RCA 630TS - Modified with Motor

[Steve McVoy]

If the chassis are still available, take a picture of a completed Colordaptor chassis with you and see if you can find something similar:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/colordaptor.html

If it is there, it would be easy to get it working. Color wheels can be made and sometimes purchased.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by pendulum

I always thought these were really cool. Am I right in thinking that if you got the required parts you could build one today? I think it would be a fun project.

Not only could you, but a friend of mine has done it. His works on the Goldmark/CBS color system:

http://www.labguysworld.com/Goldmark1_001.htm

[Telecruiser]

Assuming you get a receiver to work using the CBS color system, what would you use for a source? I know ETF has a converter of some sort and is also working on making a color wheel camera make a picture. Those sound like fairly ambitious projects....

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Telecruiser

Assuming you get a receiver to work using the CBS color system, what would you use for a source? I know ETF has a converter of some sort and is also working on making a color wheel camera make a picture. Those sound like fairly ambitious projects....

There is a universal standards converter that takes video input stores frames digitally and converts it into any format known (or requested): Mechanical, 441 line, 405 line, 405 experimental color, European standards, etc. It's called the Aurora standards converter and is made by a Darrel Hock IIRC. It is rather expensive though.

If I were building a color wheel set I'd probably go with the NTSC format color wheel adapter circuit instead of CBS color format.

Unless you have original CBS color equipment there is no advantage in using their wacky format with a color wheel unless you simply want to.

[Steve McVoy]

The receiver's modifications are for NTSC, not the CBS system.

[decojoe67]

t might be fun to recreate a faux color wheel with art supplies for display purposes until you decide what to do about it's restoration. With the knowledge of the members here and on ARF, you could likely get the approximate dimensions and design. That would make a very impressive conversation piece.
I have an article from an old magazine that shows college students watching a Crosley version of the 630 with a simple color wheel positioned in the same location as your RCA set. Strangely, the wheel looks rather small to fully cover the sets CRT face.

[earlyfilm]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

. . . . Unless you have original CBS color equipment there is no advantage in using their wacky format with a color wheel unless you simply want to. . . .

Stop by the next ETF convention (April 29-May 1, 2016) and you are guaranteed to see the difference!

The difference between NTSC color flicker at 10 fps, interlaced-6 vs CBS 24 fps interlaced-6, will be readily apparent.

The basic difference is the speed of the usually six segment color wheel: 600 rpm for NTSC and 1440 for CBS.

James.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by earlyfilm

Stop by the next ETF convention (April 29-May 1, 2016) and you are guaranteed to see the difference!

The difference between NTSC color flicker at 10 fps, interlaced-6 vs CBS 24 fps interlaced-6, will be readily apparent.

The basic difference is the speed of the usually six segment color wheel: 600 rpm for NTSC and 1440 for CBS.

James.

I've been to the ETF. They only seem to run the CBS wheels as I recall (that or flicker was not visible from either system).

I don't see the value in spending a few hundred on a (overpriced) standards converter, then spending the money to build a wheel adapter, and at the end have a set that can't just go back to being NTSC monochrome without modification after removing the wheel, just to reduce flicker....

[Steve McVoy]

We also display two NTSC color wheel receivers at the convention, a Colordaptor and a Col-R-Tel

[benman94]

The difference between CBS and the Colrdaptor doesn't end with the flicker. Getting a set to pass the chroma on to a Col-R-Tel or Colordaptor can be difficult. The tri-stable switch can be touchy on the Colordaptor circuit, and all fine detail in the image is obliterated by a Col-R-Tel or Colordaptor. The CBS system is vastly superior to the Col-R-Tel or Colordaptor. It's simply much easier to get CBS color on a set than it is to get a Colordaptor working. I've tried both; my Colordaptor chassis is in a box of scrap, my 630TS has been modified for CBS rates and works flawlessly.

[cbenham]

Originally Posted by benman94

The difference between CBS and the Colrdaptor doesn't end with the flicker. Getting a set to pass the chroma on to a Col-R-Tel or Colordaptor can be difficult. The tri-stable switch can be touchy on the Colordaptor circuit, and all fine detail in the image is obliterated by a Col-R-Tel or Colordaptor. The CBS system is vastly superior to the Col-R-Tel or Colordaptor. It's simply much easier to get CBS color on a set than it is to get a Colordaptor working. I've tried both; my Colordaptor chassis is in a box of scrap, my 630TS has been modified for CBS rates and works flawlessly.

Any pictures you can post here? I'd love to see what your CBS-630TS looks like.

Also, if anyone wants tips and hints for converting a B&W NTSC set for use with a Colordaptor, I can provide that information. You can also purchase an inexpensive NTSC color converter unit from Aurora so you don't have to build or rebuild a Colordaptor chassis. You can build a color wheel with stage lighting gel that costs around $6 per sheet. Glad to help anyone who wants to build a color wheel set so you can see for yourself how great they look.

[maxm]

Here are a few photos under the chassis. While turning the set on its side the metal bracket for the top of the safety glass fell out of somewhere, a nice thing to find.

[earlyfilm]

Originally Posted by maxm

Here are a few photos under the chassis.

Max,

Thanks for the pictures! This is the most interesting set that has turned up on VideoKarma in a while.

I'm disorientated.

There is a whole bunch of black shielded cable that is not in a normal 630 set.

My 630TS is presently in safe storage and would be difficult to check at the moment, so I'm looking at both Sams and at my 8TS30 that appears to be relatively unmolested.

In you 2nd picture above, you have dual wafer switch with an extended shaft on it. Where does the extended shaft go and how is it labeled? Is it for sound or video or sync? Does it connect to the black "chicken head" knob in the below mentioned picture?

In your first post, the third picture shows a gold hammertone "project box" to the right of the chassis. Is that box attached to the chassis or was it just stuck in there with cables attached?

James

[maxm]

The wafer switch seen under the chassis is connected to the black knob on the rear, which is labeled "Video Sync", "Video", and "Normal". All of the black cables appear to have been added for the color wheel operation. Several connect to the connectors on the rear of the chassis and some enter the small additional "project box" chassis, which I haven't opened yet. I will try to remove the chassis in the future and take some additional detailed photos of the added wiring so this information can be preserved.

I was told at the sale this set was purchased from that the owner had worked for the IIT Research Institute in Chicago. Based on other items he had built that were at the sale and the collection of literature he owned it appears he had been quite knowledgeable about electronics.

[earlyfilm]

Originally Posted by maxm

The wafer switch seen under the chassis is connected to the black knob on the rear, which is labeled "Video Sync", "Video", and "Normal".

I've taken Max's photo and placed it beside a photo of a stock KCS20A chassis and you can see the difference. A copy of the chassis stamp has been added to the comparison photo.

Since VideoKarma tends to squash very wide pictures, the picture has been rotated to a vertical with the hope of less compression. As shown, the back of the set is on the bottom and the CRT is on the top.

James