Life Magazine photos--CTC-5 as studio monitor?

[frenchy]

found a few more ctc5 'doctor' pics in there:

http://images.google.com/hosted/life...5800baa68bbb13
http://images.google.com/hosted/life...5d6163d6cc9464
http://images.google.com/hosted/life...6a6f0b66cbc707

[batterymaker]

Originally Posted by Eric H

And this one, scary!! if it falls in the tub it's going to ruin that set!

It'll also ruin that man's health, to say the least....

[Hemingray]

Argh, now yall got me wanting one of these beauties!

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by Dave A

and this engineer doing a back-focus adjustment on a TK-40.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life...27f279595e2e7f

Neat photo find Dave. Based on the stuff in the background, it looks as though the TK-40 is one of the four that were at the Colonial theater in NYC when the b&w photo was taken December 1953. That arch on the upper right of the picture smells a lot like the arch in the Carmen set that was colorcast October 31, 1953, from the Colonial.

In that period, RCA/NBC had five color cameras it was using to develop color broadcasting. One in a small studio in Camden and four at the Colonial theater.

I could not find a reference number on the TK-40, but if it is camera #4, here is a plot of the spectral response of that camera, taken by the RCA labs on 21 March 1953.

Pete

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Not a color set but check this one out!

Thanks for those links, Eric. I own one of those Sentinel TV-400s, and I grew up right next to Evanston, Illinois where they were built.

[bgadow]

So many ways things could go wrong with that portable!

It sure seems odd the way they used those consoles. I would think the might of the Radio Corporation of America/National Broadcasting Company at its peak could have come up with something more appropriate. (But I also recall scratching my head watching SNL in the early 80s, displaying Sony monitors)

That Life site is going to be a huge time waster for me! I'm a real fan of the old magazine, and have boxes and boxes and boxes of the upstairs.

[Eric H]

Playing the game of Caption The Picture.

[rcaman]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Playing the game of Caption The Picture.

[newhallone]

Nice Beaver!

[frenchy]

Anybody know how you can get around Google's 200-picture-per-search limit?

[Steve D.]

More from the LIFE archives. Picture shows techs wrangling a TK-40 or 41 color camera on Chapman crane at CBS TV City, Hollywood. Looking at the 1957 Dodge & Imperial autos in the background, this could have been a commercial shoot for the Chrysler sponsored "Shower of Stars" series broadcast in color.

LIFE: Backstage filming at CBS TV City. - Hosted by Google
Address:http://images.google.com/hosted/life...8f0ba8c16f123c

-Steve D.

[julianburke]

All of this talk of common CTC5 sets! Hogwash! Has anyone noticed the great looking and seldom seen closeups of the TK41 cameras! And Dave A, great shot of the cameraman on the TK41! BTW, it's a TK41 or an "A" model. (No louvers on the side of the viewfinder) If the picture was taken in 1954 or earlier, possibly a TK-40 that had been painted silver.

[frenchy]

Unless I just can't make out these pictures well enough with my eyes, how come these 'monitors' don't have holes where the channel and volume controls would have been? Are they perhaps CT-55's? They made those for only a month but they had the knobs on the front like the ones in these pics. (??)

[bozey45]

I have somewhere a photo taken in 1955 of NBC Matinee Theater in production from above the lighting grid as I remember and it shows what is probably a TK-40. That particular program was presented live in color every weekday afternoon on NBC in 1955-56 at I think 2 p.m. Checking my old TV Guides from that era of 1955 it was about the only regular color program on for a while in daytime and one of the few colorcasts at all except for specials. If i can find that photo I'll post it. When you see these old photos of these early color shows being done you wonder what happened to all the cameramen lucky enough to be there during that era. They would be in their mid 70's these days and would probably be interesting to talk to.

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by bozey45

I have somewhere a photo taken in 1955 of NBC Matinee Theater in production from above the lighting grid as I remember and it shows what is probably a TK-40. That particular program was presented live in color every weekday afternoon on NBC in 1955-56 at I think 2 p.m. Checking my old TV Guides from that era of 1955 it was about the only regular color program on for a while in daytime and one of the few colorcasts at all except for specials. If i can find that photo I'll post it. When you see these old photos of these early color shows being done you wonder what happened to all the cameramen lucky enough to be there during that era. They would be in their mid 70's these days and would probably be interesting to talk to.

Hey bozey,

Just to help your search along, that picture, taken from the grid above the "Matinee Theater" set, was from a 2 page NBC-TV ad. Life magazine issue: Oct. 6, 1956. The series ran from Oct.31, 1955 - June 27, 1958. Over 650 episodes produced. Those camera operators could tell some horror stories doing a one hour daily live color telecast. This at a time when most daily live soaps, in B&W, were only 15 mins.long.

-Steve .