Ampex 2 inch Quad

An Ampex 2 inch Quadruplex video machine at NAB. I used to work on these. Amazing how things have changed.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• TV
• Broadcasting
• Engineering
• Video
• Tape

[Ampex196]

Halcyon days of head current optimisation and tip projection (there must be a joke in there somewhere)!

It's certainly not a VR1000; almost certainly a VR2000B circa 1965-67. I don't think there's any way it is going to 'lock up', short of an expert tweak - lol. C'est la Vie. We're spoiled with Digibeta these days!!

[whizzzard]

While I was there I suggested to the Engineer that he check that the blanking was connected. It was not and as soon as he did, the picture came right. Remember synch in those days were several cables: Vertical, Horizontal, Subcarrier, Burst Gate and Blanking. I PAL land there was PAL ID as well. BBis so easy.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Before quadruplex recording came to be, TV networks used kinescope, or 'kine' recording, which was expensive and time consuming. And the image quality of 'kine' is nowhere near what was achieved by quads. Also kines had to be developed, and rushed back to the studios for on-time broadcast. They were used here in the US by all three networks to time-delay programs on the West Coast.

[whizzzard]

I think that Kines were wet gate telecine units. We used 16mm film extensively with reversal film untill High Band U matic.

[patmix]

could you tell me what year of fabrication of this marvelous video player ?

[whizzzard]

I would say 1970

[Philm35]

It looks like a VR1200 to me.

[SuperMikecarp]

@kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE That's correct.It was the first video recorder used in Western Australia, purchased by TVW Channel 7 in 1962 for use on the Empire Games which were held in Perth that year. The museum is at Wireless Hill Melville, a suburb of Perth. Unfortunately it is not in working condition. It was used by TVW until colour came along in1975.

[PlaneAndTVtechfan]

I'd love to see some AVR-1 VTR's up here, and more vintage TV cameras up here!

[4sknns]

The problem may have been edge curl of the tape itself. The control track was located on the "bottom edge" of the tape and the audio tracks were on the top edge. Improper alignment of tape paths could damage the tape making the control track difficult to read. Another possibility would be a dirty CT head located to the right of the video scanner. All this info is under the "if memory serves" category. The machine is an Ampex VR-2000.

[DangerousBastard]

Wasnt this the precursor to the first 2" 16 track (audio) tape machine, the MM1000? Pretty cool!

[Richardddoobies]

Tracking...

[makkertje]

Stolen? How? That machine weighs tons! Somebody would have noticed.

[MGB1977Red]

Remember to equalize the 4 heads and set the tip penetration. If the heads clogged, you just lightly held a fingernail against the spinning head. You could easily break a foot if you dropped a big 2 inch reel. Each reel cost hundreds of dollars and was used until people started complaining about the drop-outs. Editing on one was enormously complicated even with a working editeck. You could also make physical splices...you had to make the cut at the helical angle and on the frame line.

[TelecineNet]

This machine was in a booth Ampex Corp had at NAB 2006 marking the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the company's transverse scan video recording method at NAB 1956.

A number of engineers were trying to identify and resolve the problem. My friend Tim Stoffel of Quadruplex Park also pitched in to see whether he could help get it to lock up.

He thought it might be an Intersync issue or servo problem. It never was resolved.

The machine was stolen some time after the show closed.

[kimberlyKfnOphiEAGLE]

Who was exhibiting this particular VTR at the NAB convention? Did you also see any old camera equipment, like the RCA TK-41?