Popular Science 1957: Vintage VHF Antenna Styles & Specs - Page 2

Piggie · 07-23-2009, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eureka

This beaut is in my town, next door to the newspaper office:

That is the best vintage picture yet! Brings back a lot of memories! Thanks!!

Amazing it's in that good of shape and still up! Those were all over my town as a kid in the early 60's. Who made those?

There were many varieties of them but they all were feed by the big X element. A lot of the ones I remember the X was swept. A few neighbors had a stacked pair like in the picture with the open feed lines phasing them.

If you could you should measure that antenna!!! In particular the driven element.

What is weird I don't understand is the folded dipole out front, as it appears not to be feed but a director. Then again back then they used a lot of folded dipoles as directors. Not unlike the use of X directors on the XG91 today.

The one we had was VHF only. Was a single not stacked. The X element was swept toward the station about 20 degrees and there was a plain dipole looking director in front of it. It didn't have a reflector per say.

It stayed in service from 1960 until 1986 when they moved from Orlando. If I knew what I know now, I would have grabbed it as I am sure the people that bought the house tore it down.

Piggie · 07-23-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EscapeVelocity

Looking at the Conical (Fan) If leave the elements in the X and take out the straight element this is the exact antenna we had in Orlando as a kid.

Where did you get that book or is it a catalog you have had forever? That is priceless information.

EscapeVelocity · 07-23-2009, 09:27 AM

Stacked conical yagis!

Fantastic!

Those Bowties must be 100 inches long for the VHF Low range!

I wanna buy that tripole! Cant wait for the pic!

EscapeVelocity · 07-23-2009, 09:32 AM

There are 3 or 4 on ebay right now, that is where I got it. Search Popular Science 1957.

EscapeVelocity · 07-23-2009, 09:40 AM

A couple of Trade Names on the Conical Yagi pic that Eureka posted are Globetrotter and Big Jack.

Aparently there were lots of manufacturers of TV antennas back in the day.

EscapeVelocity · 07-23-2009, 04:33 PM

The book TV Antennas, 1955, by Samuel Marshall also has lots of pictures and illustrations of vintage antennas. Ill see if I can post up a few pics.

TonyT · 07-23-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EscapeVelocity

Great Article in the March 1957 edition of Popular Science....

Not to wonder off topic but I love the "How good is Fuel Injection" highlight on the cover of that Popular Science mag. lol

Piggie · 07-23-2009, 07:59 PM

I remember the antenna coming home in a box. Dad bought it from a TV repair shop. He had 15 feet of water pipe, built his own house bracket, we put it up with stand offs (he had no idea and was doing what the guy at the shop told him. Then we drilled a hole through the cement block wall, pushed through the wall..

We had 3 stations. WLOF about 3 miles south of us on Ch 9 (now WFTV), WDBO about 6 miles ESE of us (now WKMG) on Ch 6 and Low Band blow torch WESH about 30 miles away but burning 100 KW from 1500 ft (high for those days). Ch 6 was weak enough we had to jiggle the antenna between it and 2. Ch 9 was so close it boomed in regardless. The town was Orlando FL, population 80,000 people.... hick town... then

Eureka · 07-24-2009, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EscapeVelocity

A couple of Trade Names on the Conical Yagi pic that Eureka posted are Globetrotter and Big Jack.

The antenna I posted was installed to receive KYTV 3 and KOLR 10, about 65miles away. They were the only stations receivable here in those days.

KOLR 10 digital is back on 10 now, and would likely be the only station this antique could receive here now. But KOLR 10 is too full of dropouts to watch, due to impulse noise and/or interference from other area stations.

The elements on this beast are huge, but it must be built like a tank. It survived last winter's horrible ice storm here, which coated everthing with ~2" of very heavy ICE. There were many many newer antennas that were nothing more than wilted pieces of metal after the storm.

Piggie · 07-24-2009, 04:33 PM

Our antenna like that was up 26 years through 3 hurricanes. Our Conical Fan.


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