Home Made Iconoscope TV Camera.

Rob-NYC · by **Rob-NYC** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:20 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs5l39WsnKo

While not jukebox related, I found the skill and dedication of this older engineer to be awe-inspiring and, at the same time, poignant. This engineer is of a time when (mostly) men built their own Ham rigs and hi-fi equipment. I was fortunate to have met a few people with these skills and knowledge. Those old friends inspired and educated me.

The IKE as it was called was the first all-electronic camera tube and was developed in the early 1930s. Commercial broadcast of TV commenced here in the USA around 1938.

IKE's required an intense amount of light, but as you can see, they were capable of stunningly clear images.

During WW2 the Image Orthicon and British Emitron were developed with featured far greater sensitivity. Some versions of the Orthicon had an ASA equivalent of 10,000! these were the standard from around 1946-7 till the mid-late 1960's here. I summer 1983 I tried to buy a complete RCA TK41C (3 tube Orth color) camera chain in working condition from a TV station in Montana...but they were still using it!

Here is a shot of a Orthicon from my small collection:
http://s1192.photobucket.com/user/Rob-N ... rt=2&o=152

Rob/NYC

Jimmler · by **Jimmler** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:53 pm

That was a pretty cool video, Rob. Thanks for sharing the link! At one time, the TRW Swapmeet in Redondo Beach, CA was one of the best places to find almost ANYTHING in vintage electronics. I lived about 5 miles away from that location until 2001, but I still have tons of stuff that I dragged home from there. It was VERY rare to not find something you had to have. Last time I went, they had moved it to a different, smaller location. Also the availability of vintage stuff had dropped way off. They had been invaded by new style of vendor that were more intent on selling crappy, offshore products. I checked their website and the swapmeet is still active. I may have to make a trip down to LA one weekend and see what it's like.

The engineer in the video was a pretty sharp dude. I have some decent test equipment, but he's really got a collection AND a machine shop to boot!

-Jim