LOW-COST TELEVISION OPERATION

How WNHC-TV, Without Benefit or Cost of Cable Connection,
Gives New Haven Audience the Best Television Shows

THE cost of originating television programs and operating a metropolitan station has established the fact that this is a sure-fire way for those who have the money to lose it on a grand scale. But what of those who must think about going into television on something approaching break-even basis?

Well, there are three angles to consider: 1) the possibility of hooking up with the coaxial cable network, if the proposed station is located where that is physically practical and possible. If not: 2) the possibility of programming the station with films potraying the Perils of Pauline and the Keystone Cops, which even a new audience will soon label as stinko. Or: 3) as WNCH-TV New Haven is doing with great success, repeating programs received by radio from one or more stations carrying top-rated shows. This, of course, assumes that a receiver can be located where it can pick-up solid signals and relay them to the transmitter by direct connection or by microwave relay.

The WNHC-TV Operation:

WNHC was launched in 1944 as an independent station with 250 watts on 1340 kc. From this beginning, president Patrick J. Goode and secretary-treasurer Aldo diDominices of the Elm City Broadcasting Corporation laid their plans to push on into FM and TV. This probably influenced their decision to acquire, in the beginning, a studio building of large proportions, opposite the Yale campus.

The FM application for 99.1 mc. was filed in the summer of 1947. A transmitter site was chosen on Gaylord Mountain, 710 ft. above sea level, and 8 miles from the center of New Haven. After a road was built to the site, a modern building was erected to house a 10-kw. G. E. FM transmitter and “anything else that might come along.” That, of course, meant television. Indeed, by the first of 1948, this third WNHC project had gone through the application stage, and a tentative date for starting channel 6 operations was being discussed.

The original plan was to purchase a DuMont Acorn package, but that acorn grew to the dimensions of a 5-kw transmitter. Once started, the management determined that no time should be lost in getting on the air. DuMont responded with wholehearted cooperation, and soon trucks were rolling up the Mountain with all the equipment and accessories. These even included the cameras, for it was decided that WNHC-TV would be on the air at the first minute possible, without waiting for the microwave ST link to be installed.

So, on June 15, 1948, chief engineer Vincent deLaurentis had both the FM and TV facilities ready to go. FM programs duplicated those of WNHC, but the plan developed for TV was quite another story. And here it is.

Low-Cost TV Programming:

The installation of a DuMont 16-mm. projector, provided a means for handling commercial films of automobiles, soft drinks, and ladies’ wearing apparel, but that is not the program material to build and hold a television audience. That requires the top-talent shows and special features originated in New York, or coming in there by network. No connection was available at New Haven to the NY--Boston AT&T relay and, if it had been, there was a question as to whether, at least in the beginning, TV revenue would have justified the cost. So here is the plan that was worked out.

Although New Haven is 76 miles from New York City, and substantially beyond the primary service range of WABD, DuMont engineers were certain that solid signals could be picked up at a favorable location and fed to the WNHC-TV transmitter.

Accordingly, a receiver was installed on Oxford Hill, 8 miles from the transmitter, and a microwave ST link was set up, This very simple rig, described in detail in the next section, proved complety satisfactory. Only the picture signals from WABD are handled by this system. The audio signals are carried from the originating studio to the transmitter by a telephone line.

Then a contract was signed with DuMont under which WNHC-TV would be paid for commercial programs sold by the network, and would select others to be carried on a sustaining basis. This provided additional income for WNHC-TV, and gave the station the type of programs needed to build immediate acceptance for television in the New Haven area. And, not the least important factor of this operation, the cost of networking was only the small expense of the pickup and relay station at Oxford Hill.

Thus, a sound business setup, plus some smart engineering, added up to launch WNHC-TV with programs that were received enthusiastically by the local audience.

Subsequently, arrangements were made to take certain CBS and NBC shows, also. These details are handled from week to week by the Katz Agency in New York.

Engineering Details:

The WABD receiver is separated from the WNHC-TV transmitter because signals from the former come in on channel 5, while the latter operates on channel 6.

A building located at Oxford Hill and a wooden pole which carries the WABD receiving antenna mounted at the very top, feeds a crystal controlled receiver, which inturn feeds the picture signals into an RCA microwave transmitter operating on 7,100 mc.

