Analog TV DX by E-skip fading (figuratively and literallly!)

Reception of WWL-TV (channel 4) New Orleans at a distance of 896 miles (1442 km) at 1920 EDT (2320 UTC) 7 July 2009.
The program is what has become known as the "NAB Nightlight Video", a nonstop loop of instruction primarily giving directions on how to equip an analog-only TV set with a digital converter box (full power TV stations in the USA were forbidden from transmitting regular programming at this time, and most shut down altogether on 12 June).
The signal is fading in-and-out because that is often a normal condition when receiving a signal by sporadic E-skip. Five days later the (full power) analog transmitters were shut off permanently.
The Emerson 1224 black and white set (circa 1958) is receiving WWL with the rabbit ears atop it. In all likelyhood, this will be the last time a station is received by a signal directly to the grid of its tuner tube. Any further analog DX may be too weak for its tuner, and digital DX will be through a converter box.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• TV
• DX
• sporadic-E
• analog
• Nightlight
• Emerson

[JFredUK]

Old, manually tuned TV sets received everything there was that it could receive. So, getting DX signals was relatively easy. Modern TVs, with all their electronic/digial tuners that are made only to receive a strong clear signal, i.e. digital, make it practically impossible to receive stuff that it's not designed to. Weren't old tv screens so round, back then?

[1L6E6VHF]

@JFredUK By about 1952, most monochrome TVs in the USA had CRTs shaped like this one - what the industry would come to call a "pregnant rectangle" (I believe most UK monochrome sets had rectangular sets by the mid 50's, too). When this set was made, about 1958, only colo(u)r sets were still being made as roundies.  Some newer sets do OK for DXing, but, take away those with "blue-screen squelch", no manual tuning, and those tham jam themselves, it is a few indeed.

[Guacatechs]

TVDX on a classic tv set, very nice.

[1L6E6VHF]

Thanks. Oddly enough, older TV sets (but not -this- old are often better for lowband (2 to 6) DX then new ones. All those neat electronic features, switching power supplies, and (where applicable) plasma displays have brought us TV sets that interfere with themselves.

A set with knobs and a CRT has none of these.

[italodancer81]

Yes true!

Older tv set have better reception for some reason.

[mathiasvolta]

Excellent !5*

[rnd123a]

wow, i have one of those UHF antennas too :)

picture looks really nice for a 50+ year old tv!