[BC] Our wild, TECH youth (WAS:...old TVs go.)

[SHAFFER, RANDY L]

> > By the time I was 15, I was in the Susquehanna Radio Explorer Post, so my
> > experiments ended at that point. Nothing like the real thing.

>What is that?

Exploring is the older part of Boy Scouts. You can be an Explorer at 14 and I think the top age is 21. Girls can also join. Each group is called a Post and they are normally divided into interest groups.
 
At the same time, I was a member of a Scout Troop, Law Enforcement post and the Broadcasting post.  Susquehanna Broadcasting, operators of WSBA-AM-FM-TV-cable sponsored the post for many years until an unfortunate incident involving a rock through the window at the AM transmitter site.

It was a wonderful opportunity to find out more about the business. Out of our original group of 14, at least 6 that I know of, joined the media ranks, 2 others worked in the biz for a couple years before getting "real" jobs. Many years later, I became advisor of the post and 6 of my kids  went into the business.

The first year it was a broadcast post, after that it became a radio/cable post. Television only had one studio camera and didn't like "kids" playing with it. Radio was a better opportunity. Susquehanna was building a new complex and we had full use of the building for over a year before the station moved in. Even then, there were four production rooms available for our use. We would record shows and then take them to the cable headend and broadcast them with slides and graphics on the access channel. It was very cool for a 14-15 year old in the early 70's. WSBA, the mighty 910, was THE station in Central PA at the time. I didn't know that all stations weren't that well equipped. 

Randy Shaffer
WLYH-TV/WHP-TV
Clear Channel Television 
Harrisburg, PA 17110
717.238.2100 x282
RandyShaffer at Clearchannel.com