Back in the 80's

[MarioMania]

When I lived in Pacifica, I use to watch the Transformers on Ch. 31 on my B/W TV while KQEC was off the air..Back then I didn't know what I know now is a Tropo on UHF

Another time at night, When KRON 4 signed off, I saw something faint, Someone told me here it was Ch. 4 in Reno

Also love listening to FM too from Pacifica, KSFM came in like a local one day, Got 104.1 in Modesto, CA when they were KHOP

I really miss the days of Analog TV, I didn't know about E's or even Tropo's in the 80's

 

[gar hi]

I miss analog TV too.

There used to be a lot of real good tropo on TV during the spring in Florida where stations across the Gulf would greatly interfere with the local Tampa stations.

The local stations used to run a little message across the bottom of the screen if it got really strong that said "Atmospheric conditions beyond our control are causing interference with your picture".

If I moved the rabbit ears to just the right position, I could null out the local station and pick up the distant ones.

This perfect picture or nothing at all reception with digital TV is no fun.

 

[MarioMania]

The only time i got KCRA 3 in Pacifica was when KRON was off for the night also

 

[charlestondxman]

Forget about the 80s. Try 2007-2009. The waning days of analog television. I used to get great reception with just a Walkman. Living in SC, I'd get DX outbreaks with TV signals. I got KGAN from Cedar Rapids, Iowa one day from North Myrtle Beach, SC. Another day, I logged KFDX Wichita Falls, TX and a OETA station from OK, both on Channel 3, from Folly Beach.

On 87.7 I'd get 3 Channel 6 stations very frequently. Either Wilmington, NC, Augusta, or Orlando depending on the day. I'd get Orlando TV stations (over 250 miles away) with rabbit ears some nights in the summer. Columbia and Savannah were very frequent. That's something you can't really do with that type of an antenna with digital.

I can't even get our local PBS with that antenna, and I have trouble with a couple of the other locals.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Forget about the 80s. Try 2007-2009. The waning days of analog television. I used to get great reception with just a Walkman. Living in SC, I'd get DX outbreaks with TV signals. I got KGAN from Cedar Rapids, Iowa one day from North Myrtle Beach, SC. Another day, I logged KFDX Wichita Falls, TX and a OETA station from OK, both on Channel 3, from Folly Beach.

On 87.7 I'd get 3 Channel 6 stations very frequently. Either Wilmington, NC, Augusta, or Orlando depending on the day. I'd get Orlando TV stations (over 250 miles away) with rabbit ears some nights in the summer. Columbia and Savannah were very frequent. That's something you can't really do with that type of an antenna with digital.

I can't even get our local PBS with that antenna, and I have trouble with a couple of the other locals.

There are a lot of far flung towns in Texas with significant populations (a few thousand). I have noticed less and less large antennas, and more and more satellite dishes as I drive through. They are obviously having problems with over the air TV since the switch. Not surprising. The only fresh installations I have seen are either high VHF/UHF only, or FM.

 

[schmave]

I still see a lot of these in small towns 50-60 miles from the nearest major city, and every time I see one, I think of how obsolete most if not all of them are and have been for seven years. I can't imagine these antennas can pick up the all-or-nothing digital signals very well.
Growing up in Columbus, our family never had an antenna like this. We always had cable. But my uncle who lived outside St. Marys, Ohio, about 60 miles north of Dayton and the same distance southeast of Fort Wayne, had a tall antenna fully capable of picking up all stations from both cities as well as stations from nearby Lima, only about 15 miles northeast. Much better selection of OTA stations than the local cable ever had. Nowadays, I have no idea how tall an antenna would have to be to pick up what that analog outfit did 20-30 years ago.

 

[cyberdad]

In the late '70s I rented a tri-level house in the same town where I am now 40-odd miles northwest of Chicago. It had a "mid-sized" yagi antenna on the roof with a rotor. I got a viewable picture on every VHF channel on every channel but 3 and 8. (Chicago and Milwaukee, plus Channel 13 from Rockford IL). On channels 4 and 6, in addition to near-local quality Milwaukee stations, I could rotate the antenna to null Milwaukee and get WHBF-TV from Rock Island, IL, and WOC-TV from Davenport, IA respectively more often than not. Channel 3 would usually (but not always) produce WISC-TV from Madison, WI and WKZO-TV from Kalamazoo, MI. Just the thing for channel flipping on Sundays enabling me to watch the Bears, Packers, and Lions "simultaneously". (Who needs "NFL Sunday Ticket"). Finally, there was channel 8....which produced WQAD-TV from Moline, IL about 50% of the time, and sometimes also WOOD-TV from Grand Rapids.

Fast forward nearly 40 years, and I'd question how reliable OTA digital TV would be at my location today. And I honestly don't know anyone in town who gets their TV via antenna.

