The History Of The RCA TK12 / TK60…Hard Decisions All Around

Since we’ve seen a lot of the RCA TK60 this week, especially in the TAMI Show footage and in the new James Brown movie, I thought you would like to see that great camera in it’s original form.

Above is the RCA TK12, the name under which it was introduced at the 1960 NAB Convention. Notice the side doors are made of the same metal mesh used on the top of the RCA TK42. This was great for ventilation, but not sturdy enough or practical for field use. Had the doors remained like this, perhaps the heat problems would not have been a factor, but when buyers asked for hard doors, they got them…and a heat problem.

The camera debuted eight years after the TK 11’s introduction and was the first of the ‘New Look’ line. In ’61, RCA began shipping the cameras and added the hard doors, a dome tally light and they moved the front tally lights to just under the turret, but no top vent was added yet.

Another problem was the weight of the 5 1/2 inch Image Orthicon focus sled inside. It was to heavy for the light weight pulley cables and when the camera tilted too far up or down, the sled would slide and lose focus.

By ’63 the heat and the other problems were overcome with the addition of the the top exhaust fan, and that is when it was renamed the TK60. Why 60? Well, as would be the case later with the TK76 ENG camera that came out in 1976, RCA decided to name it for the year it debuted…1960.

This camera came about at a very transitional time in television. In 1960, NBC was working its way to becoming a full color network and many of the well-heeled affiliates were purchasing RCA TK 41 color cameras. In ’62, RCA debuted the first version of the TK42 but it was not in its final form and in production till ’65…the same year Norelco introduced their Plumbicon PC60. Oops. To make it even more interesting, RCA stopped making the TK41 in 1964.

In 1960, RCA knew there was still a need for a good black and white workhorse camera and the first of the ”new look’ cameras was born! RCA engineer Harry Wright had a hand in its now famous look and was responsible for carrying that look to the TK42s, 44s, 45s and 47s.

Had RCA been quicker on the draw in 1961 getting the heat problems addressed faster, there may have been more sold, but by ’63, it was late in the game and the full color wave was beginning to build… stations were torn on what to do. Buy new monochrome cameras that would be outdated in a few years, or hold on a year or so and go to the PC60 or TK42, or buy TK41s while they still could. I suspect everyone knew that the TK60 would be the last monochrome camera RCA made.

Once the TK 60 finally came to the market, sales were good but not great. They made great pictures and did so for many years into the color era. In fact, many stations continued to originate local programs in black and white long after the networks offered all color programming. It was not unusual for stations to broadcast local shows in monochrome using a combination of color and black and white cameras.

For more pictures and info on the TK60s, follow this link the Eyes Of A Generation’s main site. Enjoy and share!

RCA TK60

Source