W3XK is widely regarded as the

oldest television station This is a list of pre-World War 2 television stations of the 1920s and 1930s. Most of these experimental stations were located in Europe (notably in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, and Russia), Australia, Can ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was operated by Charles Jenkins of

Charles Jenkins Laboratories Charles Jenkins Laboratories was founded in by Charles Francis Jenkins, developer of the Phantoscope, the first commercial tv station W3XK and the first commercial television company. History Charles Francis Jenkins in 1890 moved to Washingto ...

from July 2, 1928 to 1934. It is believed to be the first station to broadcast to the general public. (Note, however, that in January 1928, GE began broadcasting as 2XB – later W2XB – on 790 kHz using a 24 line mechanical standard. ) The station's frequency started out at 1605 kc., but moved to 6420 kc. (6.42 Mc.), and eventually moved to the 2.-2.1 Mc. band. It broadcast from

Wheaton, Maryland Wheaton is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, situated north of Washington, D.C. and northwest of downtown Silver Spring. Wheaton takes its name from Frank Wheaton (1833–1903), a career officer in the Unit ...

(just outside

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

), at a resolution of just 48 lines. The way to view television at the time was by

mechanical television Mechanical television or mechanical scan television is a television system that relies on a mechanical scanning device, such as a rotating disk with holes in it or a rotating mirror drum, to scan the scene and generate the video signal, and a si ...

sets, and this station operated in that way.

References

External links

Charles Francis Jenkins at TVHistory.tv

3XK History of television in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1928 1928 establishments in Maryland Television channels and stations disestablished in 1934 1934 disestablishments in Maryland Defunct television stations in the United States Television pioneers Experimental television stations Wheaton, Maryland {{Maryland-tv-station-stub

See also

References

External links