Ed Reitan's Color Television History

Wanted Research Materials: Documentation, Equipment, and War Stories

I hope you enjoyed the information on this site. I have been encouraged by your comments. Extensive additional research is now underway to bring you more pages and the eventual book! So, hang in there!

But you can help! I would appreciate your assistance in locating additional source information and am interested in purchasing color television historical materials. Please, immediately contact me if you know of the location of any of the following:

• "Broadcast News", (back issues, 1930's through 1980's), RCA Quarterly Publication on RCA Broadcast Equipment.
• Original Engineering Reports, Notebooks, and Photographs; especially from:

  • RCA Laboratories
  • CBS Laboratories
  • Hazeltine Corporation
  • Color Television Incorporated
  • Chromatic Television Labs, Philco, General Electric
  • NBC and CBS
• Color Television Broadcast Equipment Manuals and Catalogs (RCA, GE, DuMont, Philco)

  • RCA Labs Color Modification of Ampex VR-1000, Technical Manual
  • RCA Broadcast Live Color Camera Manuals: Prototypes, TK-40, TK-40A, TK-41, B, C
  • RCA Broadcast TRT-1AC Color Video Tape Recorder Manual
  • RCA Color Frequency Standard, Color Bar Generator, Colorplexer, Sync. Generator Manuals
  • Any documentation (manuals, catalogs, sales brochures) on GE, DuMont, and Norelco PC-60/70 color cameras

  
  
• "Radio Age", (back issues, 1940's through 1960's), a publication on general RCA activities.
• "RCA Engineer", (back issues, 1940's through 1980's), a publication with light RCA technical articles.

• "Color Television Standards - N.T.S.C", Donald G. Fink, McGraw-Hill, 1955.
• "Color Television Engineering", John W. Wentworth, McGraw-Hill, 1955.
• "His Master's Voice in America", Fred Barnum, General-Electric, 1991.
• "Color Television - Manual for Technical Training", RCA Broadcast, 1959. (red hardcover, covers broadcast color cameras, tape, etc.)

I am pleased to have been contacted by a number of the scientists, engineers, executives, and technicians who were associated with the early development of color television. These pioneers have included the developer of the first color television live camera at RCA Labs, developer of the 21AXP22 Color CRT optics at RCA Labs, technical supervisor at the first CBS New York Color Studio 72, and the engineering head at CBS-Columbia.

A number of these gentlemen have now written their recollections of the people, equipment and history of color television. I would appreciate being contacted by others with recollections of those times. And, please remember that I can provide a good home for your files and artifacts -- don't let your relatives just throw them out!

• RCA Color Studio Monitor - Models TM-10 15-inch and TM-21 21-inch
• Color CRT - Non-gassy and working 15GP22 or 15HP22 .
• CBS Field Sequential Color Equipment - cameras and receivers.
• RCA Live Color Camera Chains - Prototype and Experimental
• General Electric Live Color Cameras and DuMont Vitascan Equipment
• RCA, GE, or DuMont Iconoscope Live B&W Cameras
• RCA Television Receiver Alignment Generator Set: Sweep, Marker, & Marker Adder.
• Early Color CRT Receivers - prototype and production, triniscope and 15", 19" and 21", as listed in "RCA Labs Developmental Color Television Receivers", "RCA Camden Developmental Color Receivers" or "Early Field Test, Prototype, and Commercial Color Receivers"., CTC-7, CTC-9, CTC-10, CTC-11 chassis receivers.
• Original manuals and sales brochures for the above receivers as a source of photos for the book.
• Sony SRF-A100 AM Stereo Radio

And soon, I will be asking for photos of your color sets to go in the book. Let me know if you want to be identified as the owner of the set and to have a link to your E-Mail address.

If you know the whereabouts of any of the above documentation or hardware items, please contact me - and my thanks for any leads!

Release 3.01 10/25/97

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