[QuadList] AMPEX Mark Ten 5 mil head

[Chuck Reti]

On Nov 30, 2009, at Nov 30 6:13 AM, Guy Spiller wrote:

> I have some personal 7 1/2 ips low band monochrome recordings that  
> I would like to play someday, and so far, have been unable to find  
> an RCA 5 mil head.
> Back in the day, I saw very few 7 1/2 ips recordings that were not  
> low band...but of course, most of my quad experience back then was  
> in educational television.  When we went color in '69, we went to  
> 15 ips...and sadly, more than a few 15 ips recordings were made  
> with leftover 5 mil heads.  Talk about squirrelly tracking...
> Has anyone else had much conact with 7 1/2 material?  I know that I  
> have not yet gotten an outside 7 1/2 tape in to transfer or even an  
> inquiry about it.

I also have a few 7 1/2 ips LBM tapes, recorded with 5 mil heads on  
RCA TRT-1's or TR-5 (also a few more LBM records at 15ips w 10mil  
head). I had a producer who wanted to use one of my tapes for a  
project a couple of years ago. A facility he to used for this managed  
to extract a barely "good enough" dub. They could play at 7.5, though  
they had no 5 mil head (the copy of course had moire and interference  
from adjacent tracks), and didn't understand low band mono vs low  
band color. They ended up taking video from demod and hose it through  
a proc and frame sync, having to ride guide position and set delays.  
I don't recall what equipment they were using to play the tape.

The facility I started at, Wayne State University in Detroit, was a  
monochrome, mostly RCA VTR shop in the 60's-early 70's. Two TRT-1's w  
pixlock, a TR-11, a TR-4, and a TR-5 ("portable" for remotes). Later  
we had a couple of Ampex 660's and a 7500 and 7800. In mid-70's when  
they went color a show floor demo TR-70 was added.
Series and shows for on-campus and ITFS microwave distribution were  
often mastered or dubbed to 7.5ips for daily playbacks. Cheaper to  
buy half as much tape per show.
The Good Stuff that went to broadcast was always 15 ips.

Chuck Reti
Detroit MI