This camera was used at KWCH 12 Eyewitness News, a CBS affiliate, in Wicthata Kansas.    This station has a large weather coverage interest  and... storm chasing! But wait! Kansas...oh ya! twisters big enough to take you to the Land of OZ!

Eric who provided this to us explains:

"...it came from Wichita Kansas... I know I used to see it blasting around town on the top of a Chevy Blazer that belonged to the television station back in the 1990's. It was the camera mounted to the boom on the top of the rig they drove. Using it that way they could immediately begin taking video upon arriving at the scene of a news story-mainly weather related if I remember correctly, kind of a storm chaser thing. They did manage to get great tornado footage that way. They had it mounted on the truck for quite a while, but I don't know how many hours it actually has on it. It could be quite a bit, or very little, no telling. Thanks again and I hope you can put it to good use, or just display it well!"

SMECC Needs more info on this camera and lens  used on it. We would like to hear from some of the 
people at KWCH that used it.  A few good storm chasing stories!? Please!  - Email info@smecc.org

We are also looking for other artifacts from this and other broadcasting stations

I suspect the camera dates back to the 80's?  Comments??? -ES


 

And...  when it was new looked like this!  
We need the lens, connector and control box!

Brief KWCH History

The station first signed on the air on July 1, 1953 as KTVH. It was the first
station licensed in the state of Kansas. Channel 12 originally operated from studio
facilities located in Hutchinson. It has been a primary CBS affiliate since its
sign-on, although the station originally also carried programming from the three
other major networks of the time (NBC, ABC and the DuMont Television Network) 
In 1955, the station was bought by The Minneapolis Star & Tribune, later known as
Cowles Media with newspaper & broadcasting interests, publisher of LOOK Magazine and
The Minneapolis Star and Tribune Newspaper. John Cowles formed The
Wichita-Hutchinson Company as a subsidiary to hold the license. In 1956, it moved
its main studio facilities to the former studio of KEDD, where the station remains
to this day. In 1957, the station boosted its transmitter power from 240,000 ERP to
316,000 ERP to cover all of the Wichita metropolitan area. In 1962, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that central and western Kansas were part of
the Wichita market. The Kansas Broadcasting System was formed with KTVC-TV in Dodge
City, Kansas, KAYS-TV in Hays, Kansas and KLOE-TV in Goodland, Kansas with KTVH
serving as the Flagship station.

In 1963, on July 3rd, KTVH's signal coverage was greatly increased with the
construction of a new 1,504 foot transmitting tower 9 miles East of Hutchinson,
which had a full 316,000 WATTS of power. The tower and antenna was 32 feet taller
than the Empire State Building in New York City, and is considered the tallest man
made structure in Kansas. In sports, KTVH was helpful in forming the Missouri Valley
Conference Basketball Television Network. KTVH served as the originating station for
a 10 game schedule each year which was carried on a 24 station network.
In 1983, the Cowles family began selling off its vast media holdings. KTVH was sold
to Ross Beach and Bob Schmidt who owned KAYS-TV and KLOE-TV. The station's call
letters were then changed to KWCH-TV on July 4 of that year (the KTVH call letters
are now used by an NBC-affiliated station in Helena, Montana, which adopted the
calls two years after channel 12's callsign switch).[2]

In 1989, the purchase of KTVC-TV was completed which placed the Kansas Broadcasting
System under one ownership, then the four stations were sold to Smith Broadcasting
which included, as an owner, longtime Wichita television executive Sandy DiPasquale
(who later became the CEO of Newport Television). Smith sold the station to
Spartanburg, South Carolina-based Spartan Communications in 1994; Spartan merged
with Media General in 2000. In 2005, KWCH received the "Large Market Television
Station of the Year" award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. On April 6,
2006, Media General announced that it would sell KWCH, its satellites, and four
other stations as a result of its purchase of four former NBC
owned-and-operated-stations (WVTM-TV in Birmingham, WCMH in Columbus, WNCN in
Goldsboro, North Carolina and WJAR-TV in Providence). South Bend, Indiana-based
Schurz eventually emerged as the winner and took over on September 25, at which time
Schurz formed a new company known as "Sunflower Broadcasting, Inc.," which became
the licensee for its Kansas broadcasting properties.[3][4][5] However, KWCH still
uses the same logo from the Media General era. In July 2007, KSCW became a sister
station to KWCH after Schurz bought the station through a failing station waiver.
In the spring of 2010, Schurz entered into a long-term website management agreement
with the Tribune Company's Tribune Interactive division. Schurz's Kansas properties
were the first to launch new Tribune-run websites in late June 2010. This lasted
until 2013, when Schurz began a new multi-year hosting deal with Internet
Broadcasting.[2]