The parabola of the relay transmitter is mounted face up in the wooden structure at the base of the pole, and directly below a sheet metal reflecter. Thus the 7,100-mc. signals are reflected horizontally, and in the direction of the receiver at Gaylord Mountain.

There is a practical reason for this somewhat unorthodok installation. Ordinarily, little maintenance is required for the microwave transmitter, but it is essential that it be readily accessible when it needs attention. Since the only available support was a wooden pole, service work in such an exposed position would he impossible. By using an angle reflector, it was possible to mount the transmitter on the ground. The resulting loss is negligible.

One problem was encountered, but that was met easily. Drifting snow that collected in the antenna dish did not affect transmission, but water leaked into the "ashcan" at a point where the hooked waveguide at the center of the parabola joins the waveguide section leading to the equipment. There was similar trouble with the vertically-mounted units. However, a thin rubber gasket and a bit of paint around the joint stopped that trouble.

The relay system has proved excellent in performance and surprisingly reliable. It is normally unattended, for a time clock turns the equipment on and off according to schedule. A telephone line between Oxford Hill and Gaylord Mountain facilitates coordination between the two points when adjustments are necessary.

An Esterline-Angus recorder, records the WABD field-strength, and any interruptions of the commercial electric power supply. Since the time of day is indicated on the chart, it can be determined whether any failure of the relay system is due to a break-down in the euipment or to a power failure.

The audio portion of WABD comes up from New York by an AT & T land line, terminating at the television audio console, at the New Haven studio.

A 15,000-cycle line, furnished by the Southern New England Telephone Company, runs from the studio to the TV transmitter. There are also a second 15,000-cycle line for the FM transmitter, and the usual order wires for routine operations.

The FM and TV equipment at the Gaylord Mountain station, are installed together, with the 5-kw. DuMont TV units at the left, and the 10-kw. G. E. FM assembly to the right. There are FM controls and monitor console and TV controls and monitoring consoles, and a separate shading console for films and slides.

RCA diplexer and triplexer units, feed the three transmitters into one antenna. The tower carries, in addition to the broadcast transmitting radiators, receiving antennas for picking up New York stations WCBS-TV and WNBT, and receiving parabolas for microwave transmitters at the New Haven studio and at Oxford Hill. Thus the tower serves five purposes. Since CBS and NBC programs come in on channels 2 and 4 respectively, no difficulty is experienced with receiving them at the transmitter. WNBT signal intensity is approximately 300 microvolts. WCBS-TV intensity is slightly lower, but this is compensated for by additional gain in the receiving antenna design. Both picture and audio signals are received on a Motorola VT-l05 set, operated from a regulated power supply. The receiver is modified so that, instead of feeding the grid of the picture tube, signals are fed to a distribution amplifier. This is, perhaps, the boldest engineering attack on a problem of this nature.

However, by the use of a double-shielded room to house the receiving equipment, and a point-by-point job of cleaning up the signals, all the stray RFI fields from the three transmitters were eliminated.

Two microwave receivers are used for the transmitters at the New Haven studio and at Oxford Hill. One heartbreaking incident in connection with the ST relay is worth relating. After a study of the topographical map, it was determined that there was a line-of-sight path between the church belfry, adjacent to the New Haven studios, and the tower on Gaylord Mountain. Accuracy of the map was confirmed by a check made at night with a red light. But when the transmitter and receiver were installed, although they were operating properly, no signal came through! A re-examination of the path showed that the line just cleared the top of an interposed hill. The map had shown the hill, all right, but not a thick, wide cluster of trees at the top of the hill. When the trees were chopped down, the signals came through without any further difficulty.

If this account indicates that the work at WNHC-TV has gone forward without a hitch or a headache, it is only because space does not permit presentation of more details. However, the skill, enthusiasm, and persistence of the engineering staff have been equal to every occasion. Now, with the station in full swing, facilities are being added and improved. And, it should be noted, this work is being done by the regular station personnel which handles FM and AM operations, also.

FM and Television/March, 1949 Garo W. Ray/Consulting Radio Engineer, V.P. Elm City Broadcasting (WNHC), New Haven, CT