It’s really been quite a month, with TV set repairs pre-dominating. Computer repairs tend to be confined to older ma-chines – machines which their owners can’t bear to throw away. It is hard to overcome the perception that most electronic applianc-es have a life-span of around 10 years and computers only about three years.

This is not because they are not well made or because the manufacturers have incorporated "built-in obsolescence". Instead, it is dominated by the demand for more features and, of course, faster operation – all ultimately involving the latest technolo-gy. I am happy to oblige by fixing older devices, provided the customer is prepared to accept the non-availability or high cost of spare parts.

As already stated, this month I dealt with quite a few Sony TV sets. These are normally very reliable sets and
the number of repairs that came in simply reflects their popularity in
the marketplace. Unfortunately, apart from the brandname, the only thing they had in common was the difficulty I had in analysing and solving the problems.

The KV-2064EC

The first Sony was a 1983 stereo TV set, model KV-2064EC (XE 3 chassis), with no picture. Mr Hardy had already previously taken it to the local service agent but had become annoyed about the 3-week backlog, a non-refundable quote fee of $35 upfront, and an estimate of $290. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that some companies charge twice that price and require even longer queues.