Yup, I've got a ticket in my hands to be at the Robotics Society of America's Summer Robot Games and Expo. Why? Well, Solarbotics wants to see what other roboticists are up to "out there", so our first stop will be San Francisco July 27th. So if you're in the Fisherman's Wharf area that weekend, […]
Vintage AMPEX VR1200B 2" Quadruplex VTR ...
Solar botics
January 8, 2016
I occupy a studio space in a building that is a former movie shooting facility turned into an artist hovel. The building itself is wonderfully old but the hallways are also full of ancient audio and video equipment from the movie days. One of the things that got the attention of our RnD and tech geek was the AMPEX VR1200B Quadruplex videotape recorder from 1966. The machine stands about 5' tall, about the same in width, and weighs 'under 1000 pounds' as the spec sheet puts it. This was one of the first machines to use magnetic tape technology for recording video in the form of 2" quad tape for video, as opposed to film that was used previously.
A couple interesting points about this machine:
- 60PSI Air was needed for air bearings and a Venturi system for holding the 2" tape in alignment;
- These machines were the workhorses in TV Stations throughout the 60's and 70's. Running these machines required a full time technician!
Here's the beast in action:
A photoset of AMPEX VR1200B
An Overview of Ampex History:
MORE POSTS
New Gearmotor - the GM17
Hellooooo! I love getting new gearmotors to test. I get to break them apart, poke them, submit them to torture test - it's all great fun. My latest victim of inspection is our new GM17 HE Offset gearmotor. It uses a very power efficient 300-form factor motor to drive the 228:1 gearbox. It isn't a […]
Creality Parts are IN, and Filament stat...
As great Creality Printers generally are, it's still a hassle to get parts and pieces to fix or enhance your printer. This explains why we were quite thrilled to see some BIG boxes come in from Creality the other day, containing: Replacement Ender-3 24V Hot Ends CR Series Inductive Leveling Kits BL-Touch Kits Ender-3 1.1.5 […]
Junkbots book nearing!
We just received word that the book that we had heavy involvement with is nearing distribution! Keep an eye out for "Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels: Building Simple Robots with BEAM Technology" (ISBN: 0072226013). It's officially supposed to be out October 8th, but word is that it's presently in the warehouse! (YES, of course […]
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!
Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.