How did UHF's make it (if they did) before...

[ixnay]

Does anyone know when the FCC required the tuners to be "clickable" to each channel for UHF?

I know in 1964 the FCC said all TV sold after that date must have a UHF tuner but for a long time the tuners were similar to radios, they didn't click on each channel. You just turned the dial to a point where a station came in.

Our color Zenith that I think I mentioned earlier in this thread had that feature. You tuned the VHF selector I LOVED playing with that; it made a funny sound) to what my dad called "channel UHF", then turned the little UHF knob to 17, 29, or 48. At least that's what I remember. I think my mom kept that Zenith until she remarried in 1980. In the early '70s she got me a small b&w RCA for my room, the first set in our home (we moved into an apartment after my folks divorced) with clickable UHF.

ixnay

 

[w9wi]

WITI, Channel 6 from Milwaukee (the CBS affiliate at the time, now it's Fox) has always been a tougher catch in Chicagoland than other Milwaukee channels thanks to being sandwiched between locals on 5 and 7. Though I'd imagine people in most of Lake County, IL had better luck with Milwaukee than Rockford.

Channel 7 wouldn't have been a problem, because there's a BIG gap between channels 6 and 7. (there's 14 channels worth of spectrum in there) I suppose channel 5 could have been a problem though.

Probably also a pile of little FM stations at the bottom of the band in every little suburb. (I remember taking my First Phone in Chicago in the late 1970s and literally EVERYONE else in the room was a high-school student (not that I was that much older) taking the Third so they could work at their school's 10-watt station.

Rockford stations have always been a bit on the wimpy side, as far as power (and tower height, especially) is concerned.

 

[rwells2265]

Our color Zenith that I think I mentioned earlier in this thread had that feature. You tuned the VHF selector I LOVED playing with that; it made a funny sound) to what my dad called "channel UHF"

My grandmother had one of those old '60s Zenith consoles. I remember that sound: "bewww-WEW!" The backlit display was different from any other I'd seen. The UHF tuner was a vertical slide-rule dial, and when it was set to "channel UHF", the backlight for the UHF dial would activate, and you could tune it with a huge knob underneath the dial.

A curious quirk about Zenith TVs of that day was the way they spelled out "UHF", with the letters all bunched together -- to my young eyes it looked like "UF" and I wondered why come they left off the H.

Those Zeniths were built to last, too. My grandmother's was bought in '66, I believe (or whenever the square-tube colors went on the market), and it survived until 1982. The set had a wireless remote -- big as a shoebox! -- and there were even bass and treble controls for the sound. That Zenith had a rich, lush sound from its single speaker. Home theater ahead of its time.

--Russell

 

[EnbyCee]

Rockford stations have always been a bit on the wimpy side, as far as power (and tower height, especially) is concerned.

Also true. The only Rockford station I ever picked up when in the south suburbs was WTVO-17 during an unbelievable tropo event when I was getting stations as far north as Green Bay. Even when I lived in DeKalb, I had problems getting WQRF-39 on rabbit ears. But up in the northwest suburbs most Rockford stations are (or were, when most people had rooftop antennas) at least halfway viewable.

 

[Ultimajock]

I doubt that too many folks in "The Region" put up a UHF antenna pointed towards South Bend - I know my family members in that area didn't, although if you lived in Porter or LaPorte Counties, the South Bend stations came in just fine on a UHF loop or bow-tie on the back of the set.

Not even to bust the blackout?

I grew up in Milwaukee, where towers and large antennas were not particularly unusual, especially on bars. There were plenty of well-run stations in Milwaukee, but none of them could air the Packers game if it wasn't sold out far enough in advance. The towers were used to receive the Chicago station that would still carry the game.

I would have thought a few people (and especially bars) south of Chicago would have put up antennas for South Bend to beat the blackout on Bears games. (I'm sure those north of Chicago would have used Milwaukee)

...when I lived in Kenosha I'd regularly pick up WNDU/16 and WSBT/22 from South Bend (as well as an occasional WSJV/28) from South Bend and WOTV/8, WZZM/13 and WUHQ/41 from Southeastern Michigan, all over the waters of Lake Michigan. I'd have to think at least the Western Michigan VHF stations, depending on how close to the lake one was, could be a blackout option for Milwaukeeans as well...