Although he has purchased from us, and used our products (the "Secret Motor Driver") in his prize-winning minisumo "Stinger", we, as Solarbotics officially declare Mr. Hylands only "marginal" friend. You see, Solarbotics sent a few of our robots to the University of Northern Idaho's mail-in minisumo contest, and again he's served our own tuckus back […]
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
Everything's Under Control. Situation No...
You might be wondering what the heck happened with our site this morning. Our response would be, as the one and only Han Solo once said, "Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?" This morning we […]
Postal Services Resume
It looks like Canada Post employees are going back to work. This means that everyone who is waiting for their order should see it sooner than later, and our free-shipping is back in effect. We'll start sending out all the back orders right away (they should all hopefully go out within the next couple days), […]
Our Tech doesn't stink.
We have proof. Jeremie uses up these deodorant sticks, and does stuff with them:
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.