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(webmaster's note: This essay is meant to glorify the people in the broadcasting industry that are able to come up with a solution to a problem, and the companies that give their employees free rein to do it.)
This is not meant to glorify war, the use of deadly force, or other methods of winning a dispute.

The idea was simple enough. Provide viewers with live TV coverage of the atomic bomb test in Nevada.

The atomic bomb tests in 1951 did not have live TV coverage because the Atomic Energy Commission had not permitted it. So, Klaus Landsberg sent a reporter to Las Vegas, who phoned in a report, while another reporter and a camera were placed on Mt. Wilson (near Los Angeles). The Mt. Wilson location was hundreds of miles southwest of Las Vegas, but there was nothing else one could do.

The ratings showed that 30,000 people had tuned into the 5 a.m. broadcast, a transcript of which was sent to the Atomic Energy Commission. Because of further interest by the American people, the AEC permitted live television coverage from the Nevada Proving Grounds.

However, there was a chance that the telecast might never take place. The next test was less than a month away, and the networks said they couldn't get their cameras there in time.

The telephone company said that they needed $60,000 to set up the 250 mile relay link from the test site to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the completion date was sometime AFTER the test.

So, Klaus decided to set up his own microwave relay link.

So, with the atomic bomb tests less than a month away, Klaus looked at detailed maps to find suitable locations for his relay stations. The only problem was that there was an unmarked, inaccessible mountain in the middle of the Nevada desert. He had to find a way to get his equipment up there to make the telecast work.

He decided that the only way to get the equipment up there was by helicopter, and who had just the right kind of helicopters? The Marines. Well, they had the choppers, they had just never tried something like this before.

Klaus called the El Toro Marine Base and found a willing participant.

The two choppers would have to haul some 12,000 pounds of equipment up to the 6500-foot peak of the mountain. The eight-foot microwave dish would have to be strapped to the side of the chopper. And the four KTLA crew members would have to ride up wearing parachutes. The operation was a success. Except for the chopper that had trouble landing, flipped on its side and was a total loss!

Even though the link was being built and manned by KTLA personnel, the pictures being generated were being used by the TV networks to let viewers all across America witness the test.

Then, it happened, a power failure occurred where the reporters were working, and there were no pictures or anything. Fortunately, a cameraman on Mt. Charleston focused his camera on what he thought was the plane that would make the drop. Because of the power failure this cameraman didn't have any communication with anybody, but at the precise time of the scheduled drop he widen his shot and focused on the area where he thought the blast would take place. The blast took place in the middle of his picture. The people in Los Angeles knew nothing of the power failure, they thought the shot from Mt. Charleston was done to show how the blast would dwarf everything around.

The next week, a second test was held but KTLA was the only one to carry that test.

KTLA was honored (rightly so) with numerous awards for the effort they put into the telecast.

But, that's not all. Since the equipment was working so well the station decided to go back to Las Vegas and televise the annual Helldorado Parade.

Pictures from "KTLA 40th Anniversary Special."©1987 KTLA. Story from "KTLA 40th Anniversary Special" and book: "News at Ten: Fifty Years with Stan Chambers" by Stan Chambers. ©1994 Stan Chambers.