Magic Carpet Antenna
July 1960 Radio-Electronics

July 1960 Radio-Electronics

July 1960 Radio-Electronics Cover - RF Cafe[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.

Despite a natural instinct to be suspicious about new products claiming to to be a panacea to all problems pertaining a particular subject, it seems magazines of all eras have been filled with advertisements pitching such products. Not all are total scams, but the usefulness is often more narrow in scope than implied or explicitly stated in the ad. An example is high gain vacuum tube replacements for televisions which promised to improve picture quality in noisy or low signal strength environments. They could potentially result in a better picture, but often all that happened was both signal and noise levels increased to result in a brighter image, which then required turning down the brightness control; i.e., no overall real improvement. Antennas are another example of "miracle" cures for reception woes. The truth is that unless you lived in a high quality signal area, nothing short of a high gain directional antenna on the roof would do a really good job of pulling in a great picture (and sound). Set-top rabbit ears or wires running up the wall and across the ceiling were shot-in-the-dark efforts. Excluding weather and traffic related multipath signal variations, unless all the broadcast stations you wanted to receive were located within a few degrees of each other relative to your position, adjusting of the antenna configuration was required when changing channels. This Magic Carpet Antenna no doubt solved reception problems for some situations, but it doubtful that such a configuration resulted in universal improvement.

Magic Carpet Antenna Ad

 - RF CafeThe Lid's Off!

Jerrold announces the all printed circuit antenna ... the first new concept in TV-FM reception in 10 years!

Indoor Antenna-Outdoor Design! Jerrold's new Magic Carpet* is a flat, flexible all printed circuit antenna based on a broad-banded dipole design. Installed indoors in attic, crawl space, closet or any upper level location in the home, it offers performance comparable to a conical type outdoor antenna (mounted in the same location)** at a fraction of the cost.

A report on the Magic Carpet in the May issue of Electronics World states "Gain characteristics across all frequencies are very close to those of standard outdoor conicals." No more need for unsightly rooftop or indoor antenna (up to 30 miles from the TV transmitter). The Magic Carpet opens up a whole new antenna market for the TV and FM Serviceman.

Get the full story of the magic of its performance ... the potency of its sales appeal, see your Jerrold Distributor or write today

Jerrold Electronics Corporation, Distributor Sales Division, Dept. ID5-34, Philadelphia 32, Pa.

Jerrold Electronics (Canada) Ltd., Toronto

Export Representative: CBS International, New York 22, N. Y.

9.95 List

(illus. shows upper section of Magic Carpet)

* Trade Mark Patent Pending

** Data certified by American Electronic Laboratories Inc.

 

 

Posted July 20, 2023