Tube TV still survives

Tue, March 6, 2018 / 03:43 pm

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A customer comes to Sugeng’s workshop have his flat screen TV set repaired. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Several tube TVs remain unclaimed by the owners. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Sugeng opened his TV repair workshop in 1999. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Broken TV sets pile up in Sugeng’s workshop. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Supriyono (left) and Sugeng discuss how to repair a TV set. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Supriyono is ready to repair a TV set. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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It takes precision and care to fix a broken TV. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Supriyono works at Zigma workshop as a repairman. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Supriyono listens and writes down a customer’s description of the problem. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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The invoice for a repair is prepared. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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Broken spare parts wait to be repaired or thrown out. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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The “closed” sign on a whiteboard in front of Sugeng’s workshop. JP/Boy T. Harjanto
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An ammeter, one of the tools used to diagnose the problem with a TV set. JP/Boy T. Harjanto

Boy T Harjanto

A pile of CRT (cathode ray tube) television sets were seen in the front yard of a house on Jl. Plered km 1, Yogyakarta. Inside the house, a man examined a broken tube TV before repairing it. Another man, Supriyono, then joined in and helped with the repairs.

The Zigma TV workshop was owned by Sugeng, who has been serving customers since 1999.

Sugeng is a junior high school graduate who learned how to fix tube TVs by himself. He said it has been more difficult to find spare parts for tube TVs because factories have discontinued them.

People now prefer to switch their old tube TV sets for flat-panel display (plasma) TVs, or LED TVs or even OLED TVs.

Sugeng had to use spare parts from broken TVs to install them into other sets. In order to survive, Sugeng also accepts flat screen TVs for repair.

Despite the small-scale business and the difficulties in finding spare parts, a lot of customers still come to Sugeng’s workshop to have their tube TV sets fixed. [yan]