Hi all. I displayed this "latest find" at this year's Early Television Convention and it got an enthusiastic reception from the group. I figured folks here might get a kick out of seeing it too.

It's not a TV, just a nice but fairly ordinary laboratory power supply.

http://njarc.org/sica/DSCI1911.jpg

But it didn't come from just any lab. It came from RCA's Princeton television laboratory...

http://njarc.org/sica/DSCI1914.jpg

...and it has a pretty unique provenance!

I may be a little nuttier than the average collector (or maybe not!) but I consider this one of the "crown jewels" of my collection. Who knows what inventions this little power supply might have been involved in? A real piece of television history sitting on my workbench!


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Kewl ! Doncha wish stuff like this could talk ? I'd give my eyeteeth if my R-390s could talk, tell me where they were in their service lives, what they picked up, who listened to 'em...I have a pristine 1955 contract date Collins that we THINK might have been Somebody's Baby at Wright-Pat...It DOESN'T look like it went thru the depot rebuilding process where they typically got all scrambled up...Who knows ?

Hey I checked that out and thought it was really cool. Don't it still have the guys name on it from RCA? I thought it did. And Sandy, I have wished at least a million times that this old stuff could talk or the tvs could show you all the interesting things that were flickering on their screens 50 years ago.

Here in Lancaster is where RCA made a lot of tubes and had some lab facilities. I've picked up a few pieces of test gear with the RCA labs tag on it. One guy had his home full of the stuff, but I only got an isolation transformer and one of those massive Hickock oscilloscopes. The o-scope had tags for the Lancaster lab as well as some radar research lab in New Jersey. Just makes me so sad that none of this stuff isn't in my town anymore...

There is something special about these things. I have a fairly early RCA scope (3") which has been repsrayed silver; under that paint you can read the lettering that says NBC-TV, Washington". Someday I need to try removing that spraybomb paint.

There is something special about these things. I have a fairly early RCA scope (3") which has been repsrayed silver; under that paint you can read the lettering that says NBC-TV, Washington". Someday I need to try removing that spraybomb paint.

Usually gasoline will remove that crappy spray paint without damaging the paint from the factory. Try a little spot on the back and see what happens.

Usually gasoline will remove that crappy spray paint without damaging the paint from the factory. Try a little spot on the back and see what happens.


Sometimes oven cleaner will work. And there is usually a degree of control of how much wanted/unwanted material is moved by the length of time it is allowed to remain applied. I got Rustoleum paint off my '53 Dodge truck this way many years ago. It removed the spray paint and left the factory finish.

Pay attention to temperature; the cooler the temp the longer the process takes--yet another control parameter. :thmbsp:

Try Goof-Off.

Sometimes oven cleaner will work. And there is usually a degree of control of how much wanted/unwanted material is moved by the length of time it is allowed to remain applied. I got Rustoleum paint off my '53 Dodge truck this way many years ago. It removed the spray paint and left the factory finish.

Pay attention to temperature; the cooler the temp the longer the process takes--yet another control parameter. :thmbsp:

Yes, this works too, just be careful not to get it on your skin. It will burn you 'till you bleed, literally. I had it happen once cleaning the oven, I brushed up against it with my stomach and got some on my shirt. Blood started oozing from the chemical burn.