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Bill Czappa likes to fix things, but some days he feels like he's an anachronism. His TV repair shop is one of only six left in Burbank.

Czappa and his shop have fallen victim to the flood of inexpensive electronics that have consumers throwing away their TV sets and DVD players rather than getting them Fixed. "It's killing the business," he said.

Czappa bought the small ARC TV and VCR repair business in 1983. Business grew steadily year by year and peaked in 1994 when the Northridge earthquake damaged lots of TV sets. The store made $394,000 that year, a $100,000 increase over the year before.

But it was downhill after that. Cheap electronics have been good for consumers, but bad for repairmen like Czappa, who maintains that older TV sets last longer after they're repaired than new ones.

"The older sets were made better and they'll last longer instead of getting a new one every two to three years," he said. "People think it's expensive to get a TV repaired, but it's. usually going to run between $60 and $100 on the average, and that's cheaper than getting a new set."

Czappa has decided he isn't taking things lying down. He's gotten into the video equipment rental business and has hired technicians qualified to repair video editing hardware.

Two years ago, he began mailing out thousands of repair discount coupons, distributing a newsletter that outlined the benefits of repairing TV sets and VCRs, and sending customers regular updates on products and tips on keeping equipment in good condition.

Czappa started out in 2000 with a newsletter mailing list of 2,000; today he sends out 9,000. More importantly, his homemade newsletter is bringing him repeat customers. "I get calls from people and e-mails and they seem to get a kick out of it," he said.

Each of the last two years, ARC has had revenues of $284,000.

One thing Czappa has made sure his customers know is that today's electronics are assembled with soldering powder that usually fails after two or three years. But when repaired with traditional soldering methods, equipment is good to go for years.

Nils Conrad Persson, editor of Electronics Servicing and Technology Magazine, said TV repairmen have become a dying breed. "There is a huge amount of electronics that will never be repaired because it's so cheap to just get something new," Persson said.

Persson estimated that the U.S. has lost 50 percent of all repair shops since 1992. As late as 1996. Burbank had 12 television repair shops, according to city officials.

Persson said repairmen like Czappa have been forced to become creative to survive. Some have turned to repairing video game consoles, computers and even the voice electronics of fast food drive-up restaurants. "We seem to be holding our own so far," Czappa said, noting that he expects to do about the same in sales this year as last.

In his mid-'90s heyday, Czappa had a staff of seven; today he has five. "But I have to keep those coupons and the newsletter going and keep reminding customers that we're here," he said.