 

[MarioMania]

In Pacifica

We had 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20, 26, 32, 36, 38, 44, 48, 54, 60 to choose from

I never really watched 40 at the time, Ch.58 came on later

 

[gr8oldies]

Where I grew up in Coldwater, Ohio, the typical installation was a VHF antenna pointed to Dayton, a UHF antenna pointed to Fort Wayne and a smaller UHF antenna pointed to Lima. Even with that setup (and not the tallest antenna in the neighborhood) DX was still to be had. I had DXed places like Kalamazee MI and Wausau WI (I really wish I had my old logbooks), and E-skip on VHF coming from Florida, Texas and even Cuba.

I still see a lot of these in small towns 50-60 miles from the nearest major city, and every time I see one, I think of how obsolete most if not all of them are and have been for seven years. I can't imagine these antennas can pick up the all-or-nothing digital signals very well.
Growing up in Columbus, our family never had an antenna like this. We always had cable. But my uncle who lived outside St. Marys, Ohio, about 60 miles north of Dayton and the same distance southeast of Fort Wayne, had a tall antenna fully capable of picking up all stations from both cities as well as stations from nearby Lima, only about 15 miles northeast. Much better selection of OTA stations than the local cable ever had. Nowadays, I have no idea how tall an antenna would have to be to pick up what that analog outfit did 20-30 years ago.

 

[gar hi]

I'm glad I grew up when I did.

In the early 70's, I had my father install an antenna on the roof so I could get all the New York VHF channels from 80 miles away near Philly.

In the middle of the day, they were 'snowy' with lines but still watchable and many nights and mornings in the spring and summer they came in much better and sometimes crystal clear like the locals.

It would be nearly impossible to receive those channels now on digital from that location.

When the planes were landing at PHL in a certain pattern on some days and flying overhead, the picture quality of the New York channels could either greatly improve for very brief periods of 10 seconds or less or sometimes the Baltimore or Washington channels on the same frequencies would completely take over for the same brief amount of time.

When there was E Skip, New York channels 2,4, and 5 were completely wiped out without a trace and replaced by the ones from places like Florida, the Midwest, or even Canada.

 

[joebtsflk1]

In the mid 70s, the roof on my folks' house was replaced, and down came the 10 ft angle iron tower and Winegard antenna. Think a slightly heavier version of those ornamental windmills. The next year, it was replaced by a 50 ft Rohn 25G tower bracketed to the side of the house. In southeast Iowa, we were on the fringes of the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids-Waterloo markets, plus a strong channel 3 from Kirksville MO, which everyone picked from the back of the antenna.

Channel 2 was the worst for interference as you might expect. It was extra frustrating because that was the favorite station for us back then. Some summer evenings it got bad enough that they'd super a message to the effect of "Atmospheric Conditions Causing Receptions Problems".

Channels 7 and 8 were the next toughest. This was the result of the close spacing between the channel 7s in Hannibal/Quincy and Waterloo, and the 8s in Des Moines and the Quad Cities. Both pairs were separated by a little over 170 miles, the standard in Zone I. But Iowa was Zone II. We got to see firsthand how 170 mile spacing between Zone I 1000 footers did against Zone II 2000 footers. Most days there were the usual "venetian blinds" on both channels.

We tried the UHF translators for a few years, with a 4 bay bowtie mounted below the VHF. Both antennas were on a single mast above the rotor, which meant pointing everything towards Ottumwa to pick up channel 72 (channel 7 Hannibal/Quincy), 74 (ch 8 Des Moines) and 76 (channel 13 Des Moines). Talk about tuning inertia. Our old rotor control box didn't have the automatic knob control. Most of the time the signals the translators got in Ottumwa for channel 8 had about the same amount of interference that we had on the direct VHF signal, so in practice we didn't use the UHF much. We should have used a little eave-mount for the UHF instead of putting it above the rotor. When the new antenna on the 50 ft Rohn tower came along, we didn't bother with the UHF.

Independent UHF TV didn't come to Iowa til the 80s. Channel 17 in Des Moines started up with as much tower and transmitter as the local investors could afford: 1500 ft and about 3 million watts ERP. So it was a little flaky at the fringes where we were. There were at least a few stacked channel 17 yagis that sprouted on area rooftops.

 

[joebtsflk1]

Here in Cañon City CO, there are a lot of old VHF yagis still on rooftops. I've thought about a one-time calendar similar to Scott Fybush's Tower Calendar, but I don't know if 1. there'd be any takers and 2. if my amateur photography would produce good enough images.

The antennas are starting to disappear as new roofs get installed. I have taken a number of pictures over the years, including a rather sweet Finco "bedspring" that's since disappeared.

 

[schmave]

Where I grew up in Coldwater, Ohio, the typical installation was a VHF antenna pointed to Dayton, a UHF antenna pointed to Fort Wayne and a smaller UHF antenna pointed to Lima. Even with that setup (and not the tallest antenna in the neighborhood) DX was still to be had. I had DXed places like Kalamazee MI and Wausau WI (I really wish I had my old logbooks), and E-skip on VHF coming from Florida, Texas and even Cuba.

