[QuadList] VTR introduction anniversaries: 1965

Wed Feb 9 20:20:46 CST 2011

Bill and the group,

In Burbank, NBC acquired six VR 2000's "because Hollywood production demanded it". In other words, NBC was competing from a production facility standpoint with CBS TV City (with new color cameras and VR 2000s) and other places. I was told by a former editor that NBC Burbank "had" to get those machines to be competitive. From the VR-2000 notes I received during the purging of 2" machines there a while back, the indication is that it was 1965 when they received their initial VR 2000's. Some had EECO edit controllers and four could be controlled via a CMX 300. 

In Burbank, VTR 14 and 16 (VR 2000's)  were assigned for "The Tonight Show" when the show originated from Burbank. Those machines didn't do much else the entire day especially from about 12:00 noon till at least 1:00 A.M. They each had an editec and a splicer near by. Four VTRs rolled at 5:30 for the taping, but 14 & 16 were the master machines. When the show ended at 7:00 P.M. (ninety minute days) they did whatever fixes that were needed (usually none) and the show was ready to feed east at 8:30 and west at 11:30. They looked perfect on the air. Bill's LA contract mention I believe is 100% correct.

Since at one time 17% percent of the network pre-tax revenue came from commercial spots in "The Tonight Show", they had dedicated machines for  commercial integration. A TR 70B fed a TCR 100. Then at show taping, two TCR 100's (VT 6 & 8) were rolled from studio A for commercial integration. The show went to tape as if it was "live". I don't ever recall any commercial outage during production.

In 1979, NBC Burbank had the six VR-2000's. The rest were TR 70 A, B, and a couple of C's, TR 600 and 600A's. In 1982, there were six TCR 100's. But the Ampex 2" machines probably were at their peak by numbers in the VR 1000 days.

David Crosthwait
DC Video

On Feb 9, 2011, at 5:38 PM, Bill Carpenter wrote:

> Hi Ted & Folks,
> This may be partly(?) folklore, since it was passed on to me many years later, but it is "told" that NBC, NY pressured RCA, so they could buy some Ampex VR-2000's for New York, so they could properly compete with the other Networks. 
> Ampex did some major priority list juggling, so they could get VR-2000's into NBC-NY. Customers who accepted these delays got some future firsts as a result of this action.
> 
> And on the other side of the fence, when RCA then submitted the first TR-70's, to the NY, NBC folks, they sent it back, and it delayed the final product introduction another six months. 
> During this time many engineers from Camden, were spending a lot of late night time in the NY tape room, while the 2000's were "off-line".
> 
> I don't know if this is factual, but it sounded like a great story for this group! 
> Let's find out if anyone on this list knows anything about this??
> 
> "Fast Forward" many years, to the NBC/Johnny Carson, LA Contract that specified that VR-2000's were to be the only VTR's to be used on all of his broadcasts!
> 
> 
> Bill Carpenter
>  
> 
> 
> 
> From: Ted Langdell <ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
> To: Quad List <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>
> Sent: Wed, February 9, 2011 5:04:46 PM
> Subject: [QuadList] VTR introduction anniversaries: 1965
> 
> The March, 1965 NAB convention in Washington had a slew of camera offerings in black and white and color, and the introduction of several new Quad and Helical tape recorders.
> 
> High Band color recording was the big deal in 1965, following Ampex's introduction of High Band color with the VR-2000 in 1964.
> 
> Visual/Allen introduced the V/A 100G Quad—"The Continental"—which used Bosch transport and heads coupled with V/A electronics.  $100,000.
> 
> <Visual Allen-Quad-Ad-April-1966-DonNorwoodCollection.jpg>
> 
> Visual/Allen was already known for converting tube-type Quads to solid state using assemblies it manufactured.  "Allenized"
>  VR-1000's were seen in a lot of places.  
> 
> The above April 1966 ad from the Don Norwood collection shows the range of "Allenizing" that the company pursued. 
> (Double-click to open in your software to make larger)
> 
> RCA TRT series machines could be High Banded.  
> 
> I think there's a couple of lines missing from this ad in regard to TRTs.  I think it should read "High Band your TRT machines and... eliminate those racks of tubes with solid-state Allen Sync-Lock servo and All-Band RF systems."  Allen also High Banded TR-22's, introduced by RCA in 1961 as the first all solid state Quad VTR.
> 
> Allen would rebuild Ampex VR-1000's with solid state electronics—eliminating the racks in the process— and would put the VR-1000 transport into a new cabinet with Allen electronics to create a new machine it called the "NB 1000."
> 
> This photo of a Visual/Allen V/A 50G at Rev. Gene Scott's KHOF-TV, 30, San Bernadino shows how a Bosch transport and head assembly was used to create a new Quad.
> Bruce Braun is leaning on a VR-1000 transport console. 
> <VisualElectronicsVA-50QuadAtKHOF-TV.jpeg>
> 
> Although it was a year behind Ampex introducing High Band recorders, RCA debuted its TR-70 High Band, which ran $82,500.  
> It was pitched as the "first fully integrated TV tape recording system for high-band color recording and playback." 
> <images.jpeg>
> It also showed a High Band update for the similar looking solid state TR-22, introduced in 1961.
> The 1966 TR-22HB was $72,000.  For ID purposes, the TR-22 had a VU meter in the speaker area on the upper right side of the machine, while the TR-70 did not.
> 
> On the Helical side of life:
> 
> Sony showed its PV-120 2" helical.  This example was among the machines that "collected" at WHIZ-TV, Zanesville, Ohio before it was sold to QuadList member David Crosthwait in 2007.
> <IM000416-Sony-PV-120-Cropped.jpg>
> 
> This machine has 970 hours on it according to the meter, and a head maintenancee record with only 1967 dates.
> 
> Here's a look at the processing unit that went with it:
> <IM000449-PV-120U-TIS-1-TelevisionIntegratedStabilizer-Front.jpg>
> 
> This isn't a comprehensive list of what happened with tape in 1965. 
> 
> Perhaps worth noting that February 1965—46 years ago—is when it was announced that Visual Electronics would market the Phillips/Norelco PC-60 color camera in the US, according to Albert Abramson's second book about TV. CBS was rumored to get the first units at a cost of around $65,000. No indication of whether that was with lens or without.
> 
> Ted
> 
> Ted Langdell
> Secretary
> Skype: 	TedLangdell
> e-mail:	ted at quadvideotapegroup.com
> 
> 
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