[QuadList] RCA TRT Quad Headwheel panel on ebay

WVGO WVGOfm at aol.com
Sat Dec 20 22:34:16 CST 2008


A little more trivia on these ball bearing headwheels....they did not 
rotate near as smoothly as the air bearing ones, and therefore had 
significantly more work for the time base corrector to do. (ATC, in RCA 
lingo)
The only times I worked with any ball bearing headwheels was when 
everything at the station where I was, was monochrome.  I can only 
imagine the velocity errors in color.....
One machine where the ball bearing head was particularly useful was the 
TR-5...aka the "teacart".  This was RCA's "portable" quad....full low 
band record functions, but with only demod playback for confirmation.  
The ball bearing head eliminated the need for hauling around a noisy 
external compressor for the headwheel panel.  I did a lot of remotes 
with these things, but I hauled around a compressor!
Guy


Don Norwood wrote:
> Yes, it was for 7.5 ips.  It was used on all models up thru the 
> TR-22.  I believe that most machines did use the air bearing version 
> though.  I know that many of the TRT-1's were converted for air 
> bearing heads.  A machine equipped for air bearing heads could also 
> use the older ball bearing heads.  That was true for both RCA and Ampex.
>  
> Don
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Ted Langdell <mailto:ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
>     *To:* Quad List <mailto:quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>
>     *Sent:* Saturday, December 20, 2008 10:14 PM
>     *Subject:* Re: [QuadList] RCA TRT Quad Headwheel panel on ebay
>
>     On Dec 20, 2008, at 5:57 PM, Don Norwood wrote:
>
>>     Hi Ted:
>>      
>>     According to my RCA catalog, this part number is a 5-mil
>>     headwheel with ball bearings. 
>
>     So this would likely have been used to record tapes at 7.5 ips?  
>
>     What machines did it fit?
>
>
>>     A bit of headwheel trivia.......These lowband headwheels were
>>     offered with either ball bearings or air bearings.  I believe
>>     that RCA was the first to offer air bearings, while Ampex was the
>>     first to offer rotary transformers.  RCA apparently continued to
>>     offer the lowband heads after they developed their highband
>>     head.   However, after Ampex introduced the Mark Ten for
>>     highband, they no longer made their lowband panels, but versions
>>     of the Mark Ten were available for low band.  As far as I know,
>>     there were never any of the Ampex lowband Mark Three panels that
>>     had air bearings, but the Mark Ten was available either way to
>>     accomodate machines without the air package.
>>      
>>     Don
>
>
>>         ----- Original Message -----
>>         *From:* Ted Langdell <mailto:ted at tedlangdell.com>
>>         *To:* Quad List <mailto:quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>
>>         *Sent:* Friday, December 19, 2008 10:14 PM
>>         *Subject:* [QuadList] RCA TRT Quad Headwheel panel on ebay
>>
>>         This has apparently been on ebay for a while.  
>>
>>         RCA part MI-40791-AZ, serial 3203.
>>
>>         http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Quadruplex-VTR-Headwheel-RCA-TRT-Quad_W0QQitemZ230252354142QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_recorders_Players?hash=item230252354142&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%253A4%257C65%253A1%257C39%253A1%257C240%253A1318#ebayphotohosting
>>         <http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Quadruplex-VTR-Headwheel-RCA-TRT-Quad_W0QQitemZ230252354142QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_recorders_Players?hash=item230252354142&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%253A4%257C65%253A1%257C39%253A1%257C240%253A1318#ebayphotohosting>
>>
>>         Hope everyone is warm and dry... and doesn't suffer a power
>>         outage or air loss while the headwheel is spinning. 
>>
>>         Ted
>>
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