Shown here are Ed Parsons, W7FKZ, and his wife Grace. Parsons was the owner of KAST in Astoria, Oregon. It was Mrs. Parsons who came up with the idea of having television, and she knew that if anyone could do it, it was Parsons. In addition to running the station, Parsons was the go-to man for the town’s fishing boats when they needed electronic equipment repaired.

The problem was that Astoria was 140 miles away from the closest TV station, KRSC (later KING-TV), channel 5, in Seattle. Complicating the problem were mountains along the path. Parsons took up the challenge, and drove every inch of the city, and discovered that there were fingerlike bands where a signal was making it. One of those bands included his penthouse apartment, and he set up shop there. While his wife watched the set for a signal, he adjusted the antenna, communicating by telephone.

Eventually, he had success, and his house had constant visitors. Eventually, he set up a rudimentary Cable TV system, retransmitting the signal on channel 2 into a coaxial cable, which could be run up to 2000 feet. Within this radius were a number of businesses who had sets running in their shop windows.

This story appeared in the April 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics. A more in-depth biography of Parsons can be found at this link.