Do you think those antennas could get anything nowadays (made to pick up digital signals, of course)? I wish I had tried this with my small digital antenna in the past few years when I visited that area. I am guessing that from St. Marys, even on a second or third floor, a small indoor antenna could get me *some* Lima and nothing else. No idea what an outdoor antenna would bring in.
I don't know if you are familiar with this tower, gr8oldies, but the huge tower with antennas and satellite dishes that was situated right outside Moulton for years is now gone. I was told that was Warner/Time Warner's tower.

 

[gr8oldies]

That's correct, it was the Warner Cable tower serving Wapakoneta and St. Marys.. It's right across from where 92.1 used to be (the old WERM, later WAXC, where I briefly worked). I'm guessing that antenna configuration wouldn't pick up much today except Lima (remember the channels are all in different places, despite what the "virtual" channel is). In fact, both 2 and 7 are in reality on UHF (41 and 50 if I remember correctly). WLIO is now on 8, though there is another station on 35.

Do you think those antennas could get anything nowadays (made to pick up digital signals, of course)? I wish I had tried this with my small digital antenna in the past few years when I visited that area. I am guessing that from St. Marys, even on a second or third floor, a small indoor antenna could get me *some* Lima and nothing else. No idea what an outdoor antenna would bring in.
I don't know if you are familiar with this tower, gr8oldies, but the huge tower with antennas and satellite dishes that was situated right outside Moulton for years is now gone. I was told that was Warner/Time Warner's tower.

 

[Ai4i]

Can you believe that after more than half a century,
I am still seeing totally corroded out conical TV antennæ with elements broken off or dangling down,
in the older residential neighborhoods of Miami?
The 300Ω twin-lead feed lines have all long since gone, eaten up by hurricanes and whatever else.

 

[joebtsflk1]

Can you believe that after more than half a century,
I am still seeing totally corroded out conical TV antennæ with elements broken off or dangling down,
in the older residential neighborhoods of Miami?
The 300Ω twin-lead feed lines have all long since gone, eaten up by hurricanes and whatever else.

That anything is left of those old antennas in Miami is saying something. Here in Cañon City, it's all about location. The areas closest to the mountains that are well sheltered from wind have a good number of well preserved examples, some complete with intact, twisted twin-lead. Travel a couple miles away from the "bowl" and it's a whole different story. Any antennas that remain range from those with a couple elements missing to outright mangled tentacles of aluminum.

 

[charlestondxman]

I still see a few of those antennas around the Charleston area. Most people rely on cable/satellite, but the OTA still has about 8-9% of the local audience.

Where it hurts is in the rural areas of Colleton, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties that are far away from the local transmitters. They have trouble getting a strong OTA signal, and have to rely on poor cable systems or satellite for TV reception.

 

[gr8oldies]

Around Knoxville and East Tennessee, Isee see some antennas. I'd imagine if you can "see" Sharps Ridge, you're OK. I wasn't hear in the analog TV days to have had first hand experience.

 

[gar hi]

Down at the Jersey shore in Beach Haven, my parents had a summer rental bungalow and in between tenants and in the off season, we'd often stay there for a weekend.

The place had cable TV that got both the Philadelphia and New York stations on VHF. It was about 80 miles from New York and 60 plus miles from the Philadelphia transmitting towers that are located west of the city.

The tower on Long Beach Island where the cable originated was about 200 feet tall and was a bunch of the typical VHF antennas you'd see on rooftops positioned up and down the tower pointing at either city.

The picture was clear on all the channels but there still were those little 'lines' present from co frequency interference all the time and during E Skip or tropo, the interference from the distant stations was quite strong.

That was still much better than digital TV we have now.

 

[Icangelp]

My Grandfather was a major baseball fan, the Cardinals to be specific, and he was willing to invest in the sport he loved. Dizzy Dean reigned supreme.

Living in Southern Indiana didn't allow for rabbit ears, so he bought the best antenna, rotator and tallest tower available to him. I don't remember the TV brand, but it was top of the line. I also remember that under no circumstances were the grandkids allowed to approach that TV, let alone touch the rotator dial. I know why ($$$) now, but I didn't back then.

Loogootee, IN was a great spot for reception...except for the hills to the north.

Here is what he got in 1954/55...don't know how well they all came in.
Indiana -
Bloomington (serving Indianapolis) WTTV CH 4
Evansville WEHT (Henderson KY) CH 50
Evansville WFIE CH 62
Indianapolis WFBM CH 6
Indianapolis WISH CH 8
Princeton IN WRAY CH 52

Kentucky
Louisville WAVE CH 3
Lousiville WHAS CH 11
Louisville's WKLO CH 21 wasn't listed on his sheet.
I believe he also received Cincinnati & St. Louis VHF channels.

Not bad for a town of 5,000.