Brief KWCH History From Wikipedia 

Channel 12 debuted July 1, 1953 as KTVH. It is Kansas' oldest surviving station. The first station to sign on in Kansas was KCTY which operated a transmitter in Overland Park for less than a year in 1953 and 1954. That station went on the air in June 1953 just prior to KTVH's sign-on. Channel 12 broadcasted from studios in Hutchinson and carried programming from all four networks of the time (CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont). In 1954, it lost NBC when KAKE-TV signed on but continued to air some ABC programming until KARD-TV (now KSNW) signed on in 1955 and took over the NBC affiliation. The first NBC affiliate in Wichita was with KEDD-TV which operated as an independent station for a short time before shutting down after losing its network affiliation to KAKE.b^[5] Also in 1954, KTVH opened satellite studios on 37th Street North in Wichita.

In 1955, the station was bought by Cowles Communications of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1956, the station boosted its signal to cover all of the Wichita metropolitan area. It also moved its main studios to the KEDD facility, where it is today, though it still identifies itself as serving "Hutchinson / Wichita". The power boost brought CBS color programming to Wichita for the first time. KEDD did not have the capability to broadcast in color. In 1962, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that central and western Kansas were part of the Wichita market. As a result, Cowles bought KTVC in Dodge City (now KBSD-DT), KAYS-TV in Hays (now KBSH-DT), and KLOE-TV in Goodland (now KBSL-DT) and merged them into the Kansas Broadcasting System with KTVH as the flagship station.

In 1963, channel 12 activated its current tower north of Burrton just east of Hutchinson which is the tallest in the state. Combined with its three satellites, it boosted channel 12's signal to cover almost two-thirds of Kansas. In 1983, the Cowles family began selling off its vast media holdings. KTVH and its sister stations were sold to the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation owned by a pair of businessmen from Hays, Ross Beach and Bob Schmidt. They changed the call letters to the current KWCH-TV.

In 1989, the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation was purchased by Smith Broadcasting which included, as an owner, longtime Wichita television executive Sandy DiPasquale (now the CEO of Newport Television). Smith sold the station to Spartan Communications of Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1994. Spartan merged with Media General in 2000. Until late-1999, all shows produced by King World aired on KWCH. Since then, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have moved from channel 12 to KSNW. In 2005, KWCH received the "Large Market Television Station of the Year" award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. On April 6, 2006, Media General announced that it would sell KWCH and its satellites (which all count as one station) and four other stations as a result of its purchase of four former NBC owned-and-operated-stations. Schurz eventually emerged as the winner and took over on September 25, at which time Schurz formed a new company known as "Sunflower Broadcasting, Inc." which became the licensee for its Kansas broadcasting properties. However, KWCH still uses the same logo from the Media General era. In July 2007, KSCW became a sister station to KWCH after Schurz bought the station. On February 17, 2009,^[6], the station became digital exclusive and moved back to channel 12. On June 24, 2009, KWCH-TV and satellites KBSL-TV and KSBH-TV replaced "-TV" in their callsigns with "-DT". KBSD-TV did so on June 25, 2009.

In the spring of 2010, Schurz entered into a long-term website management agreement with the Tribune Company's Tribune Interactive division. Schurz's Kansas properties were the first to launch new Tribune-run websites in late June 2010.

