Jenkins Mechanical Scanning Tabletop RadiovisorTelevision Receiver RK-1 Kit, circa 1931
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Artifact Overview
Television innovator Charles Frances Jenkins developed mechanical television projectors and receivers like this one as early as the 1920s. Mechanical television works by scanning images with a spinning disk and sending the data via radio waves; the spinning disks of the projectors and receivers must be synchronized. This kit receiver was marketed to radio amateurs. At its height, Jenkins's station in Washington, D.C., broadcasted to several hundred "radiovisor" owners.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Television receiver
Date Made
circa 1931
Creators
Creator Notes
This mechanical television receiver was designed by Charles Francis Jenkins with parts manufactured by the Acme Apparatus Corporation.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
39.566.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Oak (Wood)
Composite material
Aluminum (Metal)
Brass (Alloy)
Copper (Metal)
Dimensions
Width: 11.5 in
Depth: 11.625 in
Height: 16 in
Inscriptions
Bottom on condenser housing: AEROVOX / TYPE 402 / FILTER / CONDENSER / MADE IN U.S.A. BY / AEROVOX WIRELESS CORP. / BROOKLYN, N.Y. U.S.A.
Yellow stamps on coils: ACME APPARAT[US] / CORPORAT[ION]
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