Date:Thu, 6 Jul 2006 09:03:41 -0400
Reply-To:Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:Robert Hodge <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:Fwd: Re: [ARSCLIST] VHS and Beta (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Longevity)
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>>> Robert Hodge 7/5/2006 4:58 PM >>>
The Ampex used 1 inch tape and was a B/W helical format. Strictly
consumer or educational - Non Broadcast. The transport was, shall I say
, basic. - It used several belts instead of dedicated motors which
would have driven up the price. Ampex and Scotch made tape for this
format. The Ampex tape that I saw in the early 1970's always had SSS.
The Scotch fared better.
Ampex donated one of these systems to my high school. The principal
wouldn't let anyone touch it bescause it might have got broken . It
probably is still sitting there , the belts and all other rubber parts
thorougly rotten. ( They turned to extremely gooey putty which sticks to
everything it contacts..) S.U.had a couple of these machines owned by
departments for their use. Both a semi portable (heavy) and a console
version that had a built in video and audio monitor.
The Roberts/Akai was strictly video-audio. I don't remember the format
or tape speed. Definately used 1/4 inch tape on a 5 inch reel, so it
must have been a helical format. Saw one of these machines with it's
camera in a used electronics store on Canal St. NYC. in the mid 1970's.
It was battery as well as AC operable.
But what predates these machines was one built by a firm in England
which used fixed heads - YES - and ran the tape at a VERY fast speed. I
recall a 1200 foot reel of 1/4 inch audio tape lasting around 2 minutes.
B/W of course.
It appeared in a Polular Electronics Magazine in the early 60's. Aimed
at the consumer market- I don't think it hit the mark. At least not
here.
Talk about orphan technology.
Bob Hodge
Robert Hodge,
Senior Engineer
Belfer Audio Archive
Syracuse University
222 Waverly Ave .
Syracuse N.Y. 13244-2010
315-443- 7971
FAX-315-443-4866
>>> "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> 7/5/2006 4:11 PM >>>
I recall that Roberts/Akai (?) once had an open reel 1/4" B/W video
tape
recorder that ran at 11 something ips, or at conventional speeds for
audio
recording
joe salerno
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger and Allison Kulp" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] VHS and Beta (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Longevity)
> Didn't Ampex,at one time market an open reel/ R2R video
recorder/player?
> Sometime in the 60s,perhaps ?
> Roger Kulp
> phillip holmes <[log in to unmask]> wrote: We had one of those
too.
> A complete quad extravaganza. JBL L100, huge
> Marantz receiver, Garrard turntable. It sounded amazing. I see a
> surprising number of those "quad" R2R decks. I've seen more of those
than
> the tapes for some reason. I work on R2Rs for people and those old
quad
> decks are popular.
> Phillip
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Fine"
> To:
> Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 11:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] VHS and Beta (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Longevity)
>
>
>> the reels were cooler. I borrowed a pile of them, transferred them
to
>> digital and burned to DVD-A discs. Some of the quad mixes were
pretty
>> hokey but some were excellent, and the reels were later-era, so they
used
>> decent tape, had less hiss and no edge warpage. Apparently they
were
>> premium-priced, so no 3.75IPS junk either. If the quad disk formats
>> hadn't
>> been such kludges, the format might have worked, but I think even if
the
>> mass-market version (grooved disks) worked well and sounded great,
there
>> just aren't that many people willing to double the size, cost and
>> complexity of their sound system. The same wall hit by SACD.
>>
>>
>
>
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