1980s Cable TV

[4nthony]

Was chatting with a friend about early 80s MTV and the topic of cable boxes came up.

I remember finding MTV on the cable box in 1982 when I was either 12 or 13. The first video I saw was Peter Gabriel's Shock the Monkey. When the video ended, they splashed the MTV logo onscreen and I jumped for joy. I couldn't believe we finally had MTV.

I remember trying to "hack" channels on this cable box by finding the space between two channels. You could usually hear the audio but the picture was scrambled. By finding the perfect position between two channels, the picture would correct and you'd have free HBO, Cinemax, or whatever other pay service the cable provider had. You had to wedge something behind the dial to keep the dial steady

Which got me thinking about a subscription service my parents had. Anyone here remember ON TV?

At the time, I didn't know that it was only in Los Angeles, but they eventually expanded to quite a few major cities across the US. Programming started around 5 pm and continued until early morning. PG movies in the earlier hours with some -- tame by today's standards -- adult content for the last few hours.

There was also SelecTV, but I don't think it was as popular as ON TV.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Peter Gabriel, what a legend! Very creative guy who took advantage of the early digital tech and media. MTV was THE show to watch growing up, that and Hey Hey It's Saturday every weekend!

 

[bobtskutter]

I love the nostalgia of old electronics.  The wooden box with mitered corners looks great.
We had a Sony Trinitron TV with a dial tuner, just like a radio, that you had to tune to select the channel, bbc 1/2, ITV or CH4 - that was in a wooden box as well!

Bob

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I remember it well. Since I grew up in a suburb just outside of Columbus Ohio, which was a huge test market city at the time, everything was available.
Warner was the cable company, before it got hyphenated with Time . The original cable box was called Qube. It was not a set-top box though. It was a wired-remote. You could get "up to" 30 channels. It was a push button grid with 3 columns of 10 channels each. The first column was your local channels and a few that were from close major cities. The middle row was your "big" cable stations like TBS, ESPN, etc. Those were all part of the package. The 3rd row was the Premium channels, that you could pay for individually, HBO, Showtime, etc. That was also the "pay per view" area for the most current movies, boxing matches, that kind of thing. Those channels were "controlled access" via a key that was removable, to keep the kids from running up the bill.
We knew that MTV was coming and were ready for it. We were out of the initial launch by something like 2 weeks? I'm not sure why though. The very first systems to get it were in New Jersey? Northern part of the east coast? IIRC. They did the same here though, Video Killed the Radio Star was first. I don't recall anything special about it though, so it must have just been timed to the normal rotation. A first, they only had a dozen or so videos, so they repeated often, but it grew quickly. I was already out of high school by then though, so it might have been more of a sharing experience.
The Atari console had Pong and Break-out, also wired remote.
When I bought my first house (1984), it was in a small town about 20 miles south of there. It was on a different cable system. They had WGN, that's how I got into Chicago baseball teams. I had a wired remote on my first VHS machine too.
Trip down memory lane.

 

[xedos]

I remember trying to "hack" channels on this cable box by finding the space between two channels. You could usually hear the audio but the picture was scrambled. By finding the perfect position between two channels, the picture would correct and you'd have free HBO, Cinemax, or whatever other pay service the cable provider had. You had to wedge something behind the dial to keep the dial steady

An index card folded and slipped between the case and faceplate would accomplish the same thing without having to worry about the dial moving. The "lockout" was a metal tab that grounded the particular channel(s) on the back of the dial.  Insulating that with the card gave you the channel.

It required some finesse and patience, so I'm guessing your way was faster , better, cheaper.

 

[Packard]

Growing up, we had channels 2, 4, and 7 (network), 5, 9, and 11 (local), and 13 (PBS).

No cable boxes required, but a roof mounted antenna was.  You also had to get up from your chair to change the channels and loudness.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Peter Gabriel, what a legend! Very creative guy who took advantage of the early digital tech and media. MTV was THE show to watch growing up, that and Hey Hey It's Saturday every weekend!

About a year after “Shock the monkey” came out I started working for the production studio that made the animations for that video. The people who did work on it had huge fondness for the project even though it required many all-nighters.

 

[4nthony]

I love the nostalgia of old electronics.  The wooden box with mitered corners looks great.

