You are too old if you remember.......

[sandiaman]

Before  ths  days  of  cable  and  traslators,  every  metro  area  had  at  least  three  local stations ,one  for each  of  the major networks.  This  is  going  back  to  the  mid 50's.  Generally,  NBC  was  channel 4,  ABC  was channel 7 and  CBS  was  either    channel  5  or  channel 2.   PBS  was  whatever  was  leftover.  And  yes,  they  did  exit  off  the  air  with  some  sort  of  patriotic  song.  No  area  could  have  both  a  channel  3  and  channel  4 .

[agentsteel53]

No  area  could  have  both  a  channel  3  and  channel  4 .

why is that?  too close in frequency?

[thenetwork]

...When the prices on vending machines for pop didn't end in a $.25 increment.

...When newspaper prices didn't end in a $.25 increment.

...When the prices of comic books ended in some weird number -- other than .x5, .x9 or .x0.

...When one of the new "futuristic" options of a new house was a whole-house intercom system.

...When A/C, Cruise Control, Intermittent Wipers, and Rear-window defrost, electric windows & electric locks were moreso high-priced options than standard equipment.

[1995hoo]

"Pop"? 

[Big John]

[theline]

No  area  could  have  both  a  channel  3  and  channel  4 .

why is that?  too close in frequency?

Exactly. Adjacent channels could bleed over and interfere. The FCC assigned the numbers in each metropolitan area to avoid interference. Some folks in "fringe" areas between cities could still experience problems between, for example, channel 7 in Dayton and 8 in Indianapolis. Using a directional antenna could help alleviate the problem.

The earlier poster was wrong about networks being tied to specific channels in all areas. Though CBS managed to get channel 2 in many major cities, assignments varied. Where I grew up, channel 6 was NBC, 8 was CBS, and 13 was ABC. Smaller markets didn't get VHF (2-13) channels assigned at all, and had to settle for UHF (14-83), which had less range and required more power, IIRC.

[bugo]

I remember when candy bars were 26¢.  25¢ for the candy bar and 1¢ tax.  This wasn't that long ago, it was the early '80s.

[SidS1045]

No  area  could  have  both  a  channel  3  and  channel  4 .

why is that?  too close in frequency?

TV channels are 6 MHz wide, but are not all continuous in frequency.

Channel 2:  54-60 MHz
3: 60-66 MHz
4: 66-72 MHz
5: 76-82 MHz (note the gap between 4 and 5)
6: 82-88 MHz
7: 174-180 MHz (note the gap between 6 and 7)
8: 180-186 MHz
...
13: 210-216 MHz
14: 470-476 MHz (note the gap between 13 and 14)
15: 476-482 MHz
...

[PHLBOS]

Back to a more road/driving-related item:

When gas prices featured prices other than $X.XX9 per gallon.  A few times in the late 70s/early 80s, I saw prices that actually ended in $X.XX5 (or 1/2 cents).  My parents told me that more variable tenths of a cent per gallon were seen on pumps during the gas-price wars of the 1960s.

[1995hoo]

Back to a more road/driving-related item:

When gas prices featured prices other than $X.XX9 per gallon.  A few times in the late 70s/early 80s, I saw prices that actually ended in $X.XX5 (or 1/2 cents).  My parents told me that more variable tenths of a cent per gallon were seen on pumps during the gas-price wars of the 1960s.

I remember an old station in Fairfax City, Virginia, that had prices displayed in xx.7¢ amounts in the late 1970s or early 1980s (e.g., 65.7¢ per gallon or whatever), but the station was no longer operating as a gas station at the time, just as a car repair shop (and it's LONG gone now).

[hbelkins]

Exactly. Adjacent channels could bleed over and interfere. The FCC assigned the numbers in each metropolitan area to avoid interference. Some folks in "fringe" areas between cities could still experience problems between, for example, channel 7 in Dayton and 8 in Indianapolis. Using a directional antenna could help alleviate the problem.

My dad mentioned being able to pick up (barely) both Channel 3 from Louisville and Channel 3 from Huntington from our location in eastern Kentucky.

[RoadWarrior56]

I have two.............when you needed a converter on the top of your TV set to receive UHF Channels.  Another is when I could return 6 soda bottles for 2 cent deposit each at the nearby 7-11 and then buy a 12 cent comic book.

[agentsteel53]

The earlier poster was wrong about networks being tied to specific channels in all areas. Though CBS managed to get channel 2 in many major cities, assignments varied. Where I grew up, channel 6 was NBC, 8 was CBS, and 13 was ABC. Smaller markets didn't get VHF (2-13) channels assigned at all, and had to settle for UHF (14-83), which had less range and required more power, IIRC.

when I was a kid (Boston, late 80s), 2 was PBS, 4 was NBC, 5 was ABC, 7 was CBS.  I think 4 and 7 switched sometime in the mid-90s, and 7 was something else before WHDH but I can't be arsed to remember what.

(Wikipedia can be arsed!  it was WNEV.  there's an acronym I hadn't thought about in years!)

