Quadruplex Machine

[masterawesomeish]

'Here's some finesse.....(Spit SLAP)'

[restinpeace63]

Legal esse aparelho

[studio3audio]

The station I worked at in the 80's had 2 of these machines for on air. I got very adept at reel changing and was able to load and cue a tape in under 30 seconds. The 10 sec pre-roll was a killer at times though. There's nothing like clearing a head clog with the tip of a fingernail while the tape was live to air. Ahhh, good times!

[nakamichiguy]

That's so cool! I interned at a small PBS station in the late-80s that used a couple of old Ampex quad decks to air those short sponsor spots before programming ('Sesame Street is brought to you locally by Juan's Auto Repair'...that sort of thing). The spots were built on 3/4 and copied to quad, and we'd do the copying in bundles. I was assigned to the quad decks a few times and got very fast at loading tapes! It was a lot of fun, some of that old-school TV magic that's gone now.

[Superedit]

Stability dots - yes!! Boy does this bring back memories. You couldn't kill these beasts.

[747400fan]

Why aren't there any Ampex AVR-1's on here? VR-2000's, VR-1200's, and this AVR-2, and now an RCA "Quad" TR-70C  all shown..no AVR-1's yet.

[srfurley]

@747400fan There weren't many of them made, so not many to survive and they were very large and heavy, so possibly less likely to come into the hands of collectors. I saw one at the BBC 50th anniversary 'technical' exhibition at Mullard House in London, in 1972; the only place I ever saw one.

Anyone got any video of an IVC 9000?

[MGB1977Red]

Threading is just the beginning. Then you have to adjust the heads...there are 4 of them and set the tip penetration. Both steps use the wave-form. Then you have to set the chroma and hue using the vectorscope. The quads used a tube rack to make them run which got pretty warm...I used to heat up lunch on the top panel of the tubes.

[analyzingfunny]

Thanks for showing us this. We need more though. It is very interesting.

[ealingcalling]

it's an avr2 :-) used many at the bbc in london.. though the vr2000 still gives me a warm fuzzy feeling

[farkingbarlocks]

I cut my teeth maintaining the various types of Betacam and DVCAM machines. Later, I also encountered one inch and even panasonic D3, but I've never set eyes on a two inch machine. Thanks, this is amazing.

[InflatablePlane]

Cool! How old is this machine? :O

[imagenorth]

I think the AVR-2 is from the late 1970's. It's funny that I always think of it as a "new" machine because it was one of the last quad machines made...

[heathirving]

@imagenorth

is that you david?,used to love watching acme school of stuff,great!

should be more shows like that.

[veditanimal]

Holy cow. I learned to edit on the AVR. I remember laying down "cue tones" where the insert edit goes in and out. Man, I'm old.

[phoxetis]

amazing. thanks.

[cbehr91]

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

I wonder why there are no films or videos of RCA VTR's here, save for that brief glimpse on the WBZ film?

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

It's nice to see that people actually collect these old 'quad' machines, not all of them have gone to the junkyard. Consider that Quad was the STANDARD for thirty-odd years.

It's also cool that some people have collected and restored old broadcast-quality TV cameras....especially RCA's TK-41's and TK-44A's. I believe some people also have Marconi cameras in their collections.

[guimbadriver]

i love to hear the noise of this machine, my RCA TR 70C is the big example of this...

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

I wish someone would put up a video with RCA's TR-70B VTR in action, the setup and putting the machine through its paces. There's a 'WBZ' video with a brief glimpse of a TR-70B being set up for a news broadcast.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

I imagine VTR rooms with a lot of those quad machines made for one h*ll of a noisy racket.

[rosietransy]

I have worked on them all Ampex Vr1000,1200,1100,and 2000. Also AVR 1,2 and 3. Yes I am a "young timmer" in the business. Now while watching that Youtube video I nearly had an heart attack when I saw the operator did not cut the beginning of the tape and to make matters worst he spit at it. We had more operators that the chief and I wanted to make some of them dissappear (mofia style)because they did not cut the ends which led to when rewinding would pop the head wiring or the head tips it self.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Why did some VTR areas have more than two or three 'quad' machines? And was the BBC's 'basement' bigger than the VTR areas of NBC, ABC, and CBS here in the States?

I went to WPVI(the Philadelphia, PA ABC network affiliate)and looked into their TV Operations room. They had several VPR-2's and only ONE VR-2000. Why?

[thomasking55]

Old tapes where the binding glue is failing can be gently baked in a low oven, I heard?

[imagenorth]

It's a long bake at a fairly low temperature,if I remember it. The whole procedure is on the web. Google for "binder".That's what the glue is called.

I have an abrasive cleaning tape that will also fix the problem. You can hold it against the tape and fast-wind it a couple of times to clean the binder off,then dub it quickly...

[guimbadriver]

my RCA TR70C i restored the video head drive control and in good conditions produces rich and crisps pictures i use to copy some dvds and laserdiscs,

[imagenorth]

Of all the Quad machines I worked with, I think that the TR-70's reproduced the best picture. You've got a good one there.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Did you work with the TR-70B? I've never worked with these machines, just find the old broadcast equipment fascinating.

