[QuadList] for those who care how TV Signals we moved about.....

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

A little summary on one of  our   heroes...
 
 
1946-1947
 
K.D. Smith was project engineer on the TE-1 and TE-2 short haul microwave  
relay system intended for Television studio to transmitter site service; and 
for  repeatered routes of 2 to 3 links. The TE-1 system operated between 
3.7 and 4.2  Gigahertz.
 
An excellent explanation of this system can be found in a publication  
entitled "A New Microwave Television System" that K.D. Smith co-authored with  
J.F. Wentz. This talk was presented at the winter meeting of the AIEE in 
January  1947, and the paper was printed in the Transactions for the AIEE Volume 
66,  pages 465-470 in 1947.
 
For an in depth look at what it was like to set up the first test between  
Hollywood and Mount Wilson, we have on file K.D. Smith’s Field notes of this 
 event. It chronicles the events from unboxing the equipment through the  
successes and problems that were encountered! (editor  note... hand written 
and incredible!)
 
1948-1951
 
K.D. Smith was the circuit design supervisor on the TD-2 Microwave Radio  
Relay System. The TD-2 was the backbone trans-continental microwave relay 
system  carrying network television programming as well as long distance 
telephone  traffic. Long before communications satellites were a practical 
reality, the  TD-2 system was what brought us the television shows we so much 
enjoyed from the  network studios in New York, and gave us enough long distance 
telephone  connections to talk to Aunt Martha back on the Eastern seaboard 
during Christmas  day!

K.D. Smith’s specific responsibility was the F.M. terminal  systems used in 
the TD-2. The F.M. terminal converted video signals to a 70 MHz  frequency 
modulated signal that modulated the microwave transmitter circuit that  
generated the output signal of the microwave relay link.
 
Excellent reference on the TD-2 system can be found in "The TD-2 Microwave  
Radio Relay System" by A.A. Roetken, K.D. Smith and R.W. Friis. This 
article was  published in the BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, Volume 30 (part 2) 
Pages  1041-1077 on October 1951.
 
An interesting side light is that this publication was one of the three  
selected from the BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL to be preserved until the year 
 6939 AD, in the Westinghouse TIME CAPSULE II. This time capsule contains a 
 panorama of what was then current human activities. The capsule was buried 
 alongside TIME CAPSULE I.  Both capsules reside under ground at the site 
of  the two New York world’s fair. TIME CAPSULE I was buried in 1938 and the 
second  was buried in 1965. This historic time capsule is discussed in BELL 
LABS  NEWS,  May 15 1965. This newsletter as well as the publication on TD-2 
that  K.D. Smith co-authored is on file at the museum.
 
Another excellent reference on the TD-2 system is contained in  THE  TD-2 
STORY,  a book that was authored by A.C. Dickieson, and presented to  the 
museum by him. Both publications, as well as the time capsule story in the  
BELL LABS NEWS present an excellent view of the TD-2 system for the person with 
 the curious mind!
 
The TD-2 system and its steel and concrete towers was a communications  
marvel! 
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