"The major technical problems of the system have been solved," explained Westinghouse engineer Charles E. Noble. Flush with the success of airborne television transmissions across a nine-state area, the inventor of Stratovision now anticipated the "commercial development" of his communications creation. The FCC's Freeze of 1948 remained in effect, however, and federal regulators would not grant new TV licenses until 1952. Still, Noble awaited "the clarification of channel facilities to make possible this application."
Charles E. Noble would never see the "commercial development" of Stratovision. But Westinghouse Electric Corporation would use airborne television transmissions to provide programming on two new ultra-high frequency (UHF) channels, ones that the FCC had allocated for non-commercial use when it finally ended the four-year freeze.
The Ford Foundation and Purdue University
In 1958, Westinghouse contacted Phillips Combs of the Ford Foundation about using Stratovision for educational and instructional television. Coombs then arranged a conference of educators at Indiana's Purdue University. Armed with a three-year grant from the Ford Foundation, the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI) developed a curriculum in subjects such as science and mathematics. "The technical quality of the programming," Chicago Television notes, "was monitored by engineers".
Practical and Technical Limitations
Unfortunately, MPATI's goal of broadcasting programming across multiple channels in multiple time zones was overly ambitious. After leasing two DC-6 aircraft from Purdue University, MPATI installed 3 tons of transmitting and broadcasting equipment aboard each plane. Heavy shelves with reels of videotapes were also bolted down and shock-mounted. Scheduling the TV broadcasts was problematic, and the videotape technology of the day was unforgiving. The video tape recorders (VTRs) that were used featured vacuum tubes that were prone to burn-outs and malfunctions.
Despite these practical and technical limitations, MPATI's DC-6 aircraft managed to fly in figure eights some 30,000 ft. above the American Midwest while broadcasting on two UHF channels. Because these broadcasts were not scrambled, however, anyone with a UHF tuner could receive the programming – a fact that was not lost on schools that refused to pay for the service. Still, MPATI achieved two important technical firsts. First, MPATI pioneered the transmission of two separate UHF signals from a common antenna mast. Second, the organization mastered the use of a hydraulically-extended, gyroscope-equipped antenna to broadcast while constantly moving.
Stratovision in Vietnam
Although the MPATI project was dissolved in 1971, Stratovision lived on for another year. During America's war in Vietnam, the U.S. Navy used Stratovision television technology during Operation Blue Eagle from 1966 to 1972. One channel provided programming to the residents of Saigon. The other was used to provide information and entertainment to America's armed forces.
Editor's Note: Did you miss Part 1 of this series? Then click here. Many thanks to Transcendian for suggesting this topic.
Resources:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/freezeof1/freezeof1.htm
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/technology/technology6.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump_the_Stars
http://www.amazon.com/Award-Winning-Nighttime-Television-1948-2004/dp/0786423293
http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2008/10/stratovisionprecursor-to-satellites.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratovision
The Y Files
Steve Melito
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