Also, did you work with other Ampex VTR's like the AVR-1 or VR-2000?

[imagenorth]

I worked with mostly Ampex 1200-2000 machines. With the TR-70 place, I was just the producer, and not allowed to actually touch the machines, but they made the best pictures that I ever saw. Dunno if they were 70B or a or c...

[iabhornc]

Just out of curiosity, I wonder why they were called quad machines, and why did they out-do with them?

[imagenorth]

They were called quad because of their four spinning heads on the head drum. The heads made tracks at almost right angles to the tape travel. each head only recorded a small piece of a frame.

The replacement for quad was the one-inch machine... lighter, smaller cheaper and more features.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

I believe it's also been called 'transverse' recording.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Have you ever seen the Ampex AVR-1 or worked with it? It's supposed to be one of the best 'quad' machines ever built.

[imagenorth]

I had a tour of a post-production house that had three of them. All quads had a spectacular picture when adjusted properly, The AVR-1 had all sorts od auto-adjust stuff that ensured good playback. They were the only ones to record a "pilot tone" in the RF signal to tape that the machine could use to balance the fout heads exactly. They were short-lived, being at the end of the quad era.

[iabhornc]

Darn! Those machines really are/were noisy (as all the articles I have read of them say).

[CassetteMaster]

WOW! That is a neat awesome machine and works great! Neat to see how the video tape is threaded.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Just the fact that those Ampex machines have survived as long as they have is a tribute to the people who created the original concept for 'quad'(Ray Dolby, Shelby Henderson, Charlie Ginsburg, Alex Maxey, Fred Pfost, and Charles Anderson, as well as those at TV facilities who operated and maintained them. 30-odd years of TV shows and specials, recorded via 2-inch tape and these huge, somewhat noisy machines:)

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

I wonder if the 1-inch helical scan machines are also going the way of 'quad' because of high-definition being the 'gold standard' now. It seems like collectors are getting the 1-inch machines, I've seen a couple here on YouTube..one guy has VPR-3 videos up here.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

I think one of the biggest VTR's built was RCA's TRT-1B, which, if you count the optional color processing equipment, had six racks of equipment. Also, I notice Ampex' VR-1000 had outboard equipment racks.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

How are quadruplex tapes restored? I'm curious, because I know stuff like Elvis Presley's 1968 'Comeback' special has been released on VHS and maybe on DVD..how could they keep a 2-inch quad tape from back in 1968 in good enough condition, or restore it to decent quality, for release/sale to the public on VHS or DVD?

[imagenorth]

Well, if I had to play one today, getting my little VR-3000 going would be the biggest problem. The tapes can survive this long. The only thing that affected the tape's longevity was failure of the binder (glue) that holds the particles on the plastic ribbon. That was from improper storage, or sometimes, just bad binder. A tape that is "shedding" can be saved in several ways, one is simple cleaning with a knife-edge, or special abrasive tape.

[imagenorth]

also, the tapes were probably dubbed forward every time that there was a format change. from 2" to 1" then to Betacam, etc.

[QuadVideoTapeGroup]

Restoration can be simple or complex. Google "Quad tape restoration."

Sometimes just the fact that the tape IS stored somewhere ensures its availability.

The Goodson-Todman game show library was transferred from tapes stored in all kinds of conditions. Some had been stored outside on pallets under a tarp or plastic sheeting.

The most troublesome playback issue seems to be "sticky-shed" where the tape binder oozes out during play, gumming up the tape path. A poor tape formula is responsible.

[QuadVideoTapeGroup]

Restoration can be simple or complex. Google "Quad tape restoration."

Sometimes just the fact that the tape IS stored somewhere ensures its availability.

The Goodson-Todman game show library was transferred from tapes stored in all kinds of conditions. Some had been stored outside on pallets under a tarp or plastic sheeting.

The most troublesome playback issue seems to be "sticky-shed" where the tape binder oozes out during play, gumming up the tape path. A poor tape formula is responsible.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

What's happened to a lot of these machines now that 'quad' has been shown the door in many places? Why aren't there any of these vintage machines on display in places like Philadelphia's Franklin Institute or other science museums? They'd make a great part of a vintage TV studio exhibit..but I guess people want to see all the 'cool' modern gear.

[imagenorth]

They were just too big to collect, I think. They also needed an infrastructure of lots of power, and a source of compressed air for the head-drum's air bearing. Google for the VR-3000 that used a ball-bearing head. There are lots of these in collections. I have one.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

There's a couple of collectors that I know of, Tim Stoffel's 'Quadruplex Park' has several of those quad machines, including an AVR-1. Those quad machines were pretty incredible for their time. Consider all the programs they were used to tape since their inception in 1956. Sadly, most of the early taped shows were erased, except for shows like 'An Evening With Fred Astaire', an early NBC color taped show which was restored, and 'The Edsel Show' which was gotten from CBS by Kris Trexler..

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Hi, is that an AVR-2? Cool! I wish I could be a VTR operator.

[Seblington]

What a great machine! wish I had space for a quadruplex. sadly, the heads wear out too quickly for me, I had to turn down an RCA machine.

[toresbe]

Fascinating!