News operation

Since 1985, KWCH has led the news ratings in the Wichita market.^[7] In the May 2007 ratings period, its newscasts attracted more viewers than KAKE and KSNW combined. KBSH in Hays provided daily news coverage from its Hall Street studios through much of the late 1980s and 1990s. The full daily newscast continued until the late-1990s when new ownership brought consolidation to the Kansas Broadcasting System. KBSH's evening newscasts were reduced to a short insert that aired during the main newscasts on KWCH in Wichita. In 2001, these news inserts came to an end. The two reporter / photographers stationed at KBSH began sending their stories to Wichita to be incorporated into the Eyewitness News programs seen simultaneously in Wichita, Hays, Goodland, Dodge City, and Ensign. Today, KBSH maintains a full time anchor / reporter at a news bureau in the same location in Hays that it has occupied since the beginning.

There is also a Salina Bureau that provides a short news and weather insert during the main broadcasts and online. It is identified as "KWCH 12 Eyewitness News Salina". KBSD in Dodge City produced a full local newscast for many years in addition to carry the newscasts from KWCH. More recently, this station has been downsized to contribution reports to the Wichita newscasts and web content supplied through KWCH's website. In October 2008, the station became the first in the market to broadcast their local news in high definition. In order to make the change, KWCH upgraded their studios. The KSAS and KSCW broadcasts were included in the switch. Its weather segments upgraded to high definition level in March 2009, also a first in the market.

KWCH produces a nightly 9 p.m. newscast for Fox affiliate KSAS-TV called Fox Kansas Eyewitness News at 9. On weekday mornings at 7, KWCH also produces a two-hour long newscast for KSCW called Eyewitness News This Morning on Kansas CW. KWCH continued production of the KSAS 9 p.m. newscast despite Schurz Communications' purchase of KSCW in 2008. In addition, KWCH also produces a weeknightly Spanish-language 10 p.m. newscast for Univision affiliate KDCU-DT; as a result, KWCH has the unusual distinction of being the only station in the United States to produce newscasts for more than one other station in the same market in addition to its own newscasts. On September 12, 2011, KWCH began producing half-hour newscasts weekdays at 4 and seven nights a week at 9 p.m. on KSCW; the 9 p.m. newscast that KWCH produces for KSAS will continue through the end of 2011, with KSAS and KSCW carrying simultaneous KWCH-produced primetime newscasts in the intervening months.^[8]During weather segments, the station uses live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from sites located in Goodland, Dodge City, Wichita, and central Wabaunsee County. This radar data is known on-air as "Live Storm Team 12 High Definition Super Doppler Radar" or as it is commonly referred to as "HD Super Doppler".

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• Eyewitness News (1969–1976)
• The News (1976–1980)
• News 12 (1980–1983)^[9]
• Eyewitness News (1983–1995)^[10]
• Channel 12 Eyewitness News (1995–2001)
• KWCH 12 Eyewitness News (2001–present)
• KWCH 12 Eyewitness News HD (2009–present)

Station slogans

• The Look of a Leader (Late 1980s-Early 1990s)
• Kansas' #1 News Source (1995–2001)
• Coverage You Can Count On/People You Can Count On (2001–2009)
• Expect More (2009–present)^[11]

====================================================

Current as of Dec 2011 from Wikipedia

KWCH-DT is the CBS-affiliated television station for Wichita, Kansas that is licensed to Hutchinson. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 (virtual channel 12) from a transmitter in Colwich. The station can be seen on Cox cable channel 12 and in high definition on digital channel 2012. Owned by Schurz Communications of South Bend, Indiana, KWCH is sister to The CW Television Network affiliate KSCW and Univision/TeleFutura affiliate KDCU-DT (the latter owned by Entravision Communications but operated by Schurz through a joint sales agreement).

KWCH-DT also serves as the flagship of the Kansas Broadcasting System, a statewide network of four full-power stations relaying CBS network programming across central and western Kansas. The two stations share studios on East 37th Street North in Wichita, which also houses the master controls for KDCU. Syndicated programming on KWCH includes: Inside Edition, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Dr. Phil.

Digital television

This station's digital signal is multiplexed:

KWCH-DT

KWCH-DT broadcasts on digital channel 19.

