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April 1952 Radio-Electronics
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Electronics,
published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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Add-on devices like this
"TV-IF Signal Booster" began appearing in all sorts of magazines back in the
early 1950s as television sets became more and more of a household fixture, and
people were beginning to assume the now well-establish
couch potato
domestic class. According to this advertisement by Grayburne Corporation,
"experience proves a 20% average boost in overall signal is all that's needed to
give satisfactory reception." Since their signal booster plugs into the IF path,
it is probably safe to assume the gain refers to voltage and not power. A 20%
gain in voltage is 10 * log (1.2) = 0.79 dB, which is not much. Most likely the
vast majority of TV installations would benefit much more from fine tuning of
the antenna and transmission cable system, but to be fair, this devices targets
indoor installations where the antenna is rabbit ears that came installed on the
set. In that case, relocating the television to another place in the room and
fiddling with the rabbit ears would also likely result in as much or more of an
improvement as the booster. I remember as a kid discovering that adjusting not
just the positions of the elements but also the lengths would often provide a
much improved picture, and that was before I knew anything about electronics.
See my "Decibel Tutorial: dB and
dBm vs. Gain and Milliwatts."
Grayburne Boosters Ad
 Lets Talk Sense about Boosters
Grayburne
Grayburne means Quality Electronic Components
TV-IF Signal Booster
produces
20% AVERAGE Boost in
"Weak Station" Areas.
$9.95 list, plus extra tube required.
You don't use a 5 ton truck to haul 10 light bulbs! The same basic logic applies
to TV boosters, too. In many "weak station" areas, in sets forced to use only indoor
antennas, in RF-boosted sets still needing more gain - experience proves a 20% average
boost in overall signal is all that's needed to give satisfactory reception.
Model TSB-1 does exactly that - and everything expected of an added stage of
TV-IF-at low cost, to complete customer satisfaction, at a handsome profit for you.
It's well-designed and wired up in Adaptor form for easy installation. Only one
wire to connect.
• Amplifies Signal Over 20% On All Channels
• Increases picture Brightness
• Eliminates or Minimizes "Snow"
• Has All Advantages of Broad Band Boosters
• Eliminates Separate Tuning for Each Channel
• No Switches or External Connections
• Simple, Permanent, Easy Installation Inside Cabinet
• Equals Performance of Many Higher-Priced Boosters
Specifications: 4" high, excluding tube. Min. Diam., bottom, 7/8". Max. Diam.,
top, 1 3/8". Silver-plated contact pins. Draws only 0.3 amp. additional filament
current from set's filament transformer. Individually boxed with complete instructions.
See the Grayburne TV-IF Booster at your favorite distributor today. Write now
for complete catalog.
Grayburne Corporation, 103 Lafayette St., New York 13, N. Y.
Posted May 13, 2022
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