Early color sets in... Escanaba?
 

I need the help of the Wisconsinites. I recently stumbled across some ads for early color sets in Escanaba, Michigan circa 1956 and 1957. Anybody from Michigan, or Wisconsin for that matter, knows that Michigan's Upper Penninsula was, and is, pretty desolate. The only television station in the UP that would have been broadcasting at that time, WDMJ in Marquette, was a strictly monochrome affair.

That leaves only the north-eastern Wisconsin stations in range of Escanaba, and even then, only in the deep fringe at about 100 miles. I can't find any references to a station in the Green Bay or Marinette areas broadcasting in color. I briefly considered that they may have been picking up Milwaukee, but reception at 192 miles seems unlikely to me.

Any ideas?

Attached are the relevant advertisements:
https://preview.ibb.co/k2Qr8y/Admiral_A.png
https://preview.ibb.co/f2Gbad/Admiral_B.png
https://preview.ibb.co/ksmyoy/RCA.png

The only two stations in the UP before the 1960's were WMBV and WDMJ. Neither had color at that time.

Canada had one station that reached the UP market, but it was also B&W only at that time.

Green Bay's first color broadcasts were in 1958 by WFRV.

Maybe Milwaukee TV did reach that far in the 1950's. The strongest AM radio station in many areas of the UP is still Milwaukee's WTMJ (620AM).

.

The city of license I found for WMBV was Marinette, making that a Wisconsin station. The second station on the air in the UP was WWUP, which was just a full power repeater of WWTV in Cadillac, Michigan.

The Canuck station you're referring to is in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, channel two IIRC. WWUP was in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. That's clear over on the east side of the UP and it would have been impossible to pick up either in Escanaba. Hell, the terrain is rugged enough, and the forests dense enough, that pulling in WDMJ out of Marquette would have been hit and miss on occasion, especially given the lower transmitter power. I guess the one thing Milwaukee reception would have had going for it would have been Lake Michigan itself....

Sorry, yes WMBV was in Wisconsin in the "Twin Cities" of "Marinette-Menominee" often thought of as one community. The only difference we see when crossing from one into the other is the different amount of taxes on fuel.

.

We're being robbed at 26.3 cents per gallon plus the 6 percent sales tax and our roads still look like shit... hopefully the crooks in Madison have more sense than our crooks in Lansing...

Anyway, I'm going to look and see if color sets were being advertised in Marquette and see if they weren't strictly monochrome at WDMJ. Perhaps WDMJ was capable of broadcasting color network programs. I'll also check Ironwood, MI papers for color ads.

I do know that WBAY was the easiest station to pull in if you were in Escanaba pre-WDMJ, but as you said, they weren't color capable.

Could those ads actually be 1958? Don't know what years Admiral sold that model.

Wonder what the stores looked like back then?...If there was a 50'+ antenna tower behind them I could see attempting to DX Milwaukee. TV DX was doing very good in the 50's and many magazines of the day had fascinating reports.

Nope, late 1956 and early 1957. I double checked the dates on the newspapers they were culled from.

I suppose there was much less man made noise to contend with, and much of the LOS path being over water helped tremendously I'm sure, but that's a quite a long haul.

I think Milwaukee isnt so hard in those days. Some life
examples.......
On Cape Cod I could easily get FM from Nova Scotia. Since putting
RF over the ocean is a waste I would imagine they were quite
directional to the north. TV from Maine was near perfect on
rabbit ears (6 &13). Probably 150 miles.
In the evening most days Europe, Africa & Mid East AM's come in
if you have an analog tuner or can tune the 9K spacing.
At home ch 8 Mt. Washington on ears 130 miles with heavy adjacents
on ch 7 & 9. The FM from there was ride around quality in stereo.
Remember also on a good set you will get color on the weakest of signals.
IIRC some ducting normally does happen over a water route aso.
In the north country it used to be common to see towers or roof
tripods for TV antennas. Some used Yagies just to eke out another
station.
See if you can find an area Sunday paper from then & what the
TV guide lists for stations.

enuf
73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

In the late 50s, many isolated communities had fairly decent community tv antenna systems. I remember my parents staying in a motel in Bend Oregon and being pleasantly surprised that the tv dial was nearly filled with channels from distant cities; Portland, Eugene, Medford and even Bosie Idaho (over 250 miles), apparently received by an antenna system on a hill east of town.

