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November 11, 1967…ABC Debuts First Color Portable Camera …

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Eyes Of A Generation.com


November 11, 1967…ABC Debuts First Color Portable Camera

Below is a clip from November 11, 1967 showing the camera in use by ABC at the UCLA – USC game in Los Angeles.

ABC and Ampex worked together to come up with three configurations of the color portable unit. Shown here is the original cabled version, with a mini camera control unit in the back pack. Later, the back pack could be loaded with either an Ampex VR 3000 videotape recorder, or a microwave transmitter for live, uncabled work.

The Ampex, two Plumbicon, BC-100 camera head had an optical splitting system, providing one tube for the luminance channel and the other with an alternate red-blue image produced by a synchronously rotating filter wheel. Basically, this is a modified version of the Field Sequential color system.

The combination of luminance and green, with field sequential red and blue, is sent back to base via a compact microwave link mounted on the backpack. The base station uses a field-storage delay device to reinsert the alternately missed red and blue signals, providing Red, Green and Blue for matrixing and encoding into standard NTSC format. A nickel-cadmium battery keept the system operating for over an hour, with battery changes possible in a few minutes. -Bobby Ellerbee

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5 responses to “November 11, 1967…ABC Debuts First Color Portable Camera …”

  1. Simon Crawshaw

    Color picture

  2. Simon Crawshaw

    here is the brochure: http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/pdfs/ampex/bc100broc.pdf

  3. Michael Scott Ferguson

    Imagine how much bigger/heavier it would be with the usual 3 tubes.

  4. Mike Hesterley

    Nice information Bobby. Poor guy, I wonder how this operator’s back is today. The first “portable” I used was a TK 76, oh how I disliked that camera.

  5. Russell Ross

    Nice story…….I noticed on the TK 40 or 41 pictured, the cable connection showed where the pins were ….It was always “Christmas Tree Up” to connect the cable to the camera. Brings back memories. Also, my Father worked for NY Telephone Company in their broadcast lines division and he always said Reeves was a top notch operation. They had the highest standards back then.

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