RCA TK-42 at WCEE-TV - Rockford, Ill.


       

[Click to enlarge image] WCEE - Our TK-42 went on the air in 1970 with our "Women's Editor" the late Betty Anderson on camera and Paul Tinsley floor directing. WCEE-TV 23 is in Rockford, Illinois and now licensed as WIFR-TV. I started there in 1969 as a cameraman and later became a director. This particular camera was the only one that the station owned. Camera #2 was a TK-60 and we were not above mixing them on the air. Color for the news set...B&W for old UPI photofax news photos. This camera replaced the stations original TK-41 in 1969 which was shipped to Argentina. The TK-42 also had the distinction of being smashed when the HF dolly wheels bound up while being moved between two tapings of a local church program. Because it was a cradle head, it just floated on the head and flew loose when the dolly went over. The best part was watching the members of the church standing in a circle around the camera corpse praying for it and the cameraman (Paul Tinsley) who got knocked over when it went down. True story. We were B&W for a few days until a used TK-42 arrived from RCA. The wreck went to RCA where they bent it back into shape and sent it back just like new.
[Click to enlarge image]
 TK-42 Photo and Story Courtesy of Dave Abramson, Chester Springs, PA
WCEE's TK-41 pictured in an RCA B/C News Article



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