We've been a big fan of Openbeam for a long time, and when Terence Tam started producing 3D printers using this material, we were hopeful that this would be a great fit for his operation. Nice material, great engineering - what could go wrong? LOTS. Follow his spiral down the Asian rabbit-hole when his selected […]
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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Closed for the holiday...
Monday February 17 is Family Day in Alberta (where we are), and President's day in the USA. So we're going to be out playing in the snow today. See you tomorrow!
New GM10 wheels and combo deal!
Today we are happy to finally bring colours to our GM10 Pager Gear motor wheels! Now available in Black, Red, Blue, Yellow and Light Grey. What's a motor and a wheel without a motor/wheel deal where you can get a GM10 pager gear motor with a wheel at a special price?
Sale and New Items!
Would you like to see what we have on sale? Or what is the newest addition to our BEAM stores? Check it out in our New Item and Sale Item pages!There are a few new links that will point you to these pages too, you'll see them on the Products sidebar and at the top […]
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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.