Memoirs of a Broadcast Engineer by Bob Zuelsdorf Version 1.3.2 rev. 2020-7-6 3:00pm Copyright © 2020 Robert L. Zuelsdorf All rights reserved Published by Robert L. Zuelsdorf Grass Valley, CA 95949 Materials may be excerpted from this book as follows: Up to 10 pages may be excerpted for usage of the reader No modifications or changes will be made to excerpted material Full credit shall be given to this book and author This book may be accessed at: https://kokoroinc.com/memoirs-of-a-broadcast-engineer/ Bob Zuelsdorf can be reached at: [email protected] Version Page This book is dedicated to Kathleen Zuelsdorf, who departed far too soon. She is greatly missed by all. Table of Contents Version Page ......................................................................................... Table of Contents ................................................................................. Forward ................................................................................................ 5 Memoirs of a Broadcast Engineer ........................................................ 6 Prologue ............................................................................................... 6 The 940’s .......................................................................................... 0 In the Beginning ................................................................................. 8 A Change of Scene ............................................................................. 9 A Start in Radio .................................................................................. Into Television .................................................................................... 8 Televising a Lunar Eclipse ................................................................. Projector Audio Amplifiers ................................................................ 5 Telethons ............................................................................................ 40 Flashbacks and More ......................................................................... 4 TTUA Transmitter .......................................................................... 49 Recreation - and Foolishness ............................................................. 57 PE Registration .................................................................................. 60 Ham Radio ......................................................................................... 64 New Tower for WKOW-TV ............................................................... 7 NAM Design ...................................................................................... 76 Video DA’s ......................................................................................... 78 Races and Motorcycles ...................................................................... 8 Twilight for Dinosaurs ....................................................................... 97 Chopper ............................................................................................ 05 Back to U of W ................................................................................ 09 WAOW-TV Antenna ........................................................................ 118 Routing Switcher ............................................................................. 4 WKOW-TV 60kW Transmitter ........................................................ SBE Chapter 4 Founding ............................................................... WXOW-TV La Crosse WI Construction ......................................... 5 Wien Bridge Audio Oscillator .......................................................... 4 KBSC-TV Los Angeles .................................................................... 47 60” and 00” Telescopes .................................................................. 56 The ID Logic - April 974 Broadcast Engineering Article .............. 6 Digital Logic for Broadcast Engineers ............................................ 68 Another Engineer of Note .............................................................. 69 Ice Storm ‘76 .................................................................................... 7 Tubing the Apple River .................................................................... 80 EBS Receiver Design and FCC Type Approval ............................... 8 Remote Broadcasts ........................................................................... 87 Flight to NAB in Washington DC .................................................... 05 Frequency Measurement System ..................................................... 08 Videotape ......................................................................................... 5 The Sequencer .................................................................................. 0 WQOW-TV Eau Claire WI and Intercity Microwave .................... KTWS-TV Dallas TX Construction ................................................ 57 WQOW & KTWS Side Notes ........................................................ 7 Moving On ....................................................................................... 74 (Communication Technologies Inc.) ................................................ 75 (Grass Valley Group) ....................................................................... 75 (Ensemble Designs) ......................................................................... 75 4 Viewing info: Mozilla Firefox Browser gives the best viewing arrangement I have found. In Firefox click on upper left icon. Click on Bookmarks icon diago- nally to right and below to have Linked Bookmarks appear down the left side of the page. Click Automatic zoom - Page Fit . At right you may have to pull the pages down/up to initialize Use Page Down/Page Up to move page by page through the document Forward From the title it might be suspected this is a highly technical docu- ment. To some extent, this is true. However there is a good deal of material which simply presents life as I have seen it, from the 1930’s to the present, and is likely to be of interest to many of you who are less concerned with the more esoteric aspects of the television broadcast business. I hope you will also find my story to be of interest and value to you. Please note that this is a work in progress, perhaps three fourths finished. If it is not wholly complete, then why publish or present it to others? Well, after 60 years as a Broadcast Engineer and now in my upper 80’s it seems wise to do so as who knows if there will be time for me to finish it, and I feel it is of adequate significance to have it dis- seminated. Others may have seen these events differently - my story is accurate insofar as I remember the events - and this narrative is simply the way it all appeared to me. In the document I have mentioned names of a few of the fine individuals I have been fortunate to work and associ- ate with. I know I have omitted the names of a great many folks. It is not that they are of lesser import, rather that the ones I referred to by name are simply those who happened to pop into my mind as I was recalling the many events of the past. (Items in Parenthesis are some of those I hope to yet write about) Bob Zuelsdorf 5 Memoirs of a Broadcast Engineer [my 1954 Television interview] …he had been at CBS New York and had chosen to return to his home state of Wisconsin. As he was also a technical individual, Smitty and I connected immediately. I had a strong interest in the UHF band and a good deal of experience and background in the higher frequencies such as UHF and Radar. My previous work with resonant cavities fit right in with understanding the cavity resonators of the WKOW-TV RCA TTU1B Channel 27 transmitter. The interview ended by my being immediately hired by Smitty as a Television Broadcast Engineer!! Prologue Growing up in rural Wisconsin was an interesting and generally posi- tive experience. While not living on a farm, there was ample opportu- nity to sample farm life. I was born at home in York Center in August of 9. My brother Joe preceded me having been born a year earlier at Columbus Hospital in June of 90. We both attended the York Center school, a one room school a mile to the south of York Center. Before we were old enough to have bicycles we walked both ways each day, except in the coldest weather when we got rides to and from school. For most of his eight years at school Joe was the only one in his class, while my class was huge – for the first six years there were five of us! One teacher, usually at the back of the room, handled all 8 grades, if indeed there was at least one student per grade, which was not always the case. During the early 90’s York Center consisted of two farms, Dad’s Garage and Machine Shop, a Cheese Factory, a General Store and the York Center Town Hall along with the Town of York equipment buildings. The population was 6 people. At the Garage we worked on and repaired everything from farm tractors and farm equipment to autos, motorcycles, race cars, tracked vehicles and Mack trucks. I grew up helping, and learning, in Dad’s York Center Garage and Machine Shop. There was a farm at the south end of York Center on Hwy 7 and to the north was another farm. Across the road from the Garage was the 6 Cheese Factory and just past the Cheese Factory on the gravel road to the west was the General Store. The Town of York buildings were across the intersection to the northwest of the Garage. A Tavern was just south of