W9XAT

The Twin City Experimental Amateur Television Society

History of W9XAT -- References--Info/Links for Modern Mechanical/NBTV -- Wanted for this Web Site

Doctor Young in a staged demonstration of his mechanical television equipment in 1933

History of W9XAT

The callsign W9XAT originally belonged to the Twin Cities’ first television station (not counting some "still picture experiments" from station KSTP in the late 1920's), 15 years before what is traditionally considered the beginning of television broadcasting there. In 1933 Doctor George Young, founder of radio station WDGY received a license from the FRN (the predecessor to the FCC) for an experimental television station. A license was granted for a 500 watt station in what was considered at the time the “Ultra High” frequency ranges of 42 to 50 and 60 to 86 MHz (modern broadcast television uses those frequency ranges and also ranges up to 800 MHz).

Television at that time was much different than what we know today. Instead of a color picture of several hundred lines electronically scanned, television at that time consisted of a black and white picture captured and viewed on devices that contained spinning wheels or spirals with a number of tiny pinholes and mirrors to mechanically illuminate, scan and display the picture. Such a device was usually limited to a few dozen lines of resolution, although Doctor Young’s station pushed the limits of mechanical television with a 125-line system.

 The low resolution and the intense but flickering lighting requirements limited the subject matter. Broadcasts included a puppet show by local puppeteer Bob Longfield and a black and white bulldog belonging to WDGY salesperson Miss Vivian Bulmer (the high contrast of the black and white dog showed up well on those early television broadcasts). The additional problem of a cramped attic studio made conditions difficult for human subjects. Even so, “programs” included singers and other musical performers (who had to do their performances from memory since the lighting was not conducive for actually reading anything in it), local radio celebrity  “Slim Jim” Iverson, and future locally famous television personality Clellan “Axel” Card. Card claimed to be on the first W9XAT broadcast, and recalled it being a picture of himself and Minneapolis mayor William Kunze shaking hands. It was received across town at the Minneapolis Courthouse. There is a letter in FCC records for WDGY regarding television broadcasts dated August 4^th, 1933. It is probable that this was the date of that first broadcast.

 Although there were a dozen or so stations throughout the United States and Europe that actually had a regular schedule of mechanical television by 1933, Doctor Young’s station never reached that stage. It was primarily just a way for WDGY’s engineering staff to test television equipment they designed and built, including an early means of transmitting motion picture film. The original license was even originally applied for as a “portable” station, since Doctor Young wanted to attempt broadcasting from various places, including the top of Foshay Tower in Minneapolis. However, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that he actually did this. All broadcasting was probably done from the third floor attic of WDGY studios on 909 West Broadway in North Minneapolis.

 Doctor Young did attempt to renew his television license when it expired in 1938. However, by then, mechanical television had become obsolete. The original novelty of being able to see even the low resolution mechanical pictures had worn off with the public, and new electronic scanning systems of 300 lines and above were being used in Europe and on a limited basis in the United States. The FCC was not in favor of the continued promotion of mechanical television, and required Doctor Young to put his renewal application before a hearing. The Doctor decided that the expense he would have to go through was not worth the effort, and decided to let his license lapse. The FCC deleted the license on September 20, 1938. The equipment was later used as lab tools for the "Northwest Radio and Television Institute", a technical school housed at 909 West Broadway. Television would not return to the Twin Cities until KSTP started experiments after World War II and commenced regular broadcasting in  1948, and the callsign W9XAT was left unissued until it was granted to the Twin City Experimental Amateur Television Society on August 31, 2002.

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References:

 A U. S. Television Chronology, 1875-1970

Tribute to Bob Longfield

The Early Television Foundation

History of Television

A Clellan Card Chronology, 1901-1938

The Pavek Museum of Broadcasting

A  History of Station WDGY,  Jerry Verne Haines (Masters Thesis, University of Minnesota 12/1970)

What a Card! The Story of Clellan Card and "Axel & His Dog”, Julian West (Not yet published)

Personal emails from NRTI Students

KSTP Archives

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Info/Links for Modern Mechanical/Narrow Band Television

Today, there is a renewed interest in the low bandwidth television techniques of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Experimenters and Amateur Radio Operators use these techniques to produce television signals of a bandwidth narrow enough that the signal can be reproduced as a sound audible to the human ear, and able to be sent over most Amateur Radio transmitters. Referred to in modern times as “Narrow Bandwidth Television” or “NBTV”, experimenters use both reproductions of the original mechanical television equipment as well as computer programs that do the same thing with a sound card in a relatively fast home PC.

The following are links to various web sites on the topic of Narrow Band Television:

The Narrow Band Television Association

ON1AIJ’s NBTV Page

The Experimental Television Society

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Wanted for this Web Site

Any photos or official documentation from the W9XAT station. 

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