TELEVISION IN VIETNAM

By Billy Williams

American television started in Vietnam on January 22, 1966 with tests on two channels. On February 7th, regular transmissions commenced with American programming on channel 11 and Vietnamese broadcasts on channel 9.

No permanent studio had been built, so three C-121 Super Constellation aircraft, known as Blue Eagles, were specially outfitted with film projectors and transmitters. A fourth Blue Eagle was radio only. It was used to relay audio of the 1965 World Series.

Circling high over South Vietnam and transmitting U.S. TV programs on Channel 11, the Blue Eagles provided extended coverage to Americans who were arriving in increasing numbers.

Steve Robbins was an organizer of Project Jenny which led to the Blue Eagle flights. He has a wealth of photos and information on his web site

Later in 1966, a permanent TV station was completed at 9 Hong Thap Tu in Saigon. A huge antenna provided more reliable coverage. Hours were expanded and daily newscasts began.

Concurrently, several detachments added television. A complete station was mounted in a van the size of a large semi trailer. The mountaintop locations of some detachments provided excellent coverage.

But unlike radio, AFVN television programming could not be fed directly from the Saigon key station to detachments. Wideband technology still was primitive in the late '60s.

Programs on videotape and film were rotated among detachments using a weekly film flight and postal mail. In Saigon, sign-on was around noon daily while most detachments started transmissions around 4PM on weekdays and at noon on Saturday and Sunday. Troops watched favorite stateside series such as Bonanza, Mission Impossible, Gunsmoke, Laugh-In and Hawaii Five-O. Tape-delayed NFL football games and the ever-popular Roller Derby were other highlights. A soldier could even watch the series Combat on AFVN-TV. When Archie Bunker and All In The Family broke new ground, Archie's antics were seen weekly on AFVN-TV.

Television service continued until the American troop population dropped in 1971-72. Detachments were closed and AFVN-TV left the air in early 1973 as the Paris Peace Accords took effect. Most equipment and facilities were transferred to THVN, the South Vietnamese TV network.

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Here is a column that appeared in the April 1966 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. The author was responding to reception reports of "mysterious" broadcasts by short wave radio listeners.

 

THE MYSTERY OF "THE BLUE EAGLE"

By Hank Bennett

In recent months we have received many reports from monitors on a station announcing as The Voice of the Blue Eagle. By and large, most of the reports came from areas in the eastern portion of the United States, with a scattered few from as far away as the Canadian Maritimes. Frequencies have ranged from 19,100 kc. to 535 kc.

Several monitors tried to obtain information on this station from various FCC offices only to be informed that (1) it is a pirate station of which the FCC is aware, or (2) no information is available, or (3) it is a government operation.

It was thought by some that the station was shipboard in East Coast Atlantic waters. However, a recent item in the short-wave column of the North American Shortwave Association stated in part,"...it is not shipboard but, rather located east coast mainland...it seems to have definite government ties..." Yet an overseas publication said flatly, "It's a pirate station." And so it goes.

How can the mystery be solved? Well, let's try to make an educated guess.

We have received the following information from a reporter in Virginia: "Two Super Constellation planes are being equipped by the U.S. Navy to provide television service in Vietnam. One station on Channel 11 would provide programs for U.S. servicemen; another station on Channel 9 would beam programs of the South Vietnamese government. Broadcasting is (or was) scheduled to begin in early 1966. Transmitters will also be established to operate on AM, FM and the short waves. The plane contains receivers for relaying ground transmissions from the Voice of America and other services. Frequencies for short wave transmissions are not yet known, but 1000 kc. and 99.9 mc. will be used in the system's AM and FM operations."

Another report from Western Pennsylvania reads: "Television station WTAE , Pittsburg, recently had a film on the air which showed the Blue Eagle, a U.S. Navy Lockheed Constellation plane. It was equipped with several antennas protruding and complete facilities, including multiple banks of tape machines and studios, control consoles and other items. The plane reportedly had just returned from the Pacific area where it was broadcasting to our troops in Vietnam. A stopover was made in Pittsburg for fitting it out with special equipment which is produced locally in that area. The plane was going to be used in some sort of geological survey work and its broadcasting days may be over..."

Your Short-Wave Editor would draw the following conclusion from the above reports (bear in mind that this is only conjecture and not, as yet, fact): the plane in Pittsburg was a test model. Additional equipment, possibly for the short waves, FM and television was installed. The plane made more tests in eastern areas, thereby producing the transmissions which were reported by many of our monitors. Two new planes were outfitted with equipment, based on the tests made by the single plane, and the latter, having served its purpose, will now go into service in the geological survey field.

Monitors in the West Coast areas, as well as those in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia sectors, should be on the watch for broadcasts from the newer planes.

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