Agreed! It's so analog, I love it. I'm kinda itching to replicate this for something in the house to control with a simple on/off dial.

If I ever get around to replacing my range/oven with a cooktop, I'd love to copy the look and put the knobs in the front panel.

I remember it well. Since I grew up in a suburb just outside of Columbus Ohio, which was a huge test market city at the time, everything was available.
Warner was the cable company, before it got hyphenated with Time . The original cable box was called Qube. It was not a set-top box though. It was a wired-remote. You could get "up to" 30 channels. It was a push button grid with 3 columns of 10 channels each. The first column was your local channels and a few that were from close major cities. The middle row was your "big" cable stations like TBS, ESPN, etc. Those were all part of the package. The 3rd row was the Premium channels, that you could pay for individually, HBO, Showtime, etc. That was also the "pay per view" area for the most current movies, boxing matches, that kind of thing. Those channels were "controlled access" via a key that was removable, to keep the kids from running up the bill.
We knew that MTV was coming and were ready for it. We were out of the initial launch by something like 2 weeks? I'm not sure why though. The very first systems to get it were in New Jersey? Northern part of the east coast? IIRC. They did the same here though, Video Killed the Radio Star was first. I don't recall anything special about it though, so it must have just been timed to the normal rotation. A first, they only had a dozen or so videos, so they repeated often, but it grew quickly. I was already out of high school by then though, so it might have been more of a sharing experience.
The Atari console had Pong and Break-out, also wired remote.
When I bought my first house (1984), it was in a small town about 20 miles south of there. It was on a different cable system. They had WGN, that's how I got into Chicago baseball teams. I had a wired remote on my first VHS machine too.
Trip down memory lane.

I don't remember the Qube and we never had push button cable boxes, but we did have a TV with push button channel numbers on the front. It might've also had a wired remote.

Atari console...the 2600? Was there an Atari console before it? My friend had the 2600. I didn't get an Atari until the 5200 came out.

Have you seen this? "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll..."

 

[Peter Kelly]

If you were in France in the 1980s and saw one of these in person it was pretty mind-blowing what could be done. Total precursor to the internet, massively ahead of its time:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel

[attachimg=1]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

[member=75283]4nthony[/member] This was late 70s-very early 80s and the Qube might have been gone before your day. I'm guessing that you are at least 10 years younger than I am. 60 in July

Yes 2600.  That was the one and only game console we ever had. We (younger brother and I) were both grown up and moved out by then. I did have a Nintendo in my own house in the early 80s, but never a N64. I haven't played video games since really.
Mahjong on the laptop now and then.

 

[squall_line]

If you were in France in the 1980s and saw one of these in person it was pretty mind-blowing what could be done. Total precursor to the internet, massively ahead of its time:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel

[attachimg=1]

That keyboard makes me want to hurt someone.  It's not like typewriters didn't already exist with a QWERTY layout at that point.  It's not even Dvorak!

Also, the picture I found of a Minitel had a AZERTY keyboard instead of QWERTY, but certainly not ABCDEF.  Odd...

 

[4nthony]

[member=75283]4nthony[/member] This was late 70s-very early 80s and the Qube might have been gone before your day. I'm guessing that you are at least 10 years younger than I am. 60 in July

Yes 2600.  That was the one and only game console we ever had. We (younger brother and I) were both grown up and moved out by then. I did have a Nintendo in my own house in the early 80s, but never a N64. I haven't played video games since really.
Mahjong on the laptop now and then.

I'm catching up to you. I just turned 54 last week [cool]

I've only had 3 consoles:
- Atari 5200
- Nintendo 64
- Sega Dreamcast
I was never really good at video games. In elementary school when I'd go to the arcade, a use to team up with a buddy and we share controls. There was one game called Lunar Lander (or something like that). He'd control forward/backward motion and I'd control jumping and shooting. Cheating perhaps, but it enabled us to stay at the machine much longer than if we'd been playing solo.

 

[PaulMarcel]

We had ON TV. I wasn't much of a TV watcher so I don't recall much about it. Once MTV came out, though, I'd watch that for an hour after school. Ah, the best version of MTV: when they actually played (M)music.

