Philco head-scratcher--UHF stations without converter on VHF-only TV?

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by bgadow

I have a big stack of "S9" magazines that I've saved just for Kneitel's writing. Any kin to "Ask Joe Gutts?"

I have a Predicta which has homemade labels affixed saying something like "6 for 23, 8 for 42" which I have assumed meant it had strips. (I can't recall the actual channels offhand, though I did research it once and guess that it might have come from western PA originally) I also have an Emerson from about '53 with a strip for local channel 16-works well. Somewhere I have a mayonaise jar full of ch.16 strips for a Zenith.

Interesting. I didn't realize that other manufacturers besides Zenith used UHF strips to adapt VHF-only TVs for UHF reception. I did not realize, either, that the tuner in Philco's "Predicta" TV could be used with strips in the unused VHF channel positions, nor that any of the Emerson sets of the 1950s were UHF-adaptable that way as well.

A mayonnaise jar full of channel 16 strips for Zenith TVs? Did you salvage these from junked Zenith sets? Just curious.


You mentioned local channel 16 (CBS, I think) in your area. I know you can also get channel 47, which is ABC. Does your area have NBC service as well? I think I remember seeing a listing somewhere (probably RadioStationWorld.com, when that site still had TV station links) for a channel 36 translator that rebroadcasts a Virginia station (Portsmouth's WAVY-TV channel ten, NBC) to the Salisbury area. If there is such a translator, how well do you receive it where you are? I remember you told me, in a reply to one of my posts a while ago, that you did manage to get something on channel 36, but it was so weak it was difficult to tell exactly what station it was. If you cannot receive the channel 36 translator in your area, how did folks in that area get NBC television before cable?

I know today you probably get the locals in Salisbury, the local TV stations in Washington and Baltimore, etc. on cable, but I was just curious as to what was available in your area in the days before even analog cable. Would it have been possible to use a high-power deep-fringe antenna on a rotor in Federalsburg to get the three network stations in Washington, Baltimore or both? I think Federalsburg may be in an area much like central New Jersey, where they get stations from New York and Philadelphia equally well. Is your area similarly located between Washington and Baltimore, or at least close enough to both cities that if you had a good enough antenna, you could get every network station from both areas? Again, I'm just curious. That might be a good experiment to run before the analog stations go away next year.