Hey, did you ever tape any of the wild feeds or strange stuff off the dish? I find all the old '80s/'90s C-Band clips fascinating, as our family never had a BUD. Talk about a lot of 'lost media', especially whenever news reporters or A-list sports personalities would crack jokes, curse and say interesting things during commercials or before they were cued.
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Stories About BUDs (Big Ugly Dishes)
- Thread starter Markxxx
- Start date
Actually, I checked using Rabbitears.info, and it would not be line of sight from Mt Washington. And you are quite right, WMTW would have played havoc with it.
Sometimes the highest locations aren't the best ones. For some reason, I wasn't able to get WLOS on Mt Mitchell, I had everything from the Tri-Cities (even WYMT Hazard KY IIRC) to the Triad and down to Columbia, but not WLOS. Mt Pisgah was actually more interesting, it may have been atmospheric conditions that day, but I was getting WTVD from Durham and stations from Macon GA. That was back in analog days, and I used one of the smaller RadioShack VU antennas (small enough to fold up and put in my trunk along with a tripod and mast). The lodge at Mt Pisgah had small UHF loops on the in-room TV sets along with a card that said something like "due to our location, we cannot guarantee any particular stations, but you should be able to get stations from various cities because we are on such a high elevation". They hadn't yet installed a satellite MATV, and this was certainly a low-cost option.
I don't recall getting any of those. I do distinctly remember getting WACH-57 from Columbia.
Not much. Recorded a bit of DX, though.
Yes
I've heard of cable systems carrying CBC North in the US back when it was in the clear.
I never had a BUD growing up, but my great-grandma had one, along with an old antenna for locals fixed ESE (at the very weak FOX affiliate; that antenna angle also provided solid signals from ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS). I vaguely remember at least one of the Denver Six being accidentally unscrambled one Sunday afternoon.
I never had a BUD growing up, but my great-grandma had one, along with an old antenna for locals fixed ESE (at the very weak FOX affiliate; that antenna angle also provided solid signals from ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS). I vaguely remember at least one of the Denver Six being accidentally unscrambled one Sunday afternoon.
I remember reading somewhere that the analog C-SPAN feed only lasted as long as it did -- until November 2021 -- because there were multiple federal government users dragging their feet on modernizing their TVRO installations for digital reception.
I don't know how credible that information was. But simply from knowing that every commercial and private cable system in the country (including all lingering home BUD users via 4DTV) had long since become fully digitally equipped, it was obvious that whatever users analog C-SPAN had remaining, they were people who were only receiving C-SPAN and absolutely no other channels whatsoever -- or else they would have needed digital receivers capable to pick up all those other all-digital channels, making the very need for C-SPAN's continued analog presence moot.
Interesting aside: the exact shut-off date for analog C-SPAN had been designated as November 1, 2021. But whomever it was that was dragging their feet apparently dragged them so heavily, the network had to continue broadcasting in analog past even that deadline. Because analog C-SPAN didn't finally disappear until November 6.
I don't know how credible that information was. But simply from knowing that every commercial and private cable system in the country (including all lingering home BUD users via 4DTV) had long since become fully digitally equipped, it was obvious that whatever users analog C-SPAN had remaining, they were people who were only receiving C-SPAN and absolutely no other channels whatsoever -- or else they would have needed digital receivers capable to pick up all those other all-digital channels, making the very need for C-SPAN's continued analog presence moot.
Interesting aside: the exact shut-off date for analog C-SPAN had been designated as November 1, 2021. But whomever it was that was dragging their feet apparently dragged them so heavily, the network had to continue broadcasting in analog past even that deadline. Because analog C-SPAN didn't finally disappear until November 6.
Why were you on Mt. Mitchell?
In the mid 80s a man who went to my church had a dish. He said if there was anything I wanted to see I could. I never took advantage. We were way out in the country and I don't know if there was cable yet. An antenna did fine for reception.
I lived next door to a factory that made dishes. While I was in college someone from the company came and talked to my parents before the factory was built.
Also near us was a gigantic factory which I think made cable. You know they were about to do very well.
I lived next door to a factory that made dishes. While I was in college someone from the company came and talked to my parents before the factory was built.
Also near us was a gigantic factory which I think made cable. You know they were about to do very well.
To see what kind of DX I could get there (and there's a bunch).
It's a publicly accessible site with a large parking lot (where I put up my gear), some concessions, and a short hiking trail to the summit. They also have a small restaurant, gift shop, and a lodge-type room a bit lower down the mountain, with comfortable chairs and panoramic views of the mountains. I'm rather fond of the place, when I can get there.
Prestonsburg KY, I'm not surprised. I found that on the parking lot of Mt Mitchell, I had a "fan" that can be described by Hazard KY, Grundy VA, and the Tri-Cities to the north, then east to the Triad stations, down along an arc encompassing Charlotte, sweeping through Columbia, then on up obeying the SC-GA border, then back up through western NC. I'm pretty sure I got Knoxville but I don't recall specifics. Another DXer told me that he'd picked up WKSO-29 Somerset KY from that location. At some point, even at the most advantageous location possible, curvature of the earth is eventually going to have its way, allowing for knife-edge propagation here and there.
During that time at the TV station I found a feed of ABC's Sam Donaldson sitting at a desk. That was all.
There is a clip of the late anchor Max Robinson losing his cool on a not intended for broadcast feed. I won't directly link to it since it's VERY NSFW but look up "irate ABC newscaster" and its the first link