Bosie (channel 2) was a little grainy, but quite watchable, but was several times overrun by another station which turned out to be ch 2 from Denver (KFEL). Apparently, this was a fairly regular occurrence in the summer.

jr

I may add to that when the Boston stations shut down for the night
the NYC stations were there just barely. Add a little ducting
and they were quite watchable. A big rotor antenna VERY watchable.
Thats abt 200 miles all over land & my house was down low.
There is no way it was LOS ........ Try that with allegedly better digital !

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Getting WTMJ-TV in Upper Michigan some of the time would be not at all far-fetched. When times were better, we would rent a cabin for a week or two in Manistique. On days when warm humid air was over Lake Michigan and there was little or no wind, Milwaukee and Chicago stations would boom in. Both digital and analog. I literally watched two Willis Tower stations, digital, with an unfurled jumbo paperclip for an antenna.

Of note, however, is that highband VHF signals were weaker, and low VHFs even weaker, sometimes missing outright. So WTMJ on 4 would not often be strong.

If you're wondering about WJMN, it was an NBC affiliate in its early years, but only came to air in the early seventies.

Actually the lower the channel number, the further it can be picked up, giving WTMJ-4 the greatest reach.

WTMJ was all-RCA equipped, in the 1980s they had RCA 'new-look' blue-toned-color-cabinet Transmitters, replacing earlier generation RCA installed in late 1940's and used for color in 1954.

The deco chrome & red pin-stripe trims on my avatar pic are from early 1950s RCA disused equipment that was stored in WTMJ basement: It was like a candy store, the assistant engineer would let me fish around down there!

In terms of normal reception*, absolutely correct.
However, the effects of tropospheric refraction (an abnormal propagation mode, but not uncommon over Lake Michigan in the summer), are far more profound at UHF, and worse on low-VHF than they are on high-VHF.

On a typical summer's day (and in late Spring), warm, humid air can be cooled where it is close to the cold lake's surface, whilst the air above is still warm and dry by comparison. The speed of light (and thus of radio waves) is faster in the warm dry air than in the humid air immediately above the lake surface. The radio wave thus assumes a curved path following the transition zone where the humid air and the dry air meet.

*Without tropospheric refraction, a channel 4 signal will be usable over a greater distance than a channel 9 signal, which, in turn, would work at a greater distance than a channel 48 signal.
Keep in mind that low-VHF analog stations were generally limited to 100kW ERP, while high-VHF stations could and usually did have 316kW ERP. Analog UHF stations could use up to 5000kW ERP (1000kW before a 1958 rule change), but few used the maximum.

Normal VHF reception is of both the signal travelling directly to the antenna, and the signal travelling from the transmitting antenna, and reflecting off the earth (near the receiving antenna) back to the receiving antenna. These two paths cancel each other out to a degree, the longer the wave, the closer to 180° out of phase the reflected signal is, thus the receiving antenna needs to be high off the ground to make use of the low-VHF benefit.

i was given an outdoor antenna when i was around 12 years old.hooked it up and could receive pretty clear video from almost 200 miles away.in columbus,ohio but got cincinnati,cleveland,dayton stations that were very watchable.when cable tv came through here in the very early 70s,it had the same stations i was getting.

Because of time of day variation of refraction, I wonder if UHF would be reliably better than VHF during evening hours?

If we could get an idea of what stations people were watching on their monochrome sets in the evening, that would give an indication of the probable color availability. A local newspaper listing of stations would help.

Ch 65 Milwaukee used to rebroadcast Ch 26 Chicago on the cheap by merely picking up Chicago signal (82 miles) with a yagi on old radio tower atop Marc Plaza Bldg (now Hilton Hotel)(where CH 65 transmitter was located.)

They avoided paying for a link or satellite transponder.

Picture quality ranged from acceptable to a bit noisy on some days.

So this is an example of "reliable" UHF reception over 80 miles, albeit from high-building-to-high-building.

WBOC Salisbury, MD used to get signals from the Baltimore stations via relay towers in between. I remember well into the 80's catching a glimpse of the WBAL station ID on WBOC-someone wasn't quick enough on the switch. I'm not sure how far that is as the crow flies (112 miles to drive it).

Did all the networks carry the parade that year? Or was NBC the only one that broadcast in color. Wasn't the Rhinelander station on air, also? They were on either channel 12 or 13.

What about Duluth? IIRC KDAL Ch3 went on in 1954.

Duluth may have been impossible. 405 kilometers, 251 miles, as the crow flies between Duluth and Escanaba. Not to mention the Porcupine Mountains being right in the middle of them.

I recently read a paper by a member of the American Geophysical Union that suggests that the presence of mafic and ultramafic minerals in bedrock can tremendously alter the ground plane as "seen" by a transmitting or receiving antenna. It actually explains a lot of my own experiences given how common BIFs are in the western Upper Peninsula, and how much of the far western UP is essentially a huge basalt and gabbro escarpment.

