[QuadList] AT&T Audio was Jan. 21, 1959 Kraft Music Hall--In Color on N-B-C

[W4wj at aol.com]

AT&T decided on using sub carriers of 6.2 and 6.8MHz 
for Left and Right audio for the improved terrestial 
network.
 
I remember comparing the OLD v.s. the NEW  audio.
Better noise floor... Better S/N...  Better  everything...
 
When the Big 3 went to satellite distribution, ABC and 
CBS on C-Band, NBC being the first  major player to go the
Ku-Band route, the 6.2 and 6.8MHz sub carriers went along with them.
 
Analog video transmission would be the norm for  the
Big 3 and cable channel distribution for many  years.
 
With the advent of Videocipher technology, the  analog
cable feed transmissions were scrambled with the audio being  buried in the 
datastream along with the video.  The
"in the clear"  6.2 and 6.8 sub carriers became  "barkers"  
for various products including  programming subscriptions!
 
Fun Times!!
 
 
Don Murray, W4WJ
Retired from 40 years of Miami TV Engineering
35+ years at NBC O&O WTVJ
 
 
 
In a message dated 3/24/2011 4:01:12 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
DennyD1 at verizon.net writes:


>              On Mar 24,  2011, at 11:57 AM, sgw1009 wrote:
>
>> In 1959, AT&T did  not have the capability of transmitting full  
>> bandwidth  (20KHz) audio across the country.  Their audio bandwidth   
>> was limited to only 5KHz, and in fact would a separate path  from  
>> the video. So the recording had to be made at the  studio in  
>> Burbank, and not New York, judging by the high  audio quality.
>
>               I add:
>
>      This audio system was in place  until 1977!
>      BTW, the 5KHz audio was pretty  good.  Though band-limited,  
> there was  not a lot of  noise present.  True, it wasn't high  
> fidelity as we  know  it, but you'd be surprised at how good it  
>  sounded.  I'm pretty certain  now that, based on what I know,  the  
> recording was made in New York or  somewhere along the  network line.

On Mar 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM,  Tony Quinn wrote:

> I'm not familiar with your US network  distribution system, but it's  
obvious that with the *RIGHT* male  voice a well equalised 5 kc/s  
circuit (and the right people) could  produce a very acceptable outcome.
> I may be an engineer, but I don't  always need metering to tell me  
good from bad!

I expand:

Tony, in the US, television  networks used the national telephone  
company AT&T almost  exclusively to distribute their programming into  
the early 1980's  when satellite distribution was introduced.  Until  
1977, the  old 'Telco' distribution system maintained audio and video  
as  separate parallel feeds.  This required constant monitoring along   
the various paths to ensure that audio and video remained in sync  with  
each other.  In 1977, AT&T improved the video service  so that it was  
capable of carrying a wider bandwidth than  before.  Wider bandwidth  
systems allowed for audio subcarriers  to be transmitted along with the  
video, thereby providing for the  first time a single system for both  
video and audio.  This  advance provided several new improvements in  
addition to its simple  'one line' concept:  Audio quality was  
dramatically improved to  high-fidelity levels.  25-15KHz bandwidth  
became possible as  well as stereo transmission, both of which were not  
available to  network affiliates before.  System noise levels were  
lowered as  well, and the elimination of the need to synchronize audio  
to video  was a tremendous advantage over the older separate system.
This new multiplex transmission system lasted only until satellite   
distribution became common.  NBC started satellite distribution of  its  
programming around 1982 using the Ku band, the only network at  the  
time go with Ku.
Now of course, everything is  digital and high definition.  Audio is  
so much better than what  was available just a few years ago, it's hard  
to imagine what it was  like back then.

Dennis Degan,  Video Editor-Consultant-Knowledge Bank
NBC Today Show, New  York


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