Our new online Newsletter for 2010 has been slightly modified. You can view it at:
04-2010 Newsletter

We hope you are planning to attend what may be our last luncheon...
If so, please fill out the form at the bottom of the newsletter and
mail it in with your check, as soon as possible!

Thanks,
Dave

Our new Newsletter for 2010 is now online! You can view it at:
04-2010 Newsletter

Dave

In reference to the last "mystery picture", it has a connection to WWII.
Need a specific answe!
Dave

What is it???
The machine, that is...
Dave

Here is some more "announcer" info.

John Condon lives back east and Warren Moran lives in Arizona.
I probably have a few dates written down on paper someplace that I have not entered.
Alan Berns is still around but I have not been able to track him down.
I have no idea about Bill Martin, if he is still around or any biographical info. He did the Lowell Thomas news broadcasts for many years and filled in once as announcer on "To Tell the Truth", circa 1960.
I am in the process of scanning a lot of old press releases (very slowly on this project).

Dave Schwartz

The original "TV Girl"

Click here for the article:TV Girl

Courtesy of Dave Schwartz

SAD NEWS

Received mail from Bill Naeder that Bob Callahan, who worked in technical maintenance, passed away on March 17, 2010.

Our Spring Get-together Luncheon will take place on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at the Swan Club in Glenwood Landing, Long Island, NY. We must have a minimum of 40 people. We're asking everyone to make an effort and come. This maybe our last catered affair, so perhaps you can bring family members and friends.

Tony Casola

Sad News,
Received mail from Mary Durante that Joe Desmond, who worked as a cameraman, passed away January, 2010, and Mary Ann Urban who worked in Bob Hammers office passed away January 24, 2010.

Tony Casola

It is an Atwater Kent Radio, I sold one years ago from my wife's antique shop in Nyack, NY. There is an Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia, PA.
Goody

Ok, here are a few for the younger "techies":

What piece (or pieces) of TV equipment had hidden "Easter Eggs"?
A clue is that with one, you could play a game of "The Towers of Hanoi."
Others played "Asteroids" and one displayed swimming fish?

What piece of test equipment was lovingly called "The Glockenspiel"?

Who was the manufacurer of, and what was a piece of test equipment whose initials
caused much smirking?

Dave

Harry Charles:

Could This be an Atwater Kent Radio of the late 1920s in a Kiel table??

Harold Deppe

Dave, As long we're guessing, here is a picture of something. What is it?
how old is it? and has anyone ever heard of this company?
Keep up the flow!

Harry Charles

Mark Ogden.

I saw this 35mm sound on disc Projector at a Theater.
The year was 1930. It was quite a thrill to see a sound film at that time.
Thanks for your answer,it makes this Website interesting.

Harold Deppe
Sorry the Picture was just the turntable.

I'm not an old-timer ( at least not quite yet ), but the picture that Harold Deppe has posted is the base of a dual-system "Vitaphone" style film projector. The transcription discs would be placed on the turntable and be cued to an inscribed arrow while the film was cued to a start mark on the leader, and there was a sort of crude interlock between the two devices. The result was a rudimentary form of synchronized sound. Films like The Jazz Singer, The Cocoanuts and The Wedding March played in this system.

Mark Ogden
CBS N.Y.

Re: The picture from Harold Deppe of the black machine,
it looks like a record mastering lathe or transcription cutter.

Goody

Another day on "The Ernie Kovacs Show"

I think the show budget was about $1.50, so there was no
rehearsal or script. We learned that they did rehearse the
night before at one of their homes but the Director was not
invited. I kept asking, "what comes next" and always got
the same answer "how the hell would I know", from the
Director, Ned Kramer. J.Jack Howerton would never
ready a shot (because he didn't know what comes next.) He
would poke Jack and say, "take it".
When Jack went on vacation, Dick Crane did vacation relief.
Dick would not have any of the pokes or "take it". he got very
angry one day and yelled "DON'T POKE ME. READY THE SHOT.'
There was a lot of anger in the control room.

Harold Schutzman

First day of the new "Ernie Kovacs Show" in Studio 55, Lederkranz Hall.
Early afternoon, following "Bride And Groom".
Crew: TD- J.Jack Howerton, AO-Harold Schutzman, VO- Tony Philippe,
Cameras- Cass Gaylord, Teddy Sepp, Joe Sokota, SE- Russ Gainor
Dir.-Ned Kramer (spelling?)
Dir has Cam 2, Teddy,(on a small crane dolly) shooting Kovacs. Dir
tells Cam 1, Cass, to shoot Kovacs also. The only way he can do that
is to shoot ACROSS the tongue of cam 2. Dir now tells cam 2 to pull out.
Obviously cam 2 would have to pull out through cam 1 shot.
Teddy Sepp turns around,looks into the control room window and says
" HOW THE F---- CAN I DO THAT"? I didn't have to read lips.

