedly to her brother, now scattered among pieces of glass and broken bovine porcelain, and felt for a pulse. She found it, strong and slightly elevated, and sat back on her heels, waiting for him to wake up.
After a minute, he opened his eyes. They slowly focused on his older sister. She pointed a finger at him.
"YOU get to explain to mom what happened to her cows."