A Rare Sighting…The GE PC 25 Color Camera
A Rare Sighting…The GE PC 25 Color Camera
There were not many of these cameras made and I think the total ever built was twenty four. This shot is from WFAA in Dallas with DJ Ron Chapman hosting a local dance show. KGBT in Harlingen, Texas had them too.
Although GE broadcast equipment was built in Syracuse NY, in general it seems the west and south were their best broadcast markets. In a discussion with Pete Fasciano (inventor of the Avid editing system), Pete recalled that GE was so far behind in sales, that had the plumbicon tube not come along when it did, GE may well have gotten out of the broadcast business because without them, they would not have had the 250s, 350s and 400s.
Speaking of Syracuse, WCNY, the PBS station there had them but I think they were donated hand-me-downs from GE owned WRGB in Schenectady, but that’s the only two locations in the northeast that I know of that had these. Thanks to Martin Perry for the picture. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
I noticed Martin’s PE-15 is listed on Bobby’s Classic Camera Survey. Would be pretty great to see a few pix of it!
The show started out with Marconi Mark IV’s and then went to color with RCA TK 42’s, before the GE’s.
When I went to work at WFAA as a cameraman in 1969 we had a lot of GE-250/350s. And back in a far corner of the prop room rested this big old boat anchor.
Informed source tells me the following “This was taken at Northpark Studio 3 on the set of Sump’n Else, probably late ’66 or early ‘67. I recognize the graphic treatment on the walls and the Sanger Harris archway.”
KHTV Ch 39, Houston was one of the popular production facilities in the southwest with GE-400’s..then one day a GE-25 showed up. The chief engineer did like it, never had a good picture, not even for camera cards. Used it for a prop in commercials.. Then one day, it vanished.
G.E. loaned WCNY two PC-25’s for their 1969 fund raising telethon, “Tel-Auc.” Engineers spent a week getting them tweaked for air. We were back to monochrome after Tel-Auc until G.E. donated 4 PE-400s in 1971. The photo is yours truly at the age of 17.
I met Ron Chapman at his retirement party several years ago.
I belive that picture is from a WFAA show called “Sump’n Else” which ran on Channel 8 from 65-68.