With 12 minutes left in the show, Kovacs has run out of material. He whispers
to Edie Adams, "sing another song". She whispers back "I only rehearsed one".
Now he needs to fill about 10 minutes. He tell cam 3, Joe, to follow him. Kovacs
knocks down the set(stage left).There is a door out to a fire escape to the
backyards of the houses of Park Avenue. Kovacs has Joe shoot the windows of these
houses on Park Avenue.
All this was only day one. There were many days like it.

Harold Schutzman

With regard to Harold Deppe's question about why use film when video
tape is available? I once asked Red Steiger that very question. His
answer: not all TV facilities had video tape. In fact, I recall
watching a recording of The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite done
on film for eventual use with affiliates in Alaska who did not have a
live connection with the network.
They had to originate all their programming via film from the lower
48. I especially noticed that the video display on the monitor
associated with the recorder had -very- strange colors. Turns out,
for good film recordings, they had to adjust the levels of colors to
make a good film.

The 1973 photo certainly appears to be a recording system I can see
FR-2 on the frame of one of the racks, plus a tall rack with "Eastman"
clearly visible. That sure smacks of film recording.

73 de Ray Sills

For those that are interested in the history of TV Equipment, see:

"http://www.tech-notes.tv/History&Trivia/history_of.htm"


Jay Chichon

Don't forget in the early days we needed a standards converter to play tapes in Europe & South America. Red was quite a guy, he did a lot of tape to film transfers. He transferred a cassette tape for me to 16mm which I was able to project at the Imax theater onto a screen & the picture was acceptaby clean, beautiful. There was a B/W film recorder which Red had that you could take the film & go right to a projector & play. It was pre-tape & as I understand was used mostly for news. Unfortunately Stan Greene in his infinite wisdom gave it away & according to Steiger, cost CBS a number of paying clients. Was that what was called a Kinescope recording? Red knew the value of film & worked everyday to bring in more inside/outside work for his department.
Goody

I remember working in Film Services where we put film commercials on reels and then sent them down to telecine for projection. The room we worked in had bins which stored the film commercials in alphabetical order. I do remember making up the super bowl film reels air and standby with such care, and then having them re-checked by two supervisors before going for screening in our screening rooms. Al Kelly, Ed Peraza and Al Deltoro and Vince Romelo were film supervisors. Joe McDonald and John Wyman worked the film projection room which were used for quality control and timing of the shows by our AD's. We also supplied film for the local WCBS broadcasts, and we spent many stressed hours waiting for commercials to arrive and then integrated into the local news show. Last minute changes were common and we all ran around like chicks with our heads cut off. The work also included doing commercial integration into prime time shows and Saturday and Sunday cartoons. I enjoyed working with the guys who all groused about how boring it was, but I knew I would have a steady pay check that did not bounce and was grateful for the opportunity I had gotten when I was hired by Irving Rosenberg the director of Film Services. We were all a collection of characters from different walks of life but who could forget the imprint they left on us. I remember one in particular who was an un-sung hero of the fight for Israeli independence. Richard (Dick) Fallon, was the Navigator of the Gun running ship the Alata Lena which helped bring guns into the underground fighting the British. Dick passed away and at the funeral he was honored by the Israeli government, and those of us who worked along side this quiet humble man never new who or what he was. Then we had Harry the Horse Heisner who could eat fire hot peppers with a corned beef sandwich and not blink and eye. We also had a world war two combat photographer named Al Attars and Phil Weinstein who worked doing films for the government at the old Silver Cup factory in Queens, NY. These are just a few of my recollections, Mike Singer, Bob Villandre, Al Townsend, Al Thompkins, Pat Murtha but to name a few, but I am sure it will jog the memory of those who read our site and perhaps peak their interest and they will contribute.

Are there any old timers out there that would know what equipment this is?
I saw this in operation 80 Yrs ago ...by the way, if there are any old timers
out there, we would like to hear from you.. Hint that is a 16" Disc.

Regards,
Harold Deppe

I have corrected the picture in Harold's last post.
Any comments, now?

Dave

Harold,

I think that setup was one of Red Steigers devices. I recall him telling me that there was a demand in certain areas of the world for film versions of our programing. I was told that Red made a lot of money for CBS with these film versions of programs.

Jim Herschel

Dave is right. this is a triplex machine used to play back slides,16mm and 35mm film. As a matter of fact you can see a small reel on the 16mm machine. thats was probably a 20 sec, 30 sec or 1 minute commercial. The only recording that was done on 16 mm film was in TVR run by Red Steiger also known as kinescope. That later became VT recording for CBS archives.

Bruno

Actually, Harold sent me the wrong picture!
I will correct that later today or tomorrow.
Dave

I have a question. This is a Photo of a machine in Telecine at the B.C.center in N.Y.
It records live Video on 16mm.Film.The film comes out the back end ready for projection. The question is, why use this machine when we had many Video Tape
recorders? If not known, could you please Post..Thanks.
P.S. The Photo was taken in 1973
Regards,
Harold Deppe

Click on image to enlarge.
Dave