[Boatanchors] Ancient TV's.

[Glen Zook]

The first "mass produced" television set was the RCA
630TS which was manufactured in 1946.  However, there
were numerous television sets dating back to the
period around 1926.  But, these early sets were Nipkow
disk types and not the "electronic" type which is used
today.  Riders Volume 1 has several commercially
produced television sets listed including schematics
and service data.  This volume has technical
information from the beginning of radio manufacture
until sometime in 1929.

During the late 1920s and until the late 1930s there
were quite a few television stations on the air using
the Nipkow disk.  A significant number of these
stations were located at colleges and universities
around the country.  They tended to broadcast for up
to 4 hours on weeknights and slightly longer on
weekend nights.

The Germans started broadcasting electronic television
in 1935 and the Brits in 1936.  In 1937 the FCC
established 19 channels in the United States starting
at 44 MHz and ending up at 294 MHz.  In 1938 Dumont
started producing television sets.  By 1939 RCA,
Belmont, Philco, and ATC were producing television
sets for the home market as well as several other very
small companies.

The first baseball game ever televised was on 26
August 1939 between Brooklyn and Cincinnati at Ebbets
Field in Brooklyn.  The first football game was
televised on 30 September 1939 between Fordham and
Waynesburg in New York.

The first "television star" was Felix the Cat.  A
statue of this cartoon figure was placed on a record
turntable and the RCA station broadcast Felix rotating
around and around for hours on end.

I have references that state that the British
television signals were received numerous times in the
United States starting in 1937.  These signals were in
the 30 MHz band.  The BBC's television transmitter was
converted to "jam" the signals used by the Luftwaffe
(German Air Force) that were guiding the German
bombers over Britain during World War II.

Anyway, the history of television is not as involved
as the history of wireless/radio.  But, it is still
quite interesting.

Glen, K9STH


--- "Duane Fischer, W8DBF" <dfischer at usol.com> wrote:

Didn't several companies have some TV sets that were
shown at the Chicago World's Fair? Some were never
manufactured due to "doubt of there being a market".
Puts them right in that not so good, but forever
infamous, group - All that can be invented, has been
invented. Who said that anyhow? Once I knew, but have
forgotten.
 
David Sarnof was involved heavily in this TV business,
who can forget the Sarnof Vs Armstrong FM saga?
 
Who did produce, and market, the first television set?
I remember Capehart in 1950, the demo unit had about
an eight inch round screen.









Glen, K9STH

Website:  http://k9sth.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com