I've taken to listening to my old stereo again.
I like the local classical music station, except the news.
I believe it's 5 minutes long.
I'm considering putting a smart plug on it to turn it on and off hourly (actually less) during the day.
So, say maybe 12 times a day, or whatever.
Would the switching cause any damage?
Well if properly designed it shouldn't cause damage, but it will likely impact the stereo's longevity. By how much it's difficult to say.
Intrinsic component failure rates, ambient environment & cooling design, and on/off cycles per month all used to be key parameters of the failure rate algorithm used to project system reliability where I worked; that was a long time ago but I doubt the physics has changed.
Back then we were always told that minimizing interconnects was one of the key ways to increase reliability; my guess is that thermal cycling and resulting expansion/contraction that happens when something gets powered on and off accelerates the development of microfractures in solder bumps (or interconnect wires) at the chip/substrate level as well affecting other soldered interconnects.
It would likely be a more significant factor when the stereo is built with lower levels of integration (lots more interconnects in older equipment than newer sets with fewer interconnected parts).
Actually it doesn't seem likely that just a 5 minute cool down would be that significant if there's a good amount of thermal mass; but there's probably a small mechanical relay in there somewhere that will be getting a lot more exercise and a bit more wear as a result.
Any way you could automate a 5 minute mute instead?
Edit: Ah I guess if it's old that's not likely to be possible..
I guess I could use a ZEN16 or 17 and interrupt the feeds to the speakers. Would have to splice wires. I wonder if sound might suffer, not that I'm an audiophile.
It won't to any degree that you'll be able to observe.
Buy some old CD's, kill the media propaganda station and listen to the music only. 
Is there an IR remote sensor? Maybe use one of those IR blaster things?
No, alas.
Not sure how common they were in 1976, at least in my price range.
Does it use vacuum tubes?
No.
Does it have a headphone jack on the front? Some receivers mute the speakers when headphones are plugged in.
Notice how the circuit from the speakers is redirected to the headphones when the plug is inserted in the jack.
A fingerbot could insert and remove the plug.
Depending on how loud you like it, removing the speakers from the circuit may compromise the output stages of the amplifier.
I think I'm going with the switched tuner.
It's, like, 6 times during what could be my normal listening hours.
Even having it on the dashboard is convenient, since the units are behind doors in an entertainment center.
I'll work on a rule later.
To round this out, this was the first time I used day of the week in Rule Machine; it worked out nice.
I turn the amp and tuner on at 6am and off at 6pm.
It also turns off when I leave the house and turn off the well pump and on when I arrive.
A double tap up or down on a wall switch turns the setup on or off.
This is all well-and-good as long as the volume or channel or media type doesn't have to be changed, lol.
Download the Hubitat app
