[QuadList] History - what is the REAL story

[Don Norwood]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <DCFWTX at aol.com>

> The following are my observations:
>
> In the beginning of 2" quad, all color first generation recording was
> direct color. This includes RCA modulators, Ampex modulators, and Allen 
> mods.
>
> Any color dub that was made machine to machine, or for on-air playback for
> example used heterodyne recovery. The color TV at home did not mind the
> heterodyne system. This I would say was "normal" till approx. 1965 on most 
> VTR's
> reproducing color. There had to be an FCC waiver for this process to be
> aired this way.
>
> It was not until the Amtec and Colortec combo did direct recovery become
> possible. But those units were not in wide spread use until the VR 2000 
> was
> introduced. VR 1000's and 1001's for example, could add on these
> Amtec/Colortec accessories for direct color recovery. Many operations 
> could not afford to
> convert every VTR to direct color. I've seen color dubs way into the late
> sixties that were heterodyne color. RCA had their accessory modules on 
> their
> machines also to do direct color recovery (color ATC). I would guess that
> the TR 70 was the first to have this as a standard item if ordered that 
> way.
> The TR 22 had these as options I think. Later, Ampex Velcomp and RCA CAVEC
> helped direct color further with velocity correction.

I agree with all of David's comments.  I can add a couple of details.  CATC 
was in fact an option on the TR-22, even in the last version, the TR-22D. 
In fact, in the original TR-22, there wasn't even an MATC although that was 
offered almost immediately as was CATC.  The TR-22 was the first all 
solid-state machine, and RCA beat Ampex to the punch by introducing it in 
'62.

Prior to that time, Ampex had introduced Amtec in March of '61 and Colortec 
followed shortly thereafter, so it was possible by '62 to have direct color 
recovery, but remember, it was still low-band.  As David correctly observed, 
it wasn't until hi-band was introduced with the VR-2000 in the spring of '64 
that the direct color recovery system really became the "standard".

Don