Back Stories: Transmitting From Chopper 880

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – The WCBS technicians once worked hand in glove with Motorola to develop and field test one of the first so-called "voting systems."

Find more 50th anniversary Back Stories and other special features here, and be sure to follow the station on Facebook and Twitter.

"Rather than just point to point where you had the radio and the helicopter talking back to the station, they spotted receivers at various points around the metropolitan area," former WCBS producer Mel Granick remembers. "The transmissions from the helicopter were picked up by these various receivers, and the receiver that heard the helicopter best was the one that would lock onto it, and that's what would get fed back to the station."

WCBS 880 50th Anniversary Photos: Early Chopper 88 Shots

The system ensured the station always had the best possible transmission quality, no matter where the helicopter was.