[Boatanchors] TVI Tale

[W4AWM@aol.com]

A very funny tale, in deed.  Since TV receivers of the time had 21MHz IFs and 
the 6 meter band was 50-54MHZ and Channel 2 transmission was and is in the 54 
to 60 MHz range, it is readily appearent that anything floating around in the 
air near any of those frequencies could wreak all sorts of havoc.

Back in the hills of western North Carolina, lies the City of Asheville.  One 
hundred miles away, lies the City of Charlotte. Back in late 1954 when I got 
my General license, the only TV station in the State was WBTV, Channel 3, in 
Charlotte.  In Asheville, which was quite high in altitude, there were 
several areas in town that could receive a reasonably fair picture from 
Charlotte.  That is, most the time. Storms, atmospheric conditions, ignition 
noise, virtually anything would severely hamper, if not wipe the signal out 
completely.  There were other areas in town where the picture appeared as a 
sled dog race in a snow storm, but there were well heeled folks living in 
these areas who just had to have the latest technology, regardless.  Back 
then, most all antenna cables were flat 300 ohm ribbon, referred to as "twin 
lead."  There were no chaap Japanese baluns allowing easy use of RG-59 and I 
don't think the "F" connector had come upon the scene at that time.

Needless to say, most any kind of ham operation anywhere near a TV receiver 
in Asheville completely obliterated reception, with the resultant hue and cry 
from set owners.

Meanwhile, KPRC in Houston, TX went on the air on channel 2. In the early 
50s, sun spot activity was at a peak, DX was all over the place, and so was 
Channel 2! Many days, KPRC came rolling through with an absolutely beautiful 
picture and clean audio. Co-channel interference used to wipe out channel 3 
all over town and the set owners never thought to look anywhere else but 
channel 3, the closest station.

Needless to say, any ham known to the set owners started receiving phone 
calls, threats, etc. any time this occured.  The FCC was overwhelmed with 
complaints. Their standard reply was to inform the set owners that they were 
not supposed to be receiving any television signal due to the distances 
involved and there was literally nothing the Commission could or would do.  
They also mentioned the engineering excellence of the amateur stations.

In fact, the Asheville Amateur Radio Club at the time, had a very active TVI 
committee and most the hams in the area were clean.  In my case, I was 
operating a Viking II directly behind a 21" RCA set which was on the other 
side of the wall from my ham shack.  I had a high pass filter and a good 
chassis ground directly on the TV set.  The Viking had a home brew line 
filter and a good ground, but I couldn't afford one of those nice low pass 
filters, being a lowly high school student who borrowed the money for the 
Viking kit from my grandmother. In any event, I was nearly clean, the only 
problem being 15 meters, which I rarely operated, then or now.

In 1955, I left the area for California and subsequently joined the Air 
Force.  Because my stacked 10 over 20 beams were still on the chimney, my 
family continued to receive irate calls and threats from folks all over town 
for many years.  Many knew I was away from home, but that didn't seem to 
matter.  Human nature, folks.

Those sure were the good old days!  

Oh, I almost forgot, what did we young hams do for mischief?  Well, how about 
going to a drive in theatre, especially one running a horror move.  About the 
scariest part, we would fire the mobile up on 75, get out of the car with a 
48" fluorescent tube, strike it on the antenna and proceed to check field 
strength around the car. Got 'em every time!

73,  

John,  W4AWM


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