[QuadList] What's your Betacam flavor?-2007 AMIA-L discussion links

[Ted Langdell]

Hi, Shai,

Read through these AMIA-L posts (below) from Sept. 2007.  Very  
illuminating as to the differences between the decks, especially as  
Jim Lindner outlines why the J Series was selected for the SAMMA  
systems.

Have you asked your client why he prefers BVW series machines?

Better electronic specs (better picture/sound fidelity?)

Does he think it has gentler tape handling?

Just likes to use the most expensive tool?

Did the Sony guy you talked to say anything about looking for high  
serial-number machines?

Knowing the span of serial numbers and what improvements were included  
in a particular range (or what the last machine made's number was) can  
help when selecting a used machine.

Being aware of what board models or versions were supposed to ship  
with particular serial number ranges will help when checking to see  
whether old boards have been put into newer chassis, or newer boards  
are in an older chassis.

A completely refurbished BVW machine—one that's been brought back up  
to factory spec or made to exceed factory spec—would seem to be  
something to consider if your client insists on BVW.

Upper and/or Lower Drum assemblies can be rebuilt to spec.

That would include things like shotgunning the caps and other  
electronic parts that are likely to have aged seriously, or would fail  
during operation... and replacing mechanical wear parts like threading  
rings, nylon gears, capstan pinch rollers, etc.

You're somewhat at the mercy of what spare parts are available from  
Sony or aftermarket manufacturers (in the case of parts that aren't  
made anymore) as New Old Stock (NOS) from other suppliers.

Amortizing the cost of refurbishment and the ongoing maintenence over  
100,000 tapes shouldn't raise the cost per-tape by much.

And perhaps you can find several late serial number machines and get  
them refurbed.

That would apply to Digital Betacam machines, also.  With SDI output  
you have a simpler path to your digitizing station, too.

Ted

Here are the thread links to the AMIA-L discussion from 2007:

Sony BetacamSP Players
Sony BetacamSP Players (19 lines)
From: DJ Demangone <demangoneav at GMAIL.COM>
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 22:13:30 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (44 lines)
From: Eric Wenocur <eric at LAB-TECH-SYSTEMS.COM>
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 22:39:46 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (111 lines)
From: Ted Langdell <preservation at TEDLANGDELL.COM>
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 23:05:39 -0700
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (618 lines)
From: Jim Lindner <jim at MEDIA-MATTERS.NET>
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 07:16:41 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (35 lines)
From: Trey Bunn <treybunn2 at GMAIL.COM>
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 08:49:21 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (40 lines)
From: Klara Foeller <klf at MOHISTORY.ORG>
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 09:26:53 -0500
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (52 lines)
From: Eric Wenocur <eric at LAB-TECH-SYSTEMS.COM>
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2007 21:08:20 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (114 lines)
From: Bill Seery <bill at MERCERMEDIA.COM>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 01:57:19 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (124 lines)
From: Ted Langdell <preservation at TEDLANGDELL.COM>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 03:59:43 -0700
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (27 lines)
From: Eric Wenocur <eric at LAB-TECH-SYSTEMS.COM>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 11:09:25 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (338 lines)
From: Jim Lindner <jim at MEDIA-MATTERS.NET>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 17:19:57 -0400
Re: Sony BetacamSP Players (410 lines)
From: Jim Lindner <jim at MEDIA-MATTERS.NET>
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:45:53 -0400




On May 31, 2011, at 2:32 AM, Shai Drori wrote:

> Please excuse the cross posting.
> A while ago I was faced with an upgrade issue to my betacam SP  
> station. One of my clients claimed he only transfers tape on BVW  
> series vtr's. He also refused to here about the J series claiming  
> they were inferior. At the same conversation he also suggested I  
> look into the Samma robot (he loves price tags). I didn't see the  
> point of explaining to him that Samma works with J series, from my  
> experience it's best to shut up. When I spoke to Sony service in NY,  
> the guy on the other side of the phone made the following comments:
> 1. The BVW is aging and if it is an Ebay unit it might have poor  
> quality playback.
> 2. Assuming we are looking for a cheap vtr in good condition the UVW  
> might perform better since it is younger and it's caps are in better  
> shape. Still, a serviced BVW will be better.
> 3. A better alternative would be an SX deck. It is younger still,  
> usually has less head hours, and by design has excellent picture  
> quality.
>
> So my question is this:
> Assuming we and looking for a cheap (~5K$US) yet excellent picture  
> quality playback vtr, what would you choose and Why? Multi format  
> decks can be included in this brain pick.
> Cheers
> Shai Drori
>
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Ted Langdell
Secretary

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