North Florida Amateur Radio Society
W4IZ Jacksonville FL
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Editor: Billy Williams, N4UF
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By Billy Williams, N4UF
EARLY CABLE TELEVISION
Cable television began as a means of sharing one (or several) large antenna(s) among multiple set owners. FCC termed these systems Community Antenna TeleVision (CATV).
Where stations were few and television receivers required huge antenna arrays to process distant signals, cable service was financially feasible. In mountainous areas, signal shading and other propagation anamolies degraded even local station reception. Cable filled the bill to provide decent reception.
I saw successful cable systems in places like Gainesville, FL in the mid 60s and Augusta, GA in the early 70s. These featured a half dozen or so local and regional stations plus a channel showing a camera focused on weather instruments to display current conditions and another channel showing announcements lettered on a large board sitting on an easel.
In large cities like Jacksonville, the cost of installing wires didn't warrant the investment required to start a cable system.
Set top "rabbit ears" were sufficient in many areas of town. Compact LPV or conical antennas up in the air 15 or 20 feet fed with 300-ohm twinlead provided adequate reception throughout Duval and adjacent counties.
GAME CHANGER
Then, satellite-assisted cable arrived. As satellites became more affordable to launch and maintain, several "superstations" put signals in the sky and cable operators used satellite receivers to relay signals through their cables to subscribers
Ted Turner's Atlanta station and Chicago's WGN were among the first superstations. Movie services like HBO added incentive to subscribe to cable.
In the mid-1970s, an outfit called Area Cablevision received a franchise from the Jacksonville City Council effectively establishing a countywide monopoly on providing cable service here.
In 1978, the first cable signals went out to a small part of western Arlington north of the Mathews Bridge and east of the river.
Monterey, River Forest, Lake Lucina and adjoining parts of Arlington received a dozen or so channels including WTBS Atlanta and HBO. Users selected a channel using a sliding knob on the top of a simple cable box. Total cost was only $5 a month plus $2.50 for extra sets.
In 1984, Continental Cablevision, a fast-growing company, purchased Area Cablevision--described as a mismanaged, 82,000-subscriber system.
According to a company history, Continental doubled subscribership here within three years. Of course, much of this growth came from laying more cable and gaining access to more population.
JACKSONVILLE HAMS VS. CABLE AND BULLS
By acquiring rights to broadcast games of Jacksonville's new Bulls football team of the United States Football League, Continental claimed to have attracted 5,000 new local subscribers overnight.
The Bulls name obstensibly resulted from the winning entry in a contest. Skeptics said it was derived from the surname of owner Fred "Bubba" Bullard, a Jacksonville businessman.
While touted as a major league, the competitiveness of the teams around the USFL varied from not too far below NFL calibre to a cut above college intramural level.......from the New Jersey Generals, owned by Donald Trump, to the legendary San Antonio Gunslingers owned by Clinton Manges, a one-time Texas oil tycoon teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
In baseball terms, the premiere USFL teams like the Generals probably ranked AAA- and the Bulls were AA....about on par with the Suns, Shrimps, or whatever they're called now.
In contrast, the Gunslingers rated Class C or D a la the old Jacksonville Beach Sea Birds. Baseball doesn't use those lower classifications now, but you get the message.
The Bulls were one of the better USFL franchises and Bullard one of the superior, free-spending owners. Their games drew large crowds to the Gator Bowl and sizeable television audiences to watch their home and road games on cable channel 18.
The Bulls on cable channel 18 = 144 to 150 MHz. = 2 meters (144-148) = problems for both viewers and local hams.
Poor quality cable wire and faulty connectors on poles caused cable signals to leak out and two-meter signals to leak in. In some spots, the leakage was so bad one didn't need to be a subscriber to pick up cable channels. These signals also wreaked havoc on two-meter reception.
And an indignant public became outraged when radio hobbyists and their two-meter signals invaded the space of their beloved Bulls, Australian Rules Football and other sports event on channel 18.
Continental blamed local hams despite the fact that their channel 18 used Amateur Radio channels on a non-interference basis.
Big newspaper headlines with local hams playing the heavies. Half-baked television news reports, too.
They even snookered one FCC investigator to attempt to order a local ham to stay off two meters.
I remember arguing with him on the telephone during a class break at FCCJ North Campus where I taught electronics. After citing some rules to him, the FCC agent backed off.
Both FCC and Continental changed their tune. Representatives came to NOFARS meetings and requested hams to report areas where cable leakage overrode two-meter reception.
They also developed a plan to replace faulty connectors city-wide and use better quality cable.
And they moved sports off of channel 18.
USFL FADES
By 1986, the League had made little headway against the entrenched National Football League. A split developed. Some owners wanted to change the USFL to a fall schedule and directly challenge the NFL while other owners wanted to remain with a spring-summer schedule.
But big problems came with shifting the schedule and securing an adequate contract to air games. USFL owners claimed the NFL blocked their television access and killed a major revenue stream.
They sued the NFL for conspiring against them and won (?) in court.
$1 in treble damages plus interest.
A total of $3.76.
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nofars.net
Editor: Billy Williams, N4UF
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