During the early 70s, I worked on a large TV mobile truck. It was used for on location sports events, and for producing on location commercials. Lots of physical work for the crew to run the heavy camera cables, connect the electrical, set up the lighting to etc. The electronics were a combination of vacuum tube and solid state technology. Equipment was heavy to handle and access for servicing was not easy.
And now, in the year 2022, everything inside those vans can be fitted into a vehicle the size of a Volkswagen, and recorded with a 10-pound digital camera, a hand-held microphone, a matted lightbulb box, one camerperson and one reporter!
De Norelco PC-70 kleurencamera's zijn een ontwikkeling van PHILIPS in Nederland ( Holland ). Het type onder de merknaam PHILIPS was LDK-3 en werden ook in Breda vervaardigd, het waren de eerste goede kleurentelevisiecamera's ter wereld. Dit was mogelijk geworden door de door PHILIPS ontwikkelde Plumbicon opnamebuizen en een verdeelprisma voor de kleuren rood, groen en blauw.
This would have been from sometime after 1966, given the early model Norelco PC-70's with the round applied handled and the two large cables on the left side (as seen from a 270 deg. view; as opposed to the square molded handles and one large cable that prevailed on later PC-70's). That first shot of the camera was from a 90 deg. view.
The switcher is definitely NOT a Grass Valley (GVG) but more likely a Riker switcher. Riker was popular and well known for their special effects units. (Riker Industries, L.I. NY). GVG was not a player in the switcher market in the mid 60's. GVG came along in late 60's , early 70's with switchers. There is also a Riker 2RU frame mounted just below the Tektronix 526 vectorscope and is probably a Riker video test signal generator or sync generator.
@altfactor - When CBS first began colorcasting on a regular basis in 1965, the Norelco color camera model in use was the PC-60; the center belt on which the logo was displayed was laid out differently than all variations of the PC-70 (which was first produced in early 1966, initially at Norelco's Mount Vernon, NY plant; in the later years of the PC-70, production shifted to another Norelco plant, in Montvale, NJ).
In addition, in 1967-68, CBS augmented their PC-70 stock with Marconi Mark VII color cameras which were already in use at three of their O&O's (in Los Angeles, Chicago and St. Louis); Mark VII's were put in service at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in Manhattan in 1968 as a replacement for the PC-70's there.
Even before Norelco introduced their PC-60 color cameras, CBS had developed an "anything but RCA" attitude in terms of equipment buying; when the RCA TK-10/30 and TK-11/31 cameras came due for replacement in 1962-63, CBS acquired Marconi Mark IV cameras. In terms of film chains, after going color, CBS bought General Electric PE-240's for use in New York and at TV City in Hollywood. (In NYC for certain, the GE's replaced RCA TK-26's that were so rarely used, their horizontal linearity was poor.)
Right on the "No RCA" policy of CBS....Paley despised having to use any of Sarnoff's RCA gear. ABC-TV also went to Norelco color cameras and processing gear in their 1965-66 refit of their Prospect Avenue, Hollywood studio for color transmission.
I've read that Ed Sullivan had something to do with CBS buying Marconi cameras. He had done some shows from England using them, was very impressed with their quality, and insisted CBS install them in his theatre.
I thought CBS began using a color mobile unit with PC-70's as far back as the Summer of 1965 for space launchings and a handful of NFL games in the 1965 season. I didn't think CBS began colorcasting the Masters until 1967.
@@entertainmentexecuti Why Not, we save beautiful and important architecture, why not important technology, sadly too much just gets junked, my friend who is an ex Marconi senior engineer used to design and build OB Scanners, he now owns three which with help from friends who have now mostly retired he has completely restored to working condition, I think that's a worthwhile achievement
CBS did not telecast ANY color programs from the fall of 1959 through September 1965, even though they'd done so on a limited basis from 1954 through mid-'59. The reason was because of William Paley's {"Mr. CBS"} rivalry with David Sarnoff {"General RCA"}; he didn't want RCA {who heavily promoted color programming through NBC} to capitalize on ANY CBS color telecasts in order to sell more RCA color sets ["I'll be damned if I'm going to let the General do that", Paley privately commented].
