This week's project is coming to you fresh from Alex, an engineer in our R&D department, with some help from Yana, our graphic designer. They've developed an enclosure based on the SAFE that accommodates sensor mounts on each side in addition to an Arduino-style board within. And after putting on some short range and long […]
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:
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Well, that was a busy December...
Hi all. The staff at Solarbotics/HVW Technologies has been worked hard these last six weeks leading up to the winter holiday, so we'll be open again December 27/28, and again for regular hours January 2nd. Hope the holidays are good to you too! Regards, Dave Hrynkiw President, HVW Technologies/Solarbotics Ltd.
Solarbotics Antweight
Adam Conus sent us a nice little message about his antweight combat robot The Fly.: Western Allied Robotics is kicking off another year of antweight combat events and I need new motors. (Because I'm very, very hard on them!) Still, they're cheap and light. Check out- http://home.comcast.net/~conusa/adam.htm to see the robot complete with solarbotics sticker!
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Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.