Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] OT Early Airborne TV experiments

["Stewart, Joseph R" <RandyStewart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Matter of fact, the article is up on their website for all to see,
including the photo of the plane:

http://www.airspacemag.com/issues/2007/august/oldies_and_oddities.php

Randy Stewart
Springfield MO

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Griffith, N0NNK / WPE9HVW [mailto:AM-DXer@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 9:54 PM
To: am@xxxxxxxxxxx; irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [NRC-AM] OT Early Airborne TV experiments

The August issue of Air & Space magazine has an interesting 1 page story
titled Broadcast Bomber. It is about the 2nd phase of the experimental
Westinghouse Stratovision airborne television transmissions conducted
from a B-29 over Pittsburgh in 1948. It was used to broadcast the
Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to a 9 state area around
Pittsburgh on channel 6. From 25,000 feet it had a coverage area of 525
miles using a 5 kw transmitter for video and 1 kw for audio. The antenna
extended 28 feet from the belly of the aircraft and consisted of a 2
element turnstile for video and a 1 element circular dipole for audio.
It was a direct (live) relay of signals received from WMAR-TV in
Baltimore. The article includes a black and white airborne photo of the
aircraft with the transmitting antenna extended. Westinghouse originally
intended to develop this project into a nationwide network of airborne
transmitters providing TV & FM coverage to 78% of the population using
14 aircraft. However, the FCC delayed approval of the system citing
potential interference issues. By 1949 AT&T had setup a long distance
coaxial network providing an audio/video connection from the East Coast
to the Midwest. This effectively eliminated the need for Stratovision
and in 1950 Westinghouse dropped the idea.


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