[QuadList] Cleaning Up--NBC's Long Island Laundry--
george keller
georgenann at aol.com
Sat Mar 28 20:15:59 CDT 2015
Ted,
Arnie Ferolito started all rehab of Ampex 1200 - 2000 machines by washing all boards with water and "Cascade" and drying them at 124 deg for a day or two. As part payment he gave me a Tektronix 453 which I cleaned using that method, worked just fine. The only hard part was getting the HV department out and putting it back. It looked like it was in a coal mine before I started and came out looking like new. I have done this to many pieces of equipment and recommend it highly.
My other favorite method is dunking dirty and greasy stuff in gasoline. Good thing I don't smoke.
The only cameras I saw around CBS were Norelco's. Marconi's were only used in the Sullivan studio.
73,
George Keller
-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Langdell via QuadList <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>
To: Quad List <QuadList at quadvideotapegroup.com>
Cc: Ted Langdell <ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
Sent: Thu, Mar 26, 2015 2:00 am
Subject: [QuadList] Cleaning Up--NBC's Long Island Laundry--
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Ted Langdell <ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
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Ted Langdell <ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
Subject
Cleaning Up--NBC's Long Island Laundry--
Date
Wed, 25 Mar 2015 22:59:42 -0700
I remember seeing NBC's television equipment laundry in an issue of Broadcast Engineering from the early 1960s...
And while on David Gleason's AmericanRadioHistory.com website, took a moment to search for "Firehose Dryer" (which I remember being mentioned in the article) and then "NBC washes."
Turns out those were the magic words. Just found it here:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Broadcast-Engineering/BE/60s/Broadcast_Engineering_Magazine_July_1963.pdf
If this is the one I read, it is the cover of the July, 1963 Broadcast Engineering.
The "about the cover" description is on Page 34:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Broadcast-Engineering-IDX/BE-IDX/60s/63/Broadcast_Engineering_Magazine_July_1963-OCR_-Page-0034.pdf#search=%22nbc washes%22
Seems the location was NBC's Field Operations center in Long Island City, across from Manhattan.
Dirt and grime were taking a toll on mobile unit gear.
NBC VP of Ops and Engineering William Trevarthen saw Textronix engineers washing their scopes with detergent and water, and adapted it to NBC's field equipment needs.
They built a metal "crib" with a turntable for the gear, then pressure-washed it at 30PSI using any ordinary low-sudsing cleanser.
Maint. Supervisor Frank Bierling and studio engineer William Klages (THE Bill Klages of lighting design fame??) built a drying cabinet. Experimentation found that 140 degrees dried the equipment thoroughly in about 24 hours without overheating or under-drying.
Estimated hard cost: Around $300. Value of the inventiveness that went into design and construction: Priceless.
My recall from 49-50 years ago thinks there were more pictures and more description of the process of readying the equipment for a bath, and then re-assembling it and testing it on the bench. Anyone else seem to remember this item or one like it?
The knowledge came in handy when a cup of coffee w/cream and sugar ended up in an open and on switcher chassis. But that's another story.
Page 32 notes CBS's order for 44 Marconi Mark IV 4.5" Image Orthicon cameras, "the largest single order" for cameras with that size of tube at that time. 29 were heading for the then-new CBS Broadcast Center on W. 57th Street in New York City, six for CBS News, Washington, DC, and nine to equip two studios at CBS Television City in Hollywood.
Cheers,
Ted
Ted Langdell
Secretary for the Quad Videotape Group
Preserving Tape, Equipment and the Knowledge to use them, in conjunction with the Library of Congress
iPhone (530) 301-2931
Email: ted at quadvideotapegroup.com
Web: www.quadvideotapegroup.com
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Eighth Annual Quad Videotape Group Lunch at NAB: 12:30pm on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, Las Vegas Convention Center
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