Are vintage TV /video cameras a thing of interest?

[ChrisW6ATV]

I still have several tube-pickup color cameras that I mostly bought in the early and mid 1990s for use on ATV (Amateur Television, TV over ham radio). Usually I looked for the higher-end ones with character generators and similar features in them. The ATV transmitters of that era had the ten-pin connector on their front panel, and I remember buying a few of those connectors at a local parts store as well for my own add-on projects.

One day when I have more time, I will enjoy playing with that equipment again. I do remember that one Panasonic camera (PK-958 or similar model number) has a purity problem. I did pick up a service manual for that camera and maybe one other Panasonic. Fun stuff!

[Tube TV]

I've started back collecting early home video cameras in the 6 or so months. I missed the look of Newvicon and Vidicon tube cameras. I recently finished working on a Panasonic Omnimovie PV-200D and got all the colors dialed back in and it's working great now and made up a NIMH battery pack to to replace the lead acid battery and am getting 3 hours of recording time with it on a charge.

I also picked up a Panasonic WV-460 black and white Vidicon camera. This is the same model as the RCA BW-001. It still has the original box and accessories and manual. Very nice black and while picture for it's age. It's getting up to 350 vertical TVL resolution.