On its second digital subchannel, there is a 24-hour local weather channel known as "Always On Storm Team 12". The doppler weather radar and regional forecasts are displayed in the top right-hand corner, city and town forecasts across the state are on the bottom of the screen, and a second doppler radar constantly showing is in the top left-hand corner. When applicable, weather closings are displayed on the bottom of the screen below the city forecasts. The weather channel can also seen on Cox digital cable channel 675 and online through live streaming video.

Analog-to-digital conversion

On June 12, 2009, KWCH abandoned its previous pre-transition digital assignment of channel 19, and moved its digital signal to its former analog channel 12.^[1] However, digital television receivers would continue to display KWCH's virtual digital channel as 12.^[2] After the June 12, 2009 transition, KWCH was one of four VHF digital stations granted a power increase later that month after stations experienced signal problems as a result of changing their digital channel from UHF to VHF.^[3] Since reception problems continue, the FCC granted KWCH special permission to switch transmitting facilities with KSCW-DT. On September 29, 2009, KWCH-DT moved its digital signal back to channel 19 (their pre-transition UHF channel) and moved its sister station KSCW-DT to VHF channel 12.^[4]

Satellites

Kansas Broadcasting System

KWCH operates a network of three full-power stations covering Central and Western Kansas. The KBS network is the only commercial statewide relay network in the 70-county Wichita-Hutchinson Plus television market whose repeaters consist entirely of full-power satellite stations and one radio staion until 2009, KBSD-FM repeating KBSD-DT(repeaters of KSNW's Kansas State Network, KSAS-TV's Fox Kansas network and KAKE's KAKEland Television Network consist of both full-power satellite and low-power translator stations).

A special feed of KWCH-DT with local news, weather, and commercials is broadcast on Cox cable systems in Salina with the ability to locally insert news, weather, and commercials. All satellite stations shut down their analog signal on June 12, 2009, except for KBSH which shut down on February 17, 2009. In the 1970s, KWCH operated a translator in Arkansas City on channel 70.

Station	Locations served	Channels (Analog / Digital)	First air date	Fourth letter meaning	Former callsigns		Former affiliations	ERP (Digital)	HAAT (Digital)	Facility ID	Transmitter Coordinates
KBSD-DT	Ensign/Dodge City/Garden City	6 (VHF)	July 24, 1957	Dodge City	KTVC (1957-1989)	KBSD-TV (1989-2009)	none	31 kW	219 m	66414	37°38′28.3″N 100°20′40.8″W / 37.641194°N 100.344667°W / 37.641194; -100.344667
KBSH-DT	Hays/Great Bend/Salina	7 (VHF)	September 2, 1958	Hays	KAYS-TV (1958-1989)	KBSH-TV (1989-2009)	ABC (secondary)	38.8 kW	216 m	66415	38°53′0.9″N 99°20′15.7″W / 38.883583°N 99.337694°W / 38.883583; -99.337694
KBSL-DT	Goodland	10 (VHF)	April 26, 1959	GoodLand	KLOE-TV (1959-1989)	KBSL-TV (1989-2009)	none	89.6 kW	299 m	66416	39°28′9.7″N 101°33′20.8″W / 39.469361°N 101.555778°W / 39.469361; -101.555778

 

Cohu is a leading supplier of test handling, burn-in and thermal solutions used by the global semiconductor industry, microwave communications and closed-circuit television equipment.

 Cohu, Inc. is the result of an evolution from a tiny laboratory partnership created in 1945. This partnership was incorporated as Kalbfell Laboratories, Inc., in 1947. In September 1954 the corporate name was changed to Kay Lab.

In June of 1956 the company issued 400,000 additional shares in its first public financing. In 1957 Kay Lab was liquidated and all of the assets and liabilities of Kay Lab were acquired by Cohu Electronics, Inc., a Delaware corporation. In 1972, the name Cohu Electronics, Inc. was changed to Cohu, Inc.

Company Business

Cohu's business can be separated into three categories: Semiconductor Equipment, Microwave Communications and Television Cameras.

 

The sections that interest us for broadcasting are :

BMS

Broadcast Microwave Services (BMS) manufactures microwave communication equipment and support items.

Cohu Electronics

The leading designer and manufacturer of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and systems for more than 40 years.

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