Radio and TV reception is great in the more felsic eastern UP. As you head west though, TV and radio reception begins to suffer, despite the rugged terrain not being substantially different in terms of height above average terrain than the east.

The Keweenaw is probably the most striking example of this phenomenon IMO. In Copper Harbor, you can not receive the TV station in Calumet, 40-50 miles away tops. FM reception in Copper Harbor also peters away to nothing.

None of this would alter reception in Escanaba appreciably, but it helps explain why reception of Marquette stations can be spotty even relatively close in Escanaba.

That must be a drunken crow! Closer to 250 miles I think.


.

You're right of course. Damned Imperial units...

405 kilometers, 251 miles. I wish we'd go metric already.

A lonnnng haul any way you look at it:)

Escanaba was/is a Mill Town- Mead Paper Co., & as such, at least SOME of the residents were rather well paid. Back in my former life as a Purchasing Agent for a printing concern, I sweated bullets-especially during the winter months, waiting on trucks from Escanaba.. TV DXing was/is still possible, at least up until they turned off NTSC... I used to go up on top of this local tall hill, w/a JVC 4.5" color set, & could easily receive stations from all over the Southeast... I got all the local network feeds, a BUNCH of independents, & a few that I never really worried about trying to identify. One night me & a buddy were up there, & there were a bunch of strange lights on top of this mountain range that was over in the Smokies. The fact we were up on top of a mountain in winter, watching TV, you ask ? Hey, it was simply "Something To Do", just to get outta the house for at least a little while. We stopped at the Police Station & reported our strange encounter, & got THEM a bit concerned. Next day, one of the cops got back to me, & said it was the "DEW" line we saw-the Air Force must have been doing a bit of night training. Yeah, we got Bongo-52s over head on a regular basis back in the 60s, when I was a tadpole. Oncet one was so low, & was banked enuf to where I could see the co-pilot... I dutifully waved, & I THINK he waved back...

The Upper Peninsula has historically relied on three industries: copper and iron mining, lumber and paper products, and tourism. I guess if you go back far enough one could make the argument that fur trading was the fourth major industry.

It would be a very pleasant place to live though. I check for openings in my field in Marquette and Houghton/Hancock once a week. I'd love nothing more than to get out of South-East Michigan and head up north.

My buddy & I were both "Major-League" fans of "Hill Street Blues", & "St Elsewhere", & both lusted mightily over Veronica Hamel & Cindy Pickett, amongst others. The only fly in the ointment was I kinda thought "Joyce Davenport" was a bit on the "Too Bitchy" side, she could have been a LOT sweeter to the "Frank Furillo" character. But it WAS kinda neat watching that show from a station way the hell off in Norton, Virginia, or somewhere like that. Like I said, shit, it was SOMETHIN' to do-better than sitting at home. The old guy who owned the theater in town was a radio repair guy, & after the War, bought the 1st TV here in Bugtussle. THAT was a Big Deal, so much so that he built a set of bleachers up there, had power, rigged up an antenna, & at night during the warm months, they'd gather up there, & try to coax out a signal from WRB or WAGA outta Atlanta. My Uncle went up there a few times, he said every so often, they'd get a pic of a baseball diamond, & maybe an announcer, & the whole bunch would cheer & holler... We didn't get a local station til 1953, or '54, & I think it was outta Knoxville.. Hey, life in Small Town America after the War... Gotta LOVE it ! I have that TV-a 1948-49 7" Bakelite cased Admiral, & I had it "Gone thru", it works pretty well, especially for what it is... They weren't exactly very sophisticated machines.

Be careful what you wish for. As of the other day, Marquette was at 200" of snow & counting. Good 'ol lake effect.

Meh. I'd rather deal with the snow and have cooler summers. Winter weather doesn't bother me, any kind of heat does.

Me too Ben! The UP is very under appreciated. Although at 71 I am afraid I would not be as able to do winters as easily as when I was your age. We have owned a lake home just inside the Wisconsin Michigan boarder about 17 miles south of Wakefield Mi for about 30 years. In my early to mid 50's I did a lot of show mobiling up there. The UP's big attraction for me is that it is still fairly isolated and offers wonderful opportunity for outdoor recreation. I get the distinct impression if it were not for tourism and government employment, the UP would have a hard time economically. If you ever get to Wakefield Mi, stop in at Randal's Bakery. They have great bakery and what I consider to be the best pasties in the area. I often make the 17 mile run from our cottage in Winchester, up HY 'O' to Randal's just to get a pasty.