[hm insulators]

Some sports-related tidbits:
NFL coaches, and not just Tom Landry, wearing a coat and tie on the sideline.
MLB umpires wearing coats and ties; and at that each league having their own umpiring staffs with AL umpires wearing red coats and their NL counterparts wearing blue coats.
AL umpires wearing chest protectors outside their uniforms.
The "technicolor" look of MLB in the 70s and 80s--with teams like the Athletics, Pirates, and Indians leading the way. And to top it off teams like the Phillies, Royals, Expos, Braves, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Cardinals wearing powder blue uniforms on the road.
The Dallas Cowboys wearing blue jerseys at home.

White horns (instead of yellow or the current gold) on the then-Los Angeles Rams' football helmets.

[mefailenglish]

When gas prices featured prices other than $X.XX9 per gallon.

Donny's Discount Gas!

[PHLBOS]

hen I was a kid (Boston, late 80s), 2 was PBS, 4 was NBC, 5 was ABC, 7 was CBS.  I think 4 and 7 switched sometime in the mid-90s, and 7 was something else before WHDH but I can't be arsed to remember what.

(Wikipedia can be arsed!  it was WNEV.  there's an acronym I hadn't thought about in years!)

Prior to the fall of 1972, 5 was CBS/WHDH & 7 was ABC/WNAC.  In addition to becoming an ABC station that year, 5 changed its call letters to the current WCVB and 5 logo to its current one. 

7's change from WNAC to WNEV (but remaining as a CBS station) happened in late 1979.

4's call letters have been WBZ since it started.

Around the same time that the 90s 4/7 NBC/CBS switch in Boston occurred; Philly's NBC & CBS stations (3/KYW & 10/WCAU) also switched over.  The reasoning for such switches was due to all the Westinghouse broadcasting companies (including Boston's WBZ-4 & Philly's KYW-3) becoming aligned w/CBS.   

[agentsteel53]

so WHDH was an extant call letter set until 1972, and then again in the mid 90s?

both times to refer to a CBS station?

was it a case of old ownership coming back?  I'm not even sure what HDH stands for, but perhaps some member of the executive board liked the letters?

WNEV seems to have something to do with New England.

[PHLBOS]

so WHDH was an extant call letter set until 1972, and then again in the mid 90s?

For TV, yes; but it always remained on radio (AM 850) during that timeframe.

both times to refer to a CBS station?

Yes.

WNEV seems to have something to do with New England.

IIRC, when those call-letters first came out; the 7 logo was changed to resemble a sideways V.  The NE, no doubt, stood for New England; but the V was likely for 7 (sideways).

I stand corrected; WNAC-7 became WNEV in May 22, 1982

WNAC's final sign-off:

WNEV's inaugural sign-on:

In 1974; UHF station channel 56 changed is call-letters to the current WLVI (Roman Numerals for 56) from its previous WKBG.

I'm guessing the execs. got tired of KBG getting mixed up with the KGB.

WKBG/WLVI Channel 56 composite (I remember the original logo very well):

[theline]

Exactly. Adjacent channels could bleed over and interfere. The FCC assigned the numbers in each metropolitan area to avoid interference. Some folks in "fringe" areas between cities could still experience problems between, for example, channel 7 in Dayton and 8 in Indianapolis. Using a directional antenna could help alleviate the problem.

My dad mentioned being able to pick up (barely) both Channel 3 from Louisville and Channel 3 from Huntington from our location in eastern Kentucky.

Being an inquisitive kid growing up in the '60s in Muncie, Indiana, from time to time I tried to see what channels I could tune in. One afternoon, I was surprised to find a fuzzy picture on channel 2. I could see that it was an NBC program that, according to my TV News, was being shown on channel 2 in Terre Haute, 119 miles "as the crow flies." I was pleased with my achievement.

I was shocked though when the program ended, and the station identification came on for channel 2 in the Tri-Cities of Midland, Odessa, and Big Spring, Texas. That's 1,050 miles away! The signal soon faded, and I had no proof of my good luck. I checked many times after, but never again picked up that station.

We had a directional antenna with an electric rotor. The Tri-Cities and Terre Haute are on the same vector from Muncie.

[vtk]

Probably some atmospheric variation along a cold front forming a waveguide from Texas to Indiana.  That kind of thing happens occasionally.

[hubcity]

Sure does. Here's an extreme example: a BBC Television broadcast from 1938, the only known footage of BBC Television broadcasting from the pre-WWII era.

It was captured on film by an RCA engineer in New York.

http://archive.org/details/BbcTelevisionReceivedInNewYork-1938

[agentsteel53]

it happens more often with AM radio, I think.  Mike Ballard (sdmichael on the forum) related to me a story of how he picked up an LA station once in Omaha, or the other way around.

[theline]

It's good to know that I wasn't hallucinating that signal from Texas. Everybody told me that TV signals couldn't bounce like shortwave.

[roadman]

it happens more often with AM radio, I think.  Mike Ballard (sdmichael on the forum) related to me a story of how he picked up an LA station once in Omaha, or the other way around.

Ability to pick up AM radio signals at locations far from the source depends on both atmospheric conditions and the output power of the station, as well as how close adjacent local stations are in frequency.  On clear winter nights at my sister's house in central Illinois, I've easily picked up signals from WBZ AM in Boston.

"Bandscanning", as it's referred to, of the AM broadcast and shortwave bands is popular with many radio hobbyists.

[HurrMark]

I was browsing through some of the Boston logos and came across this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i7Co26eXgNg

There is an I-495 sign at the very beginning of the broadcast - it looks like a fairly modern font...but apparently it has been used for at least the last 35 years