December 15, 1965…WSB Atlanta Goes Color With First RCA TK42
December 15, 1965…WSB Atlanta Goes Color With First RCA TK42
http://insidebobforemansbrainpart2.blogspot.com/2013/10/ruth-kent-colorvised.html
At the link above is a story I just got from our friend Bob Foreman. The article he sent is from the Saturday paper, just after the Thursday surprise Atlanta viewers got when ‘Today In Georgia’ debuted in color, making WSB the first station in Georgia with live local color. They were also the first station here able to broadcast color and I think that ability goes back to around 1956. WSB was one of the original NBC affiliates on both the radio and television networks.
I’ve had this photo for a long time of that first “colorvised” show, but never had a firm date or back up to the fact that WSB got the very first TK42. The story was, that RCA wanted to field test the new camera on ‘The Popeye Club’. It was the country’s top local kids show and RCA thought the colorful clothing of the 30 or so “clubhouse gang” members for each show would be a good color test.
An RCA engineer came to Atlanta with the camera to set it up and tweak it, and was still doing that when the second one arrived in mid January. I think he stayed in Atlanta for about three months doing tests.
Georgia legend Ruth Kent who hosted ‘Today In Georgia’ is seen here on that first day with some of the WSB management and engineering people. Notice the cameraman is not using pan handles, but the built in D handles (zoom and focus) on the back of the camera. That’s what they were designed for, but the ergonomic idea by our friend Harry Wright, at RCA, turned at to be a not so good idea after all. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
Not a very good camera. G.E. would have been a better choice.
Couldn’t they at least take a color photo to commemorate the day?
Yea, the first TK-42 and a half billion candle power of lighting!
Hey, I used those WEDU cameras briefly when I worked there in the summer of 1972, right after high school! Zoom controls sucked.
thanks for the memories Al
Remember the D handles well. How did that design ever get into production?
Sorry, the IPad went nuts!
Whenever I see a color show from this period with really shaky zooms, I think, “TK-42”! Probably not the legacy they were going for. Good looking camera, at least.
up the light.
We had 3 of them at WEDU in Tampa. They also soaked
What a terrible camera this was! Then came the TK-43. Then finally the TK-44,45,46,47!
I think those were the cameras KYW used for Mike Douglas in the early 70s.
I agree….. At one time the RCA guys never wanted input from videomen or cameramen for some reason. Maybe they thought they were always right. That thinking eventually hurt them when NBC went over to Ikegami which were very good cameras.
Used these once at KTLA. We had to rent a color video truck for a football remote and it contained the TK-42’s. Must bulky & heavy cameras ever to muscle around. The camera operators hated the “D” handles as you pointed out.
Welcome South Brother
NBC N.Y, had a couple of these cameras in studio 5HN which was a small “break in” news studio in the late 60’s. That studio also did a short 1am news show.
I remember seeing these in Boston. Channel 56 had a set in their remote truck.