View Full Version : '48 meets '08


kbmuri
05-10-2008, 09:08 PM
Monthly power-on of the Magnavox featured a new Magnavox DTV converter. Just thought I'd share some photos.

mattdavala
05-10-2008, 09:13 PM
That picture sure looks super bright and sharp! Pretty darn impressive.

Best Regards,
Matt Davala

ablethevoice
05-10-2008, 09:15 PM
Wonderful!! Nothing like an old hollow-state B&W doing its thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stupid DTV! Back in the 70's, I used to DX with an old 1959 vintage 19" RCA (model number escapes my memory ATM) which I rescued from the local dump and got to operating again. I'd use my 300 foot longwire shortwave antenna and commonly was able to grab skip signals from as far away as Minneapolis (I was in New Mexico then) Soon, there will be no more TVDXing when everyone switches over to digital broadcasting. The end of yet another era.

Sandy G
05-10-2008, 09:52 PM
My little 1948 7" Admiral has a "history". It was the 1st TV in town, purchased by Mr Miller, who ran the theater, & had a radio repair business as well. He & his pals rigged up an antenna on top of one of the tallest hills, had power up there, & during decent weather, they'd take the Admiral up there. If the Gods of Television were smiling on them that night, maybe they'd pull in WSB or WAGA from Atlanta or WBT from Charlotte... If they did, everybody would cheer-this was a BIG DEAL for 1948...We didn't have a local TV station in NE Tennessee til 1954, so that's as good as it got...

Elfasto
05-10-2008, 09:57 PM
For a TV that's 60 years old that's a pretty respectable picture. I'm impressed.

zenith2134
05-10-2008, 11:03 PM
Nice pictures indeed, especially the last one.

Sandy, great story about that Admiral! I love stories like that.

Old1625
05-11-2008, 07:46 AM
Very nice! :thmbsp:

Those old sets can be made to kick the pants off later models, as they usually had a number of IF stages that manufacturers figured out later were no longer needed. But in the '40s such was indeed essential if one was going to get anything in the way of decent reception, as television broadcasting facilities were few and far between, and likely not of the magnitude of ERP of later transmitters.

Old1625
05-11-2008, 07:53 AM
Wonderful!! Nothing like an old hollow-state B&W doing its thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stupid DTV! Back in the 70's, I used to DX with an old 1959 vintage 19" RCA (model number escapes my memory ATM) which I rescued from the local dump and got to operating again. I'd use my 300 foot longwire shortwave antenna and commonly was able to grab skip signals from as far away as Minneapolis (I was in New Mexico then) Soon, there will be no more TVDXing when everyone switches over to digital broadcasting. The end of yet another era.


Ahhh the good old days of TVDX..... :sigh: I remember doing it with an old Zenith color roundie, and a Channel Master "crossfire" antenna combined with one of their parabolic UHF units. I've gotten reception from as far as Panama City, FL with this setup here in the Berkshires of MA.

But the most amazing DX episode was the crystal clear reception of a channel 2 from Miami Beach here. But not on the roundie with the big antenna; it was a Zenith 193 portable and its whip antenna. :yikes: :D

But DTV is coming, and it is here to stay. I'm looking forward to exploring. :thmbsp:

ChrisW6ATV
05-11-2008, 02:42 PM
Stupid DTV! ... Soon, there will be no more TVDXing when everyone switches over to digital broadcasting. The end of yet another era.
Why would you stop TV DXing?

http://oldtvguides.com/DXPhotos/

David Roper
05-11-2008, 02:55 PM
Digital TV = DXing for your local stations.

Dan Starnes
05-11-2008, 03:41 PM
Wow, great picture and Sandy,, that is a great testimony to early tv and what people would do to see it.
Dan

electroking
05-11-2008, 07:03 PM
Wonderful!! Nothing like an old hollow-state B&W doing its thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stupid DTV! Back in the 70's, I used to DX with an old 1959 vintage 19" RCA (model number escapes my memory ATM) which I rescued from the local dump and got to operating again. I'd use my 300 foot longwire shortwave antenna and commonly was able to grab skip signals from as far away as Minneapolis (I was in New Mexico then) Soon, there will be no more TVDXing when everyone switches over to digital broadcasting. The end of yet another era.

There will always be DXing as there will always be unexpected propagation
phenomena, even with digital UHF signals. And think of all the extra signals
you could have copied with a proper VHF antenna instead of a long wire...