WGSF Television

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

The "Blue Truck"

WGSF Television acquired a Ford Route Van that became a mainstay of transportation for several years, both during the latter years of WGSF and for several years after the move to the Newark High School campus.

For discussion starters:

The truck had a manual shift transmission, which presented a challenge to some of the younger WGSF staffers. I remember waiting through several traffic light changes while observing a neophyte driver struggle to master the clutch and gas feed, the driver all the while becoming more frustrated. The truck just 'died' on each attempt, but the lesson was eventually successful.

Another youthful driver had a chilling experience while traversing the first big curve on the down-hill run from the station on Horn's Hill. The steering locked up, and the truck ended up between two trees, headed back up the hill the hard way. Took two wreckers to extricate 'Ole Blue from that precarious position. Did that deter the driver from ever driving again - truck or auto? No way! After necessary repairs to the steering, she was back at it again. I knew that person was headed for a successful career, and it was so.

Another incident at the junction of 21st Street and and Moul St. tested the mettle of two other voyagers in the Blue truck. Smoke began pouring out from under the dash.

The truck had a few years on it, and mucho milage, when we got it. The metal was no longer pristine, yea, there were a few openings in places that Ford had not provided in the original design. A few strategically placed bricks covered the most problematic holes. While tooling out Route 16 past Cherry Valley intersection one rainy day, I looked back to see a 'rooster tail' of water kicking up from the tires. INSIDE the van! Some enterprising and clean freak do-gooder had cleaned out the truck for my trip, including the essential bricks covering the holes in the floor.

It served to transport all of the equipment from the station to the high school campus after WGSF closed. It was still used as the Mini-mote for some time, and other innumerable transportation tasks, until finally pulled from service in the late 70's.

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

MINI-MOTE
Mini-mote TV Unit
05/08/08 | by admin

- This is a Multi-page Post -

WGSF Television expanded the ability for remote production by putting together what we called the MINI-MOTE (Miniature remote unit).

Mounted on the Blue Cart, the Mini-mote could be loaded into the Blue Truck (or other vehicle) and taken just about anywhere, and it was.
An ampex 2 inch VR-660 VTR would fit on top of the cart for recording, providing two hours of recording time on one of the large reels of tape, with editing capability.
The television camera was the GBC videcon, with zoom lens.
The sync generator was a small solid state unit, which fit into a special rack mount containing a pulse distribution amplifier.
Electrical power was routed through a powerstat, a variable transformer, with voltage meters built into the panel. The VR-660 was especially sensitive to power line voltages higher or lower than the standard 120 VAC.
A 3-monitor rack mount unit was used for picture monitoring.
A Shure audio mixer was used for microphone and Auxiliary audio inputs.

The Mini-mote was used for coverage of the Ohio State Fair in 1974 (?) at a time when most television stations were anchored to a fixed venue. WGSF roamed the fairgrounds, getting a very enthusiastic response from the people we covered. We could edit on the fly with the VR-660B Edicon® system. Even though the rubber on the old wheels on the cart peeled off from the weight (the VTR alone weighed nearly 100 pounds) the ability to go nearly anywhere made a for sucessful addition to the station's production capability.

It proved to be the beginning of the end for the large RCA production truck, which took well over an hour to set up. We could wheel in with the Mini-mote, plug into any standard 120 volt AC source, set up the small tripod/dolly and camera, hook up the cables, and record - all in the matter of a few minutes.

Later, a newer version of the Mini-mote was used for years providing television production facilities at Newark High School. The cart had larger, sturdier wheels, color cameras, better monitoring, a video switcher with effects, the Shure Audio mixer, and either a 3/4 inch U-matic® videocassette recorder, or the newer 1/2 inch VHS VCR system. Many programs were aired live on the CATV system, CATV 19, as well as recorded. The cart was wheeled all over the Newark High campus, and one of the specially equipped school busses with a wheelchair lift was utilized to take it to other production locations that were covered with multiple cameras.
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Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

Power to 'The Truck'