I would have to say it was probably a Grass Valley switcher. since I can't see it "close up" I'm not sure of the series. It looks to be a 2ME unit with the SEG system and any (if any at that time) machine controls on the panel above. The audio if it matters looks to be RCA (no surprise there given the era)
Bill Shrode Thank you very much Mr. Shrode. I'm TD, and the first switchers that I operated in my career, was GVG, on Globo-TV, Rio, Brazil, in the 80s. Currently, I use the Sony and Ross, on independent studios.
I worked with GVG's first "super switcher, the Model 300-3B, in 1981. Three M/E Banks with unlimited re-entry, E-Memories on all 3 M/E and Program buses....talk about a spaceship console! Could easily do whole newscasts just by cascading the memories into each other. Maybe used 10% of the switcher's capability at any one time.
The switcher was manufactured by Northern Electric to CBS spec. This were the standard video switchers used in the CBS Broadcast Center in New York until the early 1980s when they began to be replaced by a mix of Ampex and Grass Valley units, and later by Sony switchers.
![[TH] VCT Pacific Stage 2 - Week 4 Day 3 // GEN vs TS | PRX vs ZETA](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nspkjQuZve0/mqdefault.jpg)
During the early 70s, I worked on a large TV mobile truck. It was used for on location sports events, and for producing on location commercials. Lots of physical work for the crew to run the heavy camera cables, connect the electrical, set up the lighting to etc. The electronics were a combination of vacuum tube and solid state technology. Equipment was heavy to handle and access for servicing was not easy.
We had those Norelco color cameras in service in Tucson at KOLD in 1985. One of them caught fire one night at KPHO in Phoenix.
And now, in the year 2022, everything inside those vans can be fitted into a vehicle the size of a Volkswagen, and recorded with a 10-pound digital camera, a hand-held microphone, a matted lightbulb box, one camerperson and one reporter!
De Norelco PC-70 kleurencamera's zijn een ontwikkeling van PHILIPS in Nederland ( Holland ). Het type onder de merknaam PHILIPS was LDK-3 en werden ook in Breda vervaardigd, het waren de eerste goede kleurentelevisiecamera's ter wereld. Dit was mogelijk geworden door de door PHILIPS ontwikkelde Plumbicon opnamebuizen en een verdeelprisma voor de kleuren rood, groen en blauw.
This would have been from sometime after 1966, given the early model Norelco PC-70's with the round applied handled and the two large cables on the left side (as seen from a 270 deg. view; as opposed to the square molded handles and one large cable that prevailed on later PC-70's). That first shot of the camera was from a 90 deg. view.
Plus, the announcer mentions that the trucks were used for the Super Bowl, so this film definitely dates after 1967.
The switcher is definitely NOT a Grass Valley (GVG) but more likely a Riker switcher. Riker was popular and well known for their special effects units. (Riker Industries, L.I. NY). GVG was not a player in the switcher market in the mid 60's. GVG came along in late 60's , early 70's with switchers. There is also a Riker 2RU frame mounted just below the Tektronix 526 vectorscope and is probably a Riker video test signal generator or sync generator.
Are you sure it's not a Crosspoint Latch switcher? Saw many of those in trucks in my early days (mid 1970's)...
@altfactor - When CBS first began colorcasting on a regular basis in 1965, the Norelco color camera model in use was the PC-60; the center belt on which the logo was displayed was laid out differently than all variations of the PC-70 (which was first produced in early 1966, initially at Norelco's Mount Vernon, NY plant; in the later years of the PC-70, production shifted to another Norelco plant, in Montvale, NJ).
In addition, in 1967-68, CBS augmented their PC-70 stock with Marconi Mark VII color cameras which were already in use at three of their O&O's (in Los Angeles, Chicago and St. Louis); Mark VII's were put in service at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in Manhattan in 1968 as a replacement for the PC-70's there.
Even before Norelco introduced their PC-60 color cameras, CBS had developed an "anything but RCA" attitude in terms of equipment buying; when the RCA TK-10/30 and TK-11/31 cameras came due for replacement in 1962-63, CBS acquired Marconi Mark IV cameras. In terms of film chains, after going color, CBS bought General Electric PE-240's for use in New York and at TV City in Hollywood. (In NYC for certain, the GE's replaced RCA TK-26's that were so rarely used, their horizontal linearity was poor.)
Right on the "No RCA" policy of CBS....Paley despised having to use any of Sarnoff's RCA gear. ABC-TV also went to Norelco color cameras and processing gear in their 1965-66 refit of their Prospect Avenue, Hollywood studio for color transmission.
I've read that Ed Sullivan had something to do with CBS buying Marconi cameras. He had done some shows from England using them, was very impressed with their quality, and insisted CBS install them in his theatre.
Why no shots of any VTR's? Aren't any VTR's on that truck?
Amazing how they hid the KU dish.
Trucks sure have changed!
I thought CBS began using a color mobile unit with PC-70's as far back as the Summer of 1965 for space launchings and a handful of NFL games in the 1965 season.
I didn't think CBS began colorcasting the Masters until 1967.
This is interesting.
This is what a TV remote truck looked like in the late 1960's
with the staff announcers they had, they used this guy?
got all this in my cell phone, well not a rotory dial
I have one of these trucks
Why ?
@@entertainmentexecuti Why Not, we save beautiful and important architecture, why not important technology, sadly too much just gets junked, my friend who is an ex Marconi senior engineer used to design and build OB Scanners, he now owns three which with help from friends who have now mostly retired he has completely restored to working condition, I think that's a worthwhile achievement
So, what do you do with it?
A film about MOBILE COLOUR TV ...... Filmed in BLACK & WHITE! 👎😂
I was looking for this comment!!
CBS did not telecast ANY color programs from the fall of 1959 through September 1965, even though they'd done so on a limited basis from 1954 through mid-'59. The reason was because of William Paley's {"Mr. CBS"} rivalry with David Sarnoff {"General RCA"}; he didn't want RCA {who heavily promoted color programming through NBC} to capitalize on ANY CBS color telecasts in order to sell more RCA color sets ["I'll be damned if I'm going to let the General do that", Paley privately commented].
As I remember it their annual Wizard of Oz was in color ( at least the color part of it) prior to the general shift to color in 1966.
Yes, that was a rare exception.
Anybody know why this video wasn't in color?
Could anyone tell me the manufacturer and model of the production switcher within this OB truck? Thank you in advance.
I would have to say it was probably a Grass Valley switcher. since I can't see it "close up" I'm not sure of the series. It looks to be a 2ME unit with the SEG system and any (if any at that time) machine controls on the panel above. The audio if it matters looks to be RCA (no surprise there given the era)
Bill Shrode Thank you very much Mr. Shrode. I'm TD, and the first switchers that I operated in my career, was GVG, on Globo-TV, Rio, Brazil, in the 80s. Currently, I use the Sony and Ross, on independent studios.
I worked with GVG's first "super switcher, the Model 300-3B, in 1981. Three M/E Banks with unlimited re-entry, E-Memories on all 3 M/E and Program buses....talk about a spaceship console! Could easily do whole newscasts just by cascading the memories into each other. Maybe used 10% of the switcher's capability at any one time.
The switcher was manufactured by Northern Electric to CBS spec. This were the standard video switchers used in the CBS Broadcast Center in New York until the early 1980s when they began to be replaced by a mix of Ampex and Grass Valley units, and later by Sony switchers.
I hope the driver didn't have to help with set up.
You know he helped!! LOL
Not so early days. More like mid life?