SAN ANDREAS (CALIFORNIA): Henry Taylor Howard, who created the first known home satellite television system in 1976, died when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff on Wednesday. He was 70.

According to the Alexandria, Virginia-based Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), Howard, using an antenna and receiver he built at his San Andreas home, pulled in C-band signals intended for pay-TV cable customer, the Associated Press has reported .

Howard, the SBCA's founding chairman, was also a professor emeritus of his alma mater, Stanford University, where he taught electrical engineering.