Category Archives: Television History

Syncom Satellite

Sixty years ago this month, the January 1964 issue of Electronics Illustrated noted that it had been just over six decades since Marconi bridged the Atlantic without wires or ships in 1901. In the intervening years, the job had been done with satellites such as Telstar I and II.

But on July 26, 1963, a new experimental satellite, Syncom, had been launched from Cape Canaveral. The satellite was new in that it was synchronous. Its orbital period was 24 hours, so it seeming hovered at the same longitude. Since it was launched from 33 degrees north, it actually did a figure 8, hovering between 33 north and 33 south. But that was good enough to be continuously visible from both America and Europe and 22,300 miles.

The magazine noted that if such a satellite were launched from the equator, then it would stay above a single point on the earth’s surface. The magazine didn’t use the word, but this is what we know today as a geosynchronous orbit, although most geosynchronous satellites are today launched from other locations, first into a geostationary transfer orbit before being maneuvered into geosynchronous orbit. According to the magazine, the satellite’s two transmitters put out about 2 watts on 1915 MHz.

TV Stations On the Air 1948

Here is a snapshot of which TV stations were on the air 75 years ago. The coasts were where most of the action was, but it was clear that TV would soon blanket the nation, as there were stations on the air in places like Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas. This listing appeared in the December 1948 issue of Radio News, and lists the stations on the air as of November 1.

Movies on your Phonograph: 1923

This illustration from the November 1923 issue of Science and Invention fits squarely into the category of very interesting things that never caught on for want of a practical application.

It is a system for showing motion pictures from your phonograph. The phonograph is busy spinning at 78 RPM, and this system allows you to use that phenomenon to project movies. The frames of your movie are printed on the edge of a paper disk which is placed on the platter, just like a phonograph record. Two bright lights shine on the image, and the opaque image is projected through a prism onto the screen.

A single disk will give you a movie of about 1/78 of a minute long. To provide for longer movies, the disk bends up automatically as it passes under the prism, which allows the layer below to be shown.

The magazine refers to it only as the “Jenkins movie machine.” That is probably a reference to Charles Francis Jenkins (1867-1934), a pioneer of early cinema. He went on to television, as the principal of W3XK, the first television station in the United States, which began broadcasts to the general public in 1928.

TV Dinner Anniversary

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the TV Dinner. On September 10, 1953, Swanson introduced its frozen dinners, dubbed the TV Dinner. While that name brand was later abandoned, it has remained in the American vernacular as synonymous with frozen meals.

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Combination TV-Ottoman, 1953

If you had a small apartment 70 years ago and were in the market for a television, you might find this idea useful, from the July 1953 issue of Popular Mechanics. The magazine billed it as perhaps one of the most unusual TV cabinets. It was an ottoman on rollers and could take care of your sitting needs. But when opened up, it turned into a 20-inch television.

It was available from the Walter Weber Co. of 1106 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, CA.

General Instrument Model 60 UHF Tuner, 1953

Shown here, on the cover of the June 1953 issue of Radio-Electronics, is Barbara Reid, a worker at General Instrument in Elizabeth, NJ. She is making adjustments on the company’s Model 60 UHF tuner, which was in turn used in a number of manufacturers’ sets to tune channels 14-83, 470-890 MHz, which had been allocated to television in 1952.

According to the magazine, this band was an awkward one. The frequencies were too low for microwave and radar techniques, but too high for lumped-constant circuitry. Accordingly, this tuner, which found its way into sets made by companies such as Dumont, used a combination of both techniques.

DeWald BT-100 Television, 1948

If you were going to be an early adopter of television 75 years ago, it might be a fairly expensive proposition for you. This ad for the DeWald BT-100 appeared in the June 1948 issue of Radio News. The ad, for Warren Distributors, 3145 Washington St., Jamaica Plain, Mass., listed the set as selling for $372.10, which is the equivalent of over $4600 in 2023 dollars.

The set tuned 13 channels, meaning that it was all set to go for Channel 1, 44-50 MHz, even though that channel was soon to be abandoned in North America.

TV Antenna Tutorial from 1948

Over the next few years, the TV antenna on top of houses would become a familiar sight, But 75 years ago, the concept was new, even for experienced radio technicians, who were just starting to realize that the way they would stay in business was by embracing television.

Therefore, the June-July 1948 issue of National Radio News, the publication sent to alumni of National Radio Institute, carried an extensive treatise on the subject of antennas for FM and TV. One concept that would soon become familiar, but was probably new to most readers, was “ghosts” caused by multipath interference. The cause is shown above, and the result is shown below.

1953 Color Television Demonstration

Seventy years ago today, the May 11, 1953, issue of Life magazine gave Americans this sneak peak at what color television was going to look like. Specifically, it was the compatible color system from RCA (NTSC), which could be viewed on existing black and white sets. The magazine noted that a competing system from CBS had been approved, but was not compatible, and had been shelved by CBS itself. The magazine predicted that approval for RCA’s system would take place sometime in 1954. The approval actually took place later in 1953, and the first sets were on the market in 1954.

These images were from a demonstration of the system to members of Congress, and show a special production of Kukla, Fran & Ollie.

S&H Green Stamps for Sylvania Tubes, 1963

If you were responsible for procuring vacuum tubes for a TV repair shop 60 years ago, you would probably find this ad very appealing, and chances are, your next order would be for Sylvania tubes. This two-page spread in Electronics World, April 1963, shows two good reasons for stocking that brand. According to the left side of the page, they’re good tubes and they’ll last a long time.

But the right side of the page is even more compelling. When you start ordering Sylvania tubes, you start collecting S&H Green Stamps, just like the ones you get at the supermarket or the gas station. You collect the stamps, and before long, you can cash them in for valuable premiums, “everything from home furnishings to furs.”

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