[PRCo] Re: More than you wanted to know about Pittsburgh TV

[Fred Schneider]

Radio stations were identified by frequencies and not channels, i.e. KDKA was
1020 kilocycles.

What frequency is channel 1, Bob.

And what are the VHF and UHF TV channels converted to frequencies and how do
they compare to AM and FM radio bands?  Where do the truckers, private users
such as PTM, and short wave fit into all this?

Bob Rathke wrote:

> I believe that the channel shuffling occured mostly in the early years of
> TV - 1948-52 - and that the channel adjustments were necessary as actual
> broadcasting resulted in interference among stations.  It's somewhat amazing
> that there was not more interference considering that the FCC plotted the
> transmission locations for the new medium, using only 12 channels
> nationwide, in the late 1940's before the first stations were even on the
> air.
>
> Most VHF stations were on the air in 1948-49, but Pittsburgh had the dubious
> distinction of being the largest city in the U.S. to have only ONE
> commercial VHF station channel until 1957 when channel 11 went on the air,
> followed by channel 4 in 1958.  Allocation of channels 4 and 11 was held up
> for years because there were at least four applicants for the two channels.
> In the late 50's the applicants entered into to joint ownership agreements,
> and the stations finally went on the air.
>
> Pittsburgh has another TV channel quirk: UHF channels in a given city are
> spaced in multiples of 6 MHz, thus Youngstown, Ohio stations were assigned
> channels 21, 27 and 33.
> Pittsburgh got 16, 22, 40 and 53 (it should have been 52).  I've never heard
> an explantion for this.
>
> And what happened to channel 1?  Before WWII, space was allocated for
> channel 1, but by the late 40's, its frequency band was re-assigned to radio
> stations, and it never happened.
>
> Bob 4/23/04
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Schneider" <fschnei at supernet.com>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 10:57 AM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: More than you wanted to know about Pittsburgh TV
>
> > Yes guys, I know this has nothing to do with trolleys in Pittsburgh.  So
> what!
> > You'll find delete key over to the right.
> >
> > About the same time as that channel shuffle, WGAL TV in Lancaster changed
> from
> > channel 4 to 8, allegedly because of interference with 4 in Washington DC.
> Was
> > this, Bob, a common problem?  Did receivers get more powerful?  Were
> > transmitters more powerful?  Were people out in the country buying sets
> and
> > complaining?  What did the shuffle take place?
> >
> > Bob Rathke wrote:
> >
> > > KDKA radio was in the Grant Building (where I worked) until around 1954
> when
> > > the station moved to Gateway 1.
> > >
> > > Since 1949, KDKA-TV (then WDTV, channel 3) had its stidios in the
> Chamber of
> > > Commerce Bldg.  It too moved to Gateway 1 around 1954, and became
> KDKA-TV.
> > > WDTV was owned by the DuMont Network and the station was sold to
> > > Westinghouse in 1954.  Today, Bruce DuMont is director of the Broadcast
> > > Museum in Chicago, and has a radio program, "Beyond the Beltway."
> > >
> > > Back in the late 1940's and early 1950's, WJAC-TV in Johnstown broadcast
> on
> > > channel 13.  In a major channel shuffle in the early 50's, WDTV went
> from
> > > channel 3 to 2, channel 3 went to Cleveland (KYW-TV), WJAC-TV went from
> 13
> > > to 6, and channel 13 was assigned to Pittsburgh, although WQED didn't
> take
> > > over that channel until April 5, 1954.
> > >
> > > For about 18 months in 1954-55, Pittsburgh had TV stations on channel 16
> > > (WENS) and 53 (WKJF), but most TV sets in that era couldn't receive UHF
> > > broadcasts, and so the stations went off the air, and they didn't return
> > > until the late 1960's when all TV sets were required to receive UHF
> > > channels.
> > >
> > > And....UHF channels at that time went up to 83.  Now the highest UHF
> channel
> > > is 69.  What happened to channels 70-83?  That part of the broadcast
> > > spectrum is now used for cell phone transmissions.  Does anyone out
> there
> > > still have a TV set capable of receiving channels 70-83?  If you do,
> guess
> > > what you can hear on channels 70-83....
> > >
> > > Bob 4/22/04
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Harold Geissenheimer" <transitmgr2 at earthlink.net>
> > > To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> > > Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 11:40 AM
> > > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Wabash Terminal
> > >
> > > > Greetings
> > > > A question?  Wasnt KDKA Radio in the Grant Building?
> > > > I attended a radio show there once.   Harold Geissenheimer
> > > RR
> >
> >
> >