Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention
Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention
The Colonial Theater in NYC was literally ground zero for RCA color testing and innovation. Note the steering ring under one of the first TK40s. The TD 1 pedestal was all there was at the time, but with the size of the TK40, the small steering ring was to hard to get to, so, they innovated. The new counterbalanced TD 3 pedestal came out around 1954, but could not hold a TK40 or 41. It did however have a larger steering ring and the crew here got one, turned it upside down and attached it to the old ring. Soon after, RCA and Houston Fearless came out with a larger, flat ring for the TD 1 peds that could be retrofitted. This camera does have a cradle head made especially for the TK40/41, but early on, they were mounted on the old friction heads that were made for the TK10s and 30s but were not strong enough to handle the 375 pound color cameras.
The should have used a motor drive for the steering ring…
I remember the old timers who had started on the radio side trying to make moves with the TK 41s at NBC Chicago. Challenging to get that pedestal moving.