In college, some tech classes were available for companies to provide their employees. Places like Intel, Motorola, Microchip, etc would pipe in grad CS courses so employees could just attend in a meeting room during the day. Not my company, though.

I had a class mid-afternoon that would require about 1h45m of round-trip travel time for the 1h class  [eek] but found it was broadcast to companies. Happened to find a used receiver box for it at a swap meet. Set it up, aimed it with binoculars to the transmit tower on campus, and started recording it with a timed VCR since I was at work at that time. Worked well, but sometimes, the video and audio would static out briefly and then come back repeatedly. Not every day, though. Once, I watched a class at night just to diagnose this, went on the roof with binoculars, and had the volume up to 11 so I could hear the broadcast up there. Sure enough, it was a breezy day and in the line-of-sight a tall stand of palm trees would sway in and out and static would ensue. Still better than all the drive and missed work for a required class.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Great story Paul!

 

[Mark Katz]

Growing up, we had channels 2, 4, and 7 (network), 5, 9, and 11 (local), and 13 (PBS).

No cable boxes required, but a roof mounted antenna was.  You also had to get up from your chair to change the channels and loudness.

Sounds like NYC or a nearby suburb. Former Brooklynite here.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

My ex's boy had a Sega back in the day (92?) Those were the ones that were disc-based, right? while the others at the time still had the cartridge?
Everything is pretty much download or online today isn't it?

Growing up, we had channels 2, 4, and 7 (network), 5, 9, and 11 (local), and 13 (PBS).

No cable boxes required, but a roof mounted antenna was.  You also had to get up from your chair to change the channels and loudness.

Sounds like NYC or a nearby suburb. Former Brooklynite here.

Before cable we only had 3 VHF channels 4NBC, 6ABC, 10CBS and the spotty UHF was run out of Ohio State University. It was 34(PBS). Fox came in as a UHF (28) later, but cable was pretty common by then. The main 3 were network affiliates, we didn't have any independent stations, like TBS or WGN
At one time, there was a water tower that "irritated" the ABC station, giving it ghosts on screen. Things would have a whitish second edge about 1/4" to the right. Cable cured that.....then a few years later, they moved that water tower.

I remember another "superstation" back then out of Cincinnati. (WXIX) Seems to me that they got shut down, at least for a time, by the FCC. IIRC they got busted for cutting the credits off of the end of movies? In later years the technology improvements have allowed stations to squish them off to the side and still throw in their news/weather preview. They would speed them up too. Somehow this gets around the regulations?

 

[4nthony]

My ex's boy had a Sega back in the day (92?) Those were the ones that were disc-based, right? while the others at the time still had the cartridge?
Everything is pretty much download or online today isn't it?

I think so. My step kids have a Playstation 4, which is disc-based with online updates, but I haven't seen them use it in years. It's not even hooked up. Everything they do now is online, which I think is mostly Roblox on an iPad.

They would speed them up too. Somehow this gets around the regulations?

I remember back in 2015 when this came out in the news .

How cable networks speed up shows to squeeze in more ads

 

[gunnyr]

I remember at some point before I left for the Service the summer of 1980 asking Dad when we were going get a TV with a remote.  He replied, deadpan serious;  "Why, I've got you and your sister to do it, turn it up a little would you!" [big grin]

After I left home for the Service and then didn't really have much exposure to TV, cable or OTA, until the late 80's.  The barracks I lived in most of that time only had TV in a hideous "TV" room so I found other things to do.  Kinda missed the whole MTV HBO thing somehow, in fact I've never had an HBO subscription. 

When I was overseas in the early 80's I bought a high dollar TEAC cassette deck with a really nice hardwood cabinet and a wired remote!

BTW, the Tour starts Saturday, time to restart my Peacock subscription.... [big grin]

 

[4nthony]

I too remember trying to 'hack' channels, but it wasn't HBO or Cinemax that drew my curiosity.

Back then, after hours Cinemax was known as Skinemax. [cool]

 

[Tinker]

When I got  out  the army, (1954) I went to my uncles farm in the Berkshires every weekend. They had two TV's. One could only get Hartford, The  other could only get Albany or Pittsfield. The Hartford could only get the visual. The Albany could only get the audio. Two different stories. We watched both and enjoyed the stories. They were quite hilarios when we had both going.
Tinker