Television via B-29.....

[chico]

http://www.airspacemag.com/issues/2007/august/oldies_and_oddities.php

Broadcast Bomber

By Margaret Moen


Stratovision had one brief shining moment: On June 23, 1948, the system’s airplane-borne TV transmitters rebroadcast the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to the nine-state area around Pittsburgh, with a demonstration for reporters in Zanesville, Ohio. “Stratovision is a reality with future unlimited,” cheered the Martin Star, a publication of the Glenn L. Martin Company, which, in a partnership with Westinghouse, had backed the system.

Westinghouse electrical engineer Charles E. Nobles developed Stratovision as a way to transmit television and FM radio programs to a wide audience. The underlying problem, the Martin Star explained, was that waves in the very-high-frequency bands used by TV and FM travel in a straight line from the transmitting tower and, unlike AM signals, do not conform to Earth’s curvature. Therefore, the horizon as viewed from the tower was the limit at which TV or radio could be heard—50 to 100 miles in diameter, depending on antenna height.

Nobles, a radar expert, told Westinghouse that he realized “the possibilities of television and FM radio operation, since both have characteristics similar to radar, from an airplane,” particularly given an airplane’s altitude, flying in “lazy circles” high above Earth. Nobles said that an airborne signal could extend to 211 miles in one direction, compared with 50 miles from a transmitter atop the Empire State Building.

Nobles predicted Stratovision would deliver TV and FM to “small town and farm homes.” Thus the focus on Zanesville, population 38,000, with the nearest TV service at Cleveland and Cincinnati, both 100 miles distant.

Three years of flight testing had preceded Stratovision’s debut, with some early tests using a Lockheed PV-2. Before its Zanesville triumph, the system underwent several test flights and broadcasts from a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Results showed a good signal could be broadcast from 25,000 feet to an area up to 525 miles in diameter. A Youngstown, Ohio viewer wrote to Nobles: “Reception was good, contrast excellent, sound excellent, and a slight shakiness in picture.”

For the June demonstration, Westinghouse and Martin flew reporters to Zanesville. They watched the broadcast at the Zanesville Country Club, where TV sets had been installed for the occasion.

A B-29, orbiting 25,000 feet above Pittsburgh, rebroadcast the Republican convention directly from WMAR-TV in Baltimore, 9 to 10 p.m. EDT. The bomber was outfitted with an eight-foot mast on its vertical stabilizer to receive programs; the signal was sent from the antenna to the cabin, and on to the broadcast antenna. The antenna, stored horizontally in the bomb bay, projected 28 feet down when operating.

After the convention transmission, Martin and Westinghouse representatives trumpeted Stratovision’s future. They foresaw a nationwide Stratovision network, with programs beamed from one airplane to the next. Fourteen airplanes could bring TV and FM radio to 78 percent of the population; a comparable ground installation network would require more than 100 relay points, Westinghouse estimated. A fleet of 60 Martin 202 airliners would suffice.

A January 1949 Martin press release declared Stratovision “ready for commercial development,” but its stellar prospects were dimming. In August 1948, Westinghouse had petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for a permit to launch the first Stratovision station, operating near Pittsburgh. The following month, the FCC, wanting to examine signal interference between stations, put a freeze on new permits.

In 1949, AT&T set up a coaxial cable network to connect the East Coast with the Midwest, largely through underground wiring. Westinghouse dropped Stratovision in 1950.

[Warbird Kid]

The "Model" light bulb just went off in my head.

[Xrayist]

Must have had to have REALLY tall landing gear with that front antenna!

[gtokid]

During the 60's Purdue University did something vary similar with 2 DC-6's. MPATI (Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction) used the DC-6 with a 40 foot antenna to broadcast classroom instructional programs. I work with a guy who did maintenance on the aircraft. He said the antenna folded back for take-off and landing.

http://www.geocities.com/mpati_pg/

http://www.ait.net/technos/tq_10/3gibson.php

Todd

[P51Mstg]

Way too cool. Too bad someone figured out how to send satellites into space and do it from there.....

Mark H

[JBoyle]

The DC-6As in question were sn 44889 and 45110. Sorry, no "N" numbers.

Thanks to Rene Francillion's great book McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920..

[Steve Nelson]

Reminds me of a really awful movie called "Riders of the Storm." From what little I remember it revolved around a pirate TV station broadcasting from a battered B-29 piloted by Dennis Hopper and filled with quirky characters. I think Fifi was used in a few scenes..I'm sure somebody here has the details.

SN

[gtokid]

My friend said they were DC-6A/B's (cargo & passenger)

44889 is N6813C
45110 was N6815C, now HI-592CT

airliners.net has several photos of both, which now appear to be derelict

[CH2Tdriver]

Reminds me of a really awful movie called "Riders of the Storm." From what little I remember it revolved around a pirate TV station broadcasting from a battered B-29 piloted by Dennis Hopper and filled with quirky characters. I think Fifi was used in a few scenes..I'm sure somebody here has the details.

SN

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091853/

Yeah I remember that movie! FIFI was used and I remember the black undersides as she was probably still wearing her 'Right Stuff' paint when they shot the scenes of this movie. When I saw her in 1990 she had listed on the nose 4 movies she had been in.

They were Enola Gay, Right Stuff, The American Way (which turns out was the title of Riders of the Storm in Australia) and Fat Man and Little Boy. I remember renting FM&LB but there was no B-29. It did feature Diamond Lil in a ground run scene.

I wonder if any CAF'ers here have photos of FIFI in this movie paint?

Pete

[Steve Nelson]

I always wondered about Fat Man & Little Boy." Not only didn't Fifi appear, but even the stock footage showed a B-17 starting up. I'm assuming Fifi's moment of glory ended up on the cutting room floor..the fate of many an aspiring actress over the years...

SN

[Kdmoo]

Found an interesting B-29 photo in a 1948 issue of Flying Magazine. Sure enough, there was a thread here about it already.



Cheers,
Kevin

[The Inspector]

DC-6A l/n 648 s/n 44889 N6813C (cld)
DC-6B l/n 768 s/n 45110 N 6815C, CC-CFH, CC-PJF, N 840TA, HI-592CA, HI- 592CT (WFU)
per ABCD list

[Ken]

The idea of broadcasting radio and TV signals also applies to psyops. Look up EC-130, specifically Commando Solo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cln7Qpzy ... re=related

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/03 ... ya-psyops/

[Rauhbatz]

Never thought for a minute that when I fly into KZZV in a 172 that a B-29 preceded me.

My recently deceased Seabee father in law who helped build the runways at Tinian mentioned he saw a B-29 around this time period...he regretfully was not around to see Fifi in Cincy this year....