Alrighty, the week has already slid by and it's time for another update. We have one new product to show off - Practical Arduino by Jonathan Oxer and Hugh Blemings. It contains 13 projects packed into 16 chapters/420+ pages, covering a wide array of an Arduino's potential. It's a pretty comprehensive read. Perhaps the biggest […]
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 Product: Arduino WiFi Shield and Dis...
The lonely product in the long-time-ago previous product post has filed a complaint to the INPDL (International New Product Defendant League) against having to represent the Friday Product Post by itself for an entire month. We therefore had to comply by bringing in some new stock to switch out. So here's an Arduino WiFi Shield […]
Canada Day - Closed July 1st & 2nd
This just in - our country is awesome. Now, we all know what you're thinking. "Yeah? Well my country is awesome too, and yours didn't even make it to the World Cup!" We certainly can't argue that your country is awesome as well. As for the World Cup... You wanna know what we think of […]
Wednesday Cool Links, Announcements and ...
We were at the San Mateo MakerFaire, and were representing for BPS breadboards. They've announced their winners, and the first place went to Elizabeth from Houston, Texas (age 11) (and we like unicorns too): Now that we have established our stance towards robotic (roboCorns) and regular unicorns (unicornus vulgaris), here's some links. They are just […]
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.