CATJ + CSD Anthology - and more!
Some people collect 'old' magazines. A complete collection of CATJ (Community Antenna Television Journal) and CSD (Coop's Satellite Digest) is probably not worth all that much - until you attempt to 'fill-in' missing copies for your own collection! CATJ began as a QST-size (the old format, not the current one) fold-once and 'stick-in-your-rear-pocket' publication. Within a year CATJ was the largest subscription-paid monthly in the cable television world and by year-three, when it introduced the concept of satellite TV reception, it was also the largest by-issue-size, month after month. CATJ was a 'must-read' technology publication, always on the cutting edge of what was brand new and not yet ready for mass appeal.
CSD (Coop's Satellite Digest; 1979-1987) had only one focus - promotion of the rapid development of home dish systems. As Sir Arthur C. Clarke wrote (Chapter 33 -' Coop's Troop; "How the World was One"), "Coop's Satellite Digest was essential reading for anyone in the field, and in its brief but hectic lifetime chronicled the rise and fall of a multi-billion dollar industry." CSD, by 1984, became twice-monthly, totalling as many as 200 pages ground out each and every month by Coop from a portable battery operated typewriter as he toured the globe following leading edge technology and the latest satellite TV developments.
The CATJ + CSD web posted copies (http://theoldcatvequipmentmuseum.org) is far more than a recapturing of how the satellite world once was, but would never be again. It is the step-by-step emergence of satellites as a viable communication tool during the period of time (1974 through 1987) when ALL of the rules, ALL of the foibles associated with (Sir) Arthur C. Clarke's 1945 "Wireless World" technical plan for geostationary (now, appropriately, "Clarke Orbit") satellites actually matured. From day one to day 365 - everything past 1987 - was frosting on an overloaded cake - it is all here. A fascinating collection, allowing you to trace the history of satellites (and TVRO) page by page (more than 1,300), month by month, year by year (many of his magazines also appear here under Library button to left although more than 200 magazines under different titles do not, nor his 40+ books).
The combination of CATJ (Community Antenna Television Journal, during "the Coop years") and CSD (Coop's Satellite Digest) covers the entire period of major transition in TV reception technologies. All of the ground work for the rapid development of cable TV and the companion growth of home satellite TV (which cable, properly, feared from day-one) occurred within the 1974 to 1987 period. Coop's revelations are historical, spot-on accurate, and reveal the inner workings of the people who would conspire to shut down the 'next technology' break throughs. YES - there are other Coop magazines dating from January 1960's DXing Horizons and more than 40 published books; some such as 'CATV System Management & Operation' - 1966, 'CATV System Maintenance' - 1967 or 'The Hidden Signals on Satellite TV' - 1984 (co-written with TVRO pioneer Tom Harrington; W8OMV) which pop up on occasion as 'used' in the Amazon.com world.
Yes - that is Coop (right with microphone) interviewing John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1960.