All of the original equipment in the RCA mobile television production van used vacuum tubes, and there were a lot of them! Vacuum tubes have a big appetite for electrical power, and dump a lot of that power as heat. The original owners of the truck installed an air conditioner in the left rear window, and cooling was necessary even on days that the ambient outside temperature was on the cool side.
The combination of the television equipment and the air conditioner brought the total electrical current load close to 60 amperes, at 220 Volts. This rather heavy electrical requrement created some interesting situations as we traveled the community, setting up for remotes in - well, rather remote locations, at times.
The success of any set-up was therefore dependent upon a supply of enough electrical power to run a typical small house of that era. The ideal location had an outlet for an electric stove (range outlet, 60 amperes, 220 volts). Lacking that, Chief Engineer and Jack-of-all-trades Leland Hubbell drew upon his knowledge of electrical systems, and went inside the main power panel. A variety of "pig-tail" cables with connectors and heavy-duty clamps interfaced the supply panel to a fused switch box. An electrical meter was essential to the operation, and a check was made to assure things were correct at the power outlet/panel before powering up the truck.
The electrical power supply cables to the truck had twist-loc connectors, and these had to be inspected frequently for good, clean contact, as they often showed signs of overheating. The connectors had to be soldered; screws would loosen under the load, and quickly overheat and char the connector. The cable entered the truck at a multi-plug outlet. The load was balanced as closely as possible, with part of the equipment on each side of the 220 volt supply. The connector box had three low-wattage lamps as power indicators, and could be set up for 3 phase systems by internal links, if needed, but was always used on single phase settings while we used the truck. One lamp was across one leg of the 110/220 line, and two across the other. If both lamps glowed equally, the incoming voltage balance was assumed to be acceptable.
The truck had a 'power-stat' adjustable transformer to set the voltage to the correct range for the truck. This was located just behind the driver's seat, at the bottom of the equipment racks. The truck electronic equipment required a nominal voltage of 110-120 volts, and local sources were found to vary all over the range, sometimes too high, sometimes too low. The air conditioner required 220 volts, supplied by its own power cable, but came through the
Most set-ups were routine: Find a 60 ampere range outlet, or a "mains" supply panel, measure to determine voltages, plug in or clamp on the WGSF switch/fuse box, check the indicator lamps, and tweak the power-stat for the correct voltage. If things measured up, we could start turning on the equipment. We were not always able to turn on everything, especially at locations like the Hartford Fair Grounds, because the lines couldn't handle the load. We were sometimes reduced to running only one camera, and no air conditioner.
Electrical service is supposed to be inspected and installed by licensed electricians, but we were never sure what we would find. For example, when I connected inside the power panel for a set-up at a public location, the lights on the truck power strip showed a big unbalance - one lamp went bright, the double lamps dimmed, before we turned on any equipment. And I was clipped onto big 4-ought (0000) size cables in the box. Turned out the ground cable wasn't! It fed an electric stove in the kitchen, and they had not connected the ground (neutral) cable to the main ground because the range was 220 volts. The ladies said the burners worked but the clock (operated off of 120 volts) never did. Once I went to the main ground with our clamp, all was OK. But I told them to get the electrical company back in and make it right!
Another remote almost brought disaster from improper wiring. I had checked it out in advance, and left instructions to use the standard range receptacle behind the commercial type electric stove. The guys on the crew for the remote said that they would handle the set-up, and I could attend another function before showing up at the remote. I arrived to find everybody in somewhat of a state of shock! (Luckily not electrical.)
Spotting another standard range outlet receptacle out in the open, the 'techie' decided not to crawl behind the greasy stove, and plugged the truck power cable into the one feeding the large deep fry oil cooker. The plugs mated; the voltages didn't! Someone had wired 220, 3 phase, service into what was supposed to be a standard outlet for 110/220 single phase service. They had presence of mind to unplug quickly - when the power-stat started smoking. Fortunately, nothing was damaged, nor anyone hurt.
We did an out-of-town basketball remote where the service proved to be under-powered. We were able to wheel the truck into an Industrial Arts shop room, putting us inside, nice and cozy, on a winter evening. Too cozy! Too warm, so we also plugged in the air conditioner. We made it through the game, and were into the wrap-up when the breaker finally gave up and popped out. A close one.
We had electricians install a special circuit for us at several locations around Newark. There was one at the Newark High School gym, and the Performing Arts Center (auditorium), as well as at White (football) Field. Many of the schools had a kitchen with a suitable electrical range outlet available.

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

Van currently housed at The Early Television Museum, 5396 Franklin Street in Hilliard, Ohio

An advertisement for the sale of an RCA equipped mobile television production van caught the eye of WGSF station manager Leland Hubbell in early 1969. This van was owned by KCPX, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Originally purchased by KDYL(W6XIS) Salt Lake City in 1948, the call sign was changed to KCPX).
The van was purchased by WGSF through a grant from the Thomas J. Evans Foundation.
Station Manager, Leland Hubbell, and his wife, Dorothy, flew to Salt Lake City, and drove the van back to Ohio.
It saw extensive use in Newark and surrounding communities, televising graduations, parades, fairs, festivals and sporting events.
When WGSF terminated broadcasting in 1976, the van was donated to the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, where it sat in a warehouse for over thirty years.

The Ohio Historical Society agreed to loan the van to the Early Television Museum in 2008, where it will be put on display. The van has most of its original equipment, including TK-30A cameras and the microwave system.

Link to article about the WGSF mobile production van, with commentary by Daniel Black:
http://www.earlytelevision.org/wgsf_van.html

See also this promotional advertisement by RCA:
http://www.earlytelevision.org/rca_remote_1948.html

The Early Television Museum is located at 5396 Franklin Street in Hilliard, Ohio (614) 771-0510