RCA's first experimental television transmissions began in 1928 by station W2XBS New York in Van Cortlandt Park and then moved to the New Amsterdam Theater Building, transmitting 60 line pictures in the new 2-3 mHz band allocated to television. A 13" Felix the Cat figure made of paper mache was placed on a record player turntable and was broadcast using a mechanical scanning disk to a scanning disk receiver. The image received was only 2 inches tall, and the broadcasts lasted about 2 hours per day. By 1931 the station became part of NBC and began to transmit from 42nd St. These early broadcasts consisted of objects like Felix the Cat or early test patterns and photographs . The RCA receiver in our collection was used in these experiments. Here is a 1930 program schedule .

In 1934 the number of lines was increased to 343, and an interlaced pattern having a field frequency of 60 cycles and a repetition rate of 30 frames per second was adopted. To accommodate the new tests, the W2XF video transmitter was rebuilt as a 10 Kw transmitter, having an output of about 7.5 Kw, designed to transmit on 49.75 Mic, and the W2XK sound transmitter was rebuilt to operate on 52 Mc. W2XF was now able to provide an all-electronic video signal from an Iconoscope source having 343 lines and 30 interlaced frames per second. The Iconoscope cameras were located in the RCA studios at Radio City and linked to the Empire State Building transmitter by both an underground coaxial cable and a radio link.

A scanning pattern of 240 lines made it possible to obtain a picture with good definition, but as the frame frequency was 24 cycles, without interlacing , flicker was quite noticeable.

After many years of research and development an all-electronic television system emerged from the laboratory in 1933 for actual field tests. These tests were carried out at Camden, New Jersey. Iconoscope television cameras were used to pick up scenes both in the studio and out-of-doors. The use of the iconoscope permitted transmission of greater detail, outdoor pick-up, and wider areas of coverage in the studio. Experience indicated that it provided a new degree of flexibility in pick-up performance, thereby removing one of the most difficult technical obstacles to television.

The Empire State Building was completed in May of 1931, and RCA leased the 85th floor for a studio and transmitter location for experimental television broadcasts. RCA, through its broadcasting division NBC, applied to the Federal Radio Commission on July 1, 1931 for construction permits for the sight and sound channels of a television station, which were issued on July 24, 1931. The call sign W2XF was issued in December 1931 for the "sight" channel of that station on an assigned frequency of 44Mc (double sideband). The RCA transmitter had an input power to the final stage of about 5Kw, giving an estimated power output to the antenna of about 2Kw. The sound channel of the TV station was separately licensed as W2XK for a 2.5Kw transmitter to operate on 61Mc. Both transmitters were located on the 85th floor and used separate vertical dipole antennas extending from the top of the building. A mechanical camera produced a 120 line 24 frame per second picture, but electronic receivers receivers were used. Starting in the winter of 1931, and running until mid 1932, an experimental television system had been used in New York using a studio scanning apparatus. .