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How do television or radion stations come on the air?

M

Mahaguru

Senior member
Do the station owners just decide that at 10:20 PM we will start broadcasting the signal and this will be our first program? Then the TV/radio tuners just pick it up? So back in the day when TVs had to be manually set, you would see static and then all of a sudden the station would come on?

There is a new radio station starting in town (Jack FM), and they are scheduled to start at 10:37 AM on Friday, but I'll be taking a test. I would have loved to hear it come online.
 
Does anybody remember when TV stations used to go off the air for the night? They'd play the Star Spangled Banner and then just play a tone until the next morning.
 
It's probably up to the station manager once all of the FCC licenses and permits are taken care of.

There's a Jack FM in the DC area. It must be one of those syndicated stations. Nothing great about it.

Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Does anybody remember when TV stations used to go off the air for the night? They'd play the Star Spangled Banner and then just play a tone until the next morning.
Click to expand...

Yes. I also remember turning the tube on in the afternoon waiting for a station to begin broadcasting a show.
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Does anybody remember when TV stations used to go off the air for the night? They'd play the Star Spangled Banner and then just play a tone until the next morning.
Click to expand...

LOL, yeah I do! 😉

WOW that brings back some memories. A few times I remember standing there in front of the TV with my hand across my chest singing the Star Spangled Banner and being all patriotic too before going to bed, LOL.
 
Originally posted by: DasFox
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Does anybody remember when TV stations used to go off the air for the night? They'd play the Star Spangled Banner and then just play a tone until the next morning.
Click to expand...

LOL, yeah I do! 😉

WOW that brings back some memories. A few times I remember standing there in front of the TV with my hand across my chest singing the Star Spangled Banner and being all patriotic too before going to bed, LOL.
Click to expand...


Before that many stations broadcast a test pattern, and the famous Indian chief when they signed off. And stations signed off even earlier at like 7pm-9pm and there were alot less stations.
 
So back in the day when TVs had to be manually set, you would see static and then all of a sudden the station would come on?
Click to expand...
If by "manually set" you mean an analog tuner, yes.

Growing up, we had 5 stations (the 3 networks, PBS, and an independent). Cable first became available in my area when I was around 10 years old (~1981).
 
All they have to do is flip a switch to turn it on. Any radio tuned to 103.7 (which I assume is their frequency) within the broadcast range will pick it up.
 
Yeah, I worked part time ata station that shut down after running the late movie. Well actually, I wokred at an FM radio station in the same complex. After shutting down all the transmitters, we could use the equipment. The night-time rock music DJ from the AM radio operations ran a side business as a teen band manager, and he'd bring them into the station at 1:30 am. They would set up in the TV studio and we'd record demo tapes he could send out to record companies.

A favorite story always was of the guys like this (but not at our station) who ran some XXX-rated movies on the projector but forgot to shut down the transmitter, and were fired of course. Urban legend or reality - who knows?
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Does anybody remember when TV stations used to go off the air for the night? They'd play the Star Spangled Banner and then just play a tone until the next morning.
Click to expand...

yes
 
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