New York's Fourth Station

New York City had four television stations as World War Two came to an end, but one of them was rarely talked about, and was never seen in newspaper television listings.

NBC had WNBT. CBS had WCBW. DuMont had WABD. But there was another station, one which beat other contenders for a license from the FCC. It was W2XJT.

You can tell by the call-letters it was an experimental station. It was operated by William B. Still, who owned a radio shop and was more interested in building equipment than putting programmes on the air. It seems any broadcasts took place to test his equipment.

He caught the attention of Television magazine, which published a feature story in July 1945 about Still’s efforts to build an inexpensive TV transmitter. It’s a dry recitation of figures, but there’s a bit of history about the station near the end.

BUILDING A TELEVISION STATION ON A SHOE STRING
or the Saga of William B. Still
$20,000* is all it cost Bill Still to erect New York's fourth television station, W2XJT, which began operation on an experimental basis July 1st, out in Jamaica, L. I.
$150,000* is the figure quoted by transmitter manufacturers for a 5kw station which is similar in equipment to Still's except for the additional power.
$130,000 is the difference and that's a lot of money in any mans language.
It is this disproportionate difference that is focusing industry attention on W2XJT which operates on Channel 13 (230-236 mc.) with a 600 watt (peak) video and 150 watt audio transmitter.
Equipment
Although all the equipment is not completely installed in the studio as yet, plans call for two cameras, one film projector, one film pick-up camera, a master control board with three video monitors, studio lighting equipment, audio equipment, an intercommunication system, an antenna mounted on a 200-foot tower, spares and testing equipment. Excluding the tower, Still places the entire cost at $17,000.
The original estimate for the tower was $1,500. However, due to the tower's proximity to elevated lines and its location in a busy shopping area, a special construction job was necessary in order to conform with New York City regulations. This will boost the final tower cost to around $4,200.
Prewar Basis for Postwar Estimate
Getting back to the $130,000 difference between Still's figures and those of the transmitter manufacturers, a look at the DuMont pre-war costs for a 5kw station which is very much in line with GE's estimates (Television, June) should be of interest. Naturally, these figures will vary according to the locality and problems in transmission which each would present. Here are the figures:
Two cameras with push dollies and studio control desk $23,000
One film projector 4,000
One film pickup camera 3,000
Studio lights 5,000
Audio equipment 5,000
Master control board 35,000
Video and audio transmitter with control console 36,000
Antenna 3,000
Spares and testing equipment 13,000
Soundproofing, electrical wiring and structural alterations for studio, transmitter and control rooms 25,000
Installation cost 7,000
TOTAL $159,000
But this figure cannot be taken as final. Material costs and the labor market, as well as demand for the equipment, will all play a determining role in the final cost price.
Comparison
W2XJT is the result of one man's highly technical skill and unremitting labor over a two year period.
Whether the $20,000 figure will stand up after a year's operation remains to be seen.
Still will have to show that his equipment can stand up and perform as well as transmitters manufactured for $150,000. The $20,000 figure does not include labor costs. Considering that Bill Still has worked more than two years on the project, it would be fair to estimate an additional $20,000 for labor. Then too, the difference in cost between a 600 w and 5kw station would probably add another 20% to the final price. Other important points which must be brought out if a fair comparison is to be made is the type of camera lens used, the design of the synchronizing signal generator, type of lighting equipment, studio equipment, whether the film projector is 16 or 35mm and what kind. And finally it remains to be seen whether W2XJT can meet the signal wave form specifications of the RMA.
There are many intangibles which are not counted in the $20,000 cost but without which W2XJT could hardly have emerged out of the dream state.
First is Bill Still himself. Possessing unusual technical skill and ability, he has personally constructed and designed more than 90% of the equipment in his station. Cameras, transmitter, intercommunication system, control board and sound equipment were completely remodeled.
Station Application
In February 1943 Bill Still applied for a television station with the FCC. He has worked day and night since personally supervising and working on every phase of construction. His only help has been the periodic assistance of a few engineering friends and the aid of several high school boys.
This is quite an accomplishment, but then you have to take into consideration the fact that Still started puttering around with radio and building crystal sets at the age of ten. By the time he was 15 he had constructed his own transmitting equipment and earned his ham license. His formal education stopped with high school and immediately afterwards he started working in the electronic field for a few of the transmitter manufacturers. Four years later he opened his own radio shop.
With the advent of the war he secured some small contracts for his little shop on Navy walkie-talkies and a special projectile speed measuring device.
Trading Area
W2XJT is located in Jamaica, a residential district in Queens, (one of New York's five boroughs), which has a population of 150,000. The section is rated as the third retail trading area in New York City, with an estimated shopping population of 2 1/2 million drawn from Queens residents and outlying truck farmers. Gertz and Montgomery Ward are the two largest department stores, flanked by a large number of chains. Recently R. H. Macy & Co. announced the purchase of land for the postwar construction of a department store.
According to Still the station will probably cover the same area reached by the other New York City stations—although the signal strength will he strongest in Queens. Still hopes for a coverage within a radius of 35 miles.
The Challenge
Certainly there are few Bill Stills in the country who possess the ability to do the complete job he was capable of doing. There is also a certainty that pre-war costs will undergo an overhauling to meet post-war conditions. Bill Still will have to show that he can build a transmitter which will give the same results as existing transmitters with less equipment and a lower labor cost. If he does this the industry will arise and acclaim him.
But $20,000? Triple it! Quadruple it! And you still have a mighty challenge to the television industry.
* round figure estimates.

The TV channel spectrum got more and more valuable after the war, and Still’s experiments were taken off the air as WATV took over his frequency in 1948. At the time, Still was trying to come up with a colour TV system. By 1950, the FCC decided the experimental technical research was over, and Still’s licence wasn’t renewed.

It’s a shame, in a way. Still could have tapped into the borough’s black community and provided ground-breaking entertainment and public affairs programming, an electronic version of what black newspapers had been doing (they covered him on rare occasion). But Still was content with fussing around with television parts, which is how he spent the remainder of his working life.