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The Old CATV Equipment Museum
The Early Years: Before CATV

Broadband Settop Antenna Booster Amplifiers

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE
Alliance Mfg. Co. Model BB-2 "Casca-Matic" Antenna Signal Booster
Blonder Tongue Model HA-1-L Settop Booster Amplifier
Blonder Tongue Model HA-2-M Settop Booster Amplifier
Blonder Tongue Model HA-3 Settop Booster Amplifier
Electro-Voice Model 3000 "Tune-O-Matic" Antenna Signal Booster
Historical Note about Model 3000
Electro-Voice Model 3010 "Tenna-Top" Antenna-Mounted TV Booster Amplifier
Electro-Voice Model 3002 "Tune-O-Matic" Antenna Signal Booster
Electro-Voice Model 3005 "Tune-O-Matic" FM Signal Booster
Further information about Electro-Voice boosters

This page illustrates Broadband Settop Antenna Booster Amplifiers.   This device can be characterized as follows:
  • Description: Low-noise, low-gain broadband RF booster amplifier.

  • Intended Installation: On top of ("settop") or near a television set, within reach of the TV set's line cord).

  • Frequency Range: VHF Low Band (Channels 2-6).   No channel adjustment was required of the user.

  • RF Ports: One input port and one output port for connection to one television set.   All ports were 300-ohm screw terminals for use with twinlead.

  • Power Switching: Models intended for indoor installation were equipped with an internal relay which was controlled by current sensing circuitry activated by turning on the television set.   For proper operation, the television set was connected to a power receptacle on the back of the booster.

  • Housing: Depending on the manufacturer, either:
    • Painted metal, molded plastic, or simulated wood, designed for settop installation in a residential setting.
    • A steel chassis fitted with a perforated metal cover.   If the user considered this housing inappropriate for a residential setting, the booster could be placed on the floor behind the television set, on inside the set's cabinet.

Alliance Mfg. Co.
Model BB-2 "Casca-Matic" Antenna Signal Booster

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Blonder Tongue
Model HA-1-L Settop Booster Amplifier

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Blonder Tongue Model HA-2-M Settop Booster Amplifier

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Blonder Tongue Model HA-3 Settop Booster Amplifier

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Electro-Voice Model 3000 "Tune-O-Matic"
Broadband VHF Booster Amplifier

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Photo:Lew Chandler

Historical Note about Electro-Voice Model 3000

John Walson, founder of one of the first cable television systems in the country, used the Electro-Voice Model 3000 booster amplifier as a line amplifier in his first cable system, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, in 1948.   He recounted the story of this system in a Cable Center oral history interview conducted by Mary Alice Mayer:

In June of 1948, I went to Philadelphia and bought some twin-lead cable from Reliance Merchandising, and this twin-lead cable was run from the top of the mountain from an ordinary antenna and amplified every 500 feet with a top-of-the set booster [amplifier] made by Electro Voice which is a broadband amplifier.   They are the same people that manufacture speakers and microphones today.

The boosters were bought and they were just small top-of-the-set boosters with a relay in there so that when you turned the set on, this would automatically pre-amplify the signal going into the TV set.   What I have done with this booster, I have modified it and disconnected the relay completely and cut the booster through, and amplified the signal every 500 feet with the heavy-duty twin lead cable.   The amplifier only had about 6 dB. of gain.   It amplified 12 channels at a time, but there were only three channels available.   I essentially, in June 1948, had a broadband twin-lead system just as they have today, 12 channels which are modern.   The system was only carrying three channels, not because it wasn't capable of carrying 12 channels but because there were only three channels available.   Those three channels were 3, 6, and 10 out of Philadelphia.   (Walson 1987)


Electro-Voice Model 3010 "Tenna-Top"
Antenna-Mounted TV Booster Amplifier

This booster consists of two units:
    •   A power supply in an indoor housing intended for installation near the television set.
    •   An amplifier in a weatherproof housing intended for installation on a mast or tower.

 
Photos:Lew Chandler

 
Photos:Lew Chandler

 
Photos:Lew Chandler

 
Photos:Lew Chandler

 
Photos:Lew Chandler

 
Photos:Lew Chandler

Electro-Voice Model 3002 Tune-O-Matic
Antenna Signal Booster

Photo:Lew Chandler

Electro-Voice Model 3002 Tune-O-Matic
FM Signal Booster

Photo:Lew Chandler

Further information about Electro-Voice booster amplifiers is available at the Radiomuseum's website:


Model 3000
"Tune-O-Matic"
TV booster

Model 3005
"Tune-O-matic"
FM Booster.

Model 3010
"Tenna-Top"
TV booster.

Walson 1987.   Oral history interview with John Walson conducted by Mary Alice Mayer.   Oral History Collection: John Walson.   The Cable Center, Denver.   27 August 1987.   Retrieved 29 August 2007.   http://www.cablecenter.org/education/library/oralHistoryDetails.cfm?id=270


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