We have a 50' tower at the cottage and receive all of the network digital stations OTA. Prior to the switch to digital we received stations out of Wausau Wi and Duluth MN. The transmitters in Duluth are on top of the hill bordering Lake Superior. I also used a 10' C band dish for subscription tv at that time, but technology moves on and that is all but dead for consumers now. I have DirectTV Now. My next door neighbor at the cottage lets me use his WiFi internet connection. He put a WiFi extender in the corner of his house closest to our cottage and I get a very good signal. So I run the DirectTV Now app on my laptop connected to the internet via the neighbors WiFi and feed my flat screen TV with a HDMI cable from the laptop. It works great. Unfortunately being in the boonies disadvantages people who depend on OTA to get their TV programs. We get a total of 12 channels OTA at the cottage, where as I get about 60 in at my home in Milwaukee. So for people in isolated areas, far from the transmitters, who have an internet connection, I think OTA is pretty much going to fade away because the population density is so low in those areas that it makes no sense economically for broadcasters to put up repeaters in those areas. Actually, my neighbor is using a small DirectTV dish to get all of his programming now. He uses the same service at his home in Illinois and drags his receiver up to his cottage when they come up. IMHO the FCC screwed the pooch for people in rural areas when they mandated the switch to digital. Perhaps the government, (who wastes so much money on other crap), should have subsidized the construction of repeaters in the rural areas for those of us who are too far away to get reliable OTA digital reception. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the switch to digital tv. Digital is great if you are in a large metro area with a ton of channels, but people in isolated areas still have a very small offering to chose from.

In this photo (follow link) you can see the bottom half of our 50' self supporting tower at our lake cottage. http://antiquetvguy.com/WebPages/Abo...PhotoPage.html

I live in northeastern Ohio, 30 miles east of Cleveland near Lake Erie. (The TV towers themselves are almost 50 miles southwest of me; however, most of the stations except two reach here OTA surprisingly well with just an indoor antenna.)

My OTA TV reception is good, but not great. Two important network affiliates (FOX and CBS), on channels 8 and 19, respectively, do not reach my area without cable or satellite. The company which owns channel 19, Raycom Media, absolutely refuses to put up a translator for the east lakeshore area; I don't know why, unless the population of this area (just under 3100) is so low the company doesn't see the sense in putting up a translator for the region. However, channel 19 does have a translator for another area of NE Ohio near Akron, Ohio, that lost the station's signal after the DTV transition.

One way to get TV reception in areas that don't get all the locals from metropolitan areas (or have poor reception from those stations) is to use an Internet TV device. I've been watching all my locals from Cleveland with a Roku for some time, and am very pleased with the results. I get every station I would normally receive using an antenna. I installed my Roku over a year ago, and did not look back.

I'm not sure how far you ever make it east, but Bessie's in St. Ignace makes a great pasty. And if you ever make it up into the Keweenaw, Harbor Haus in Copper Harbor has the best German I've ever had in a restaurant. This coming from an ethnic kraut who was literally raised on sauerkraut, wurst, gromperekichelcher, und buchteln...

My Grandparents (Mother's side) own a summer home on Mackinac Island which is technically part of the UP, but overrun with tourists from the Detroit and Chicago areas. I enjoy visiting, but after a day or two of the nonsense I'm ready to leave, either that, or I just spend most of my time in the wooded part of the state park that 99% of the tourist folks won't venture into.

My father and Uncle own a huge tract of land in the Keweenaw with a cabin on it. That's my favorite vacation spot by far. Peace and quiet in the middle of the woods.

My Great-Grandfather also owned a tract of land on Isle Royale, but that was taken by the Feds when they decided to make Isle Royale a national park. They technically paid him, but far, far less than the property was worth, which I suppose is par for the course for the slime in Washington.

Hey Ben,

Your family has good taste to have acquired land in the Keweenaw.

Don't know if you are aware of http://johndee.com/

This fellow lives in the Keweenaw and his web site is devoted to the weather up there. Specifically during the winter season, he keeps the snowmobilers up to date with the latest conditions. There are many links to live web cams showing trail conditions on his web site. Looks like we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground in Winchester where our cottage is located.

http://johndee.com/webcams/northwoods-cam-network/

Hope I will be able to get up to our cottage this year for some much needed R&R. I had to move into my mother's home, and I have been doing full time 24/7 caregiving for my mother (102 years) every day for months now. I am the only family she has and this will probably continue for some years to come. TV hobby is also on indefinite hold.