KC2XAK

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KC2XAK was the world's first UHF television station. It was simply a rebroadcast/broadcast translator transmitter of New York City's WNBT (NBC 4), and broadcast on UHF Channel 24 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The station's launch was code-named "Operation Bridgeport", as a test by RCA and NBC, to determine if the UHF spectrum was feasable to use for communications and broadcasting.

The station used a 1 kW transmitter with an antenna gain 20 on a 210 tower with an elevation of 450 feet above average terrain. Resulting with an ERP of 10kW.

Operation Bridgeport was apparently a success, but was shut down by RCA and NBC on August 23, 1952, after two and a half years of operation. Empire Coil purchased the KC2XAK transmitter, and the transmitter and support equipment was dismantled in Bridgeport under supervision of RCA. Dismantling began on August 25, and was shipped via truck and fast freight train to Portland, Oregon. It was re-assembled as a 250-foot tower on Council Crest, more than 1000 feet above Portland on September 9, 1952. Oddly enough, this became the very transmitter for Portland's KPTV.

Although KC2XAK was the first UHF station on the air, it was not the first full-fledged television station. That honor goes to KPTV, which aired on UHF Channel 27 in 1952.

Bridgeport is now covered over-the-air by WNBC 4, and the other New York City broadcast stations.