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.
Patrick Griffith, Westminster CO Broadcast Technician NRC Broadcasting - Denver http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com