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  #1  
Old 08-21-2021, 07:56 PM
Plumbicon Plumbicon is offline
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RCA TO-10 (MI-26800-C) Waveform Monitor

A few years ago I salvaged a lot of old TV broadcast equipment just before they were trashed into the dumpster. In the lot there's a very old RCA TO-10 or TO-1C (MI-26800-C) TV waveform monitor I would like to restore since I think it would look cool in my racks of old equipment to display composite analog video signals.
So far I was unable to find any informations about this model, not even a specs datasheet. I downloaded a few RCA Broadcast catalogs from Americanradiohistory.com but this specific model is not listed in any of them.
Thus I'm looking for ANY info's about the RCA TO-10 (and also approximate date of production) ,or even better a copy of the original manual with schematics (for which I would gladly pay).

Thanks to anybody here who could help.

Last edited by Plumbicon; 08-23-2021 at 01:44 PM. Reason: Additional model info
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  #2  
Old 08-23-2021, 06:14 AM
kf4rca kf4rca is offline
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Never heard of a TO-10

Are you sure its not a TO-1? They were part of the TRT-1 videotape recorder.
Then there was a TO-4 which was solid state. It had buttons on each side of the screen. It came with the TR-4 videotape recorder. So far as I know, the TO-4 was the last one RCA built and then they used Tektronix scopes.
Can you post us a pic?
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  #3  
Old 08-23-2021, 10:26 AM
kf4rca kf4rca is offline
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Here's a pic of a TO-1 scope.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg TO-1 scope.jpg (85.0 KB, 22 views)
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  #4  
Old 08-23-2021, 01:43 PM
Plumbicon Plumbicon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kf4rca View Post
Here's a pic of a TO-1 scope.
Mine looks identical. I checked the metal tag at the back again and it says TO-10 , or (maybe ?) TO-1C (hard to read).

Since it was located in a European TV broadcast station it could be a variation of the TO-1 re-labelled TO-10 (or TO-1C) ?

Will post a few pics very soon.

Last edited by Plumbicon; 08-23-2021 at 04:02 PM.
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  #5  
Old 08-23-2021, 08:35 PM
Plumbicon Plumbicon is offline
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Here's a picture of my RCA waveform monitor, and also the ID metal plate at the back.
From the enlarged picture it looks more like a TO-1C (Not TO-10)
Attached Images
File Type: jpg RCA.TO.01.jpg (61.6 KB, 24 views)
File Type: jpg RCA.TO.02.jpg (60.2 KB, 19 views)
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  #6  
Old 08-25-2021, 06:16 AM
kf4rca kf4rca is offline
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Its probably a PAL unit which has a slightly faster scan rate.
The TO-4 was very unreliable- mainly due to the pin-board construction. You had to be a pretty good solid state engineer to keep these running. Many were replaced with the Tektronix 529.
An interesting thing about the TO-4 was that instead of giving you two lines on the display, it gave you a half line, then a full line, then another half line. The last one I saw in service was at WCSC in the early 80's on their microwave line.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg RCA_TO-4.jpg (64.4 KB, 13 views)
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  #7  
Old 08-25-2021, 07:07 AM
Plumbicon Plumbicon is offline
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I don't think it is a PAL unit, there were no color broadcasts in Belgium till 1971 and the TO-1 looks much older (all tube technology, I would say mid to late 50ies). Maybe the "C" version was modified for different H/V scanning rates conforming to the European TV CCIR standards.
If I can't get a TO-1 schematic (and it looks there are few chances I ever will) I'll try to restore it anyway, it's nothing more than a specialized oscilloscope after all...

Last edited by Plumbicon; 08-25-2021 at 07:21 AM.
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  #8  
Old 08-25-2021, 03:04 PM
kf4rca kf4rca is offline
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Those TRT-1 videotape recorders were used on into the 70's I worked at a station and it was online till 1976 when it was replaced with a TCR-100.
The TRT-1 was colorized sometime in the 60's with an Allen kit. The Allen kits were originally designed for the Ampex machine but you could put them in an RCA as well.
The TRT-1 recorder goes back to the 50's. So the scope you have is probably that old.
You might can look at the date code stamped on the tubes if it hasn't burned off.
Many of the TR-4 machines started out as a TR-3 player for stations that wanted to playback videotape spots that ad agencies sent them. Then the stations thought it would sure be nice if it recorded. So, RCA came up with a record kit for them.
Then color came along and stations said it sure would be nice if this machine was color.
So, RCA came up with a color kit for them. I worked with aTR-4 at another station. It was sort of easier to thread than the slant deck machines because you put the spool on the supply side and pulled the tape down and it would sort of thread itself into the transport. That speeded things up especially if you were in a live newscast.
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  #9  
Old 08-25-2021, 06:28 PM
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Despite not having the logistics to keep one there's a part of me that would like to own a Quadraplex VTR.
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