[QuadList] Ampex Head Lines newsletter--Here's a look back to 1959-Page 6--Ampex nears 10, 000 hours of Network VRX-1000 use

[Ted Langdell]

Here's the last for today (... well for Saturday, anyway.)  

Started doing some research in the afternoon to come up with the "NBC Pontiac Special" mentioned in the "Short Splices" section.  Finally finished after several distractions.

There were quite a few specials promoting Pontiac in that era, most under the "Pontiac Star Parade" title. They ran mostly on NBC, with CBS carrying at least one Gene Kelly special in April of 1959.  Several other 1959 Pontiac shows with Kelly aired on NBC in color.

Ampex Head Lines reports that KTLA and KMOX-TV's remote trucks were used for the six-camera, two VTR shoot in Brackettville, Texas. That was in Nov. 1959.

At the time, CBS owned KMOX-TV, and Paramount owned  KTLA, which had relocated in 1958 from original digs on the Paramount lot on Melrose to the former Warner Brothers Sunset Studios which Paramount owned and renamed Paramount Sunset Studios.  

Seems that the program taped by the two trucks and Ampex VTR's was the "Pontiac Star Parade" called "Spirit of the Alamo" according to the British Film Institute Film and TV Database. BFI says it featured "the wrap party on THE ALAMO production as well as various passages from individual cast members, and an interview with ex-US vice president John Nance Garner. The programme was taped by the Paramount Television Productions (KTLA) crew dispatched to the film's location at Brackettville, Texas."

The film "The Alamo," and the TV show were shot at Alamo Village on Hwy. 674 in Brackettsville. 

The show aired on ABC, November 14, 1960, in the 9:30 to 10:30 prime-time slot. 

A clip from the show is on YouTube—:33 into the clip—and appears to be taken from video rather than a Kinescope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3LumOv0kcw

You'll see John Wayne in the clip. Others appearing are here:
http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/578925?view=cast

L.I. Salaman wrote, Perry Cross produced, Seymour Robbie co-produced and directed and Dimitri Tiomkin provided music.  Ampex reports that the technical side included KTLA's chief engineer John Silva, program manager Bob Quinlan and production supervisor Hal Dasbach.

Now, on to Ampex Head Lines...

---------

In 1959, Ampex began publishing a newsletter specifically about Videotape and the company's Videotape products.  


Here's the sixth page of eight in Volume 1 Number 3, published in December, 1959, with type turned into editable text by OCR.


Page 6


TRAIL BLAZERS NEAR 10,000 HOURS OF OPERATION
When the original VRX-1000 (prototype) machines were delivered to the television networks in 1956, they embodied the Ampex basic design concept of long service life and “building block” principles. Today, these same machines are still in use, some of them actually approaching the 10,000-hour mark in operation.
Such a record contrasts sharply, according to reports, with experience of users of prototype TV recorders from other manufacturers. The latter units, in use two years less than the Ampex machines, have already required replacement.
This is proof that the Ampex user experiences an extended useful duty cycle from his equipment by virtue of adequate derating in design, as well as the updating of the equipment as new features become available.
Ampex’s production model, the VR-1000A, proved itself in well over 300 installations. Subsequent developments eventually called for a new model (the VR-1000B) to incorporate the various refinements.
Among the features of Ampex’s mechanical assemblies:
A heavy gage magnesium top plate, carefully strain-relieved, provides constant uniformity of surface for the life of the machine. Tape tracking will remain accurate indefinitely.
Rugged, oversized motors on the take-up, supply and