We've been planning this for a few years, but I'm so glad we've had the extra time, to try different ideas! Last summer we got a great deal of the house cleaned out and will finish that this summer and may be able to start demolition, too. Getting everything cleaned out, removing the old/damaged sheetrock and cleaning out the partial basement is going to be the focus this summer. Next spring, if finances are in better shape, I'm hoping we can start construction. The farmhouse was full (still stuff to go through) of family antiques, treasures and lots of junk! It's been a slow process, but getting a better idea of what spaces we want/need has made this a much more enjoyable process. If I know we won't need a formal dining table, I can easily offer it to a SIL, without thinking...oh, I knew we should have kept that! Since we live on the farm (next to the farmhouse) we have the great advantage of being able to live near (but not in) the remodel. We'll probably do a lot of things in stages and I'd love to do some of the projects, myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a carpenter, but I'm a fairly good painter, I like to help with some small carpentry detail work, and I want to learn how to lay ceramic tile, for the main kitchen countertops and backsplash. I may still have to hire someone to do it, but it would be fun to try a few small projects and see if I can do it myself :)

I don't find a service manuel for this set. Not US? A likly problem would be a defective solder connection in the "horizontal" driver or output circuit. May also have defective connections on the vertical output IC. If the set had a bad part, it would not turn back on, for any reason. One other thing that you may try, would be to reduce the "screen voltage" on the picture tube. There are two controls on the back of the high voltage transformer. The upper one is "focus" the lower one is the "screen" control. Don't turn the control very much, not more than 10 minutes, as measured on a clock face. Turn the screen control counter clockwise, say from 9 to 7. If the set is turned too far in either direction, it will CAUSE the set to SHUT-DOWN. It is a good idea to "mark" the location of the control, so that you can return it to its original position. I usually put a dab of "white-out" on the collar and control. After a couple of minutes, you can turn the control and also return it to the exact original position. good luck, pw

Hi! Just happened to be browsing through this forum for the first time...you may have already made a decision by now. We've never had cable and have been with DirecTV for over 12 years without any problems worth mentioning. Even here in rainy Seattle, we've not had satellite connection problems. We did come upon an interesting issue recently. With the recent advent of HDTV, we asked DirecTV what it would take to get that service. We have old, standard-definition sets that are still working fine, but they won't last forever and any new set would most likely be HD. Interestingly, there is a consideration re satellite service. Our current SD service gets a signal from one satellite; HD gets signals from three satellites. (I may not be exactly correct, technically-speaking, but I think I'm on the right track, generally-speaking.) So in order for your dish to "see" three satellites in the sky for HD, you need a rather wide field of view. In our case, we live in a very wooded area with many tall trees. For us to receive HD, we will need to cut down many trees on our property (and probably some on our neighbor's property will need to come down, too.) We do have an open clearing on our property that would easily have the needed field of view, but the clearing is too far from the house. There is a limit on the length of the cable run from dish to the house. I don't remember what the length is; probably less than 200 ft. or so. And at this time, there is no wireless technology available to overcome the cable limit. This all may not apply in your case, but thought I'd mention it just in case it might.

Only the light switch needs to be at both locations and frankly, unless you have some goofy local code or this is a stairway, there's no requirement for even light switches at both entrances to a room. Almost every fan I've seen can have the motor and the light controls split and you can put the latter on a three-way if you like. The reason the instructions don't tell you to put the surge suppressor on an oversized breaker is because there's no point in doing so and it is ILLEGAL. Do not use a large breaker than the ampacity of the wiring connecting it. Most of the ones I've seen you do not put on a larger than 20A breaker. Having lost phones and del modems and a well pump, I believe on putting surge/lighting protection on everything I can find. These suppressors are cheap "insurance". Yes, there is very MUCH a limit on the number of wires in a given box. It's called Box Fill and a bigger discussion than I can type into this box. Get a good electrical book (Wiring Simplified is one) or google box fill. You protect the feeder from the main panel to the sub panel with a breaker appropriate for the wire. It matters NOT what the rating of the sub panel is. #2 is appropriate for 100A breaker on copper type NM, You can protect #6 with a 60A breaker for type NM. Other wire types may have different ampacities. Your heaters are NOT in series. Again you need to size the breaker for the wire. You must protect 12-2 NM with a 20A breaker (or smaller). I'm assuming we're talking about 240 V heaters? If not you're math is way off. If you're using 240, the 20A breaker and 12-2 is fine. Most home center employees including this one is a complete idiot and dangerous. NO, YOU CAN NOT put breakers into a panel for which it is NOT listed for. Yes they may fit and may even work, but it is ILLEGAL. Do NOT do it. Schneider is commonly Square D by the way (just like Eaton is Cutler Hammer). A QO breaker won't even fit in your Siemens panel. The HOM breakers might fit, but again, are illegal to use.