Early Electronic Television RCA RR-359 Field Trial Set (click on picture for high resolution image)
1936 RR-359 Field Test Set, with front cover removed
A photo of the set in operation. Only two of these sets with 9 inch picture tubes survive. They were used by RCA in the New York City area to test electronic television.
NBC Press Photo
In August of 2026 Al Hagovsky, Dan Jones, Peter Alley and Bob Andersen made some improvements to the RR-359. The field test RCA RR-359 set is looking better now. The “detail” pot needed replacing and they swapped some tubes in both the horizontal and vertical circuits and also replaced some resistors in those circuits to try and increase both the height and width. They found a local custom glass place and got new round glass cut for the CRT mask. The original was delaminating very badly and you could not see through it very well. When they explained to the glass place what the glass was for, they did it for us on the house!! Capital City Glass and Screen Company. Museum should utilize this resource in the future if we need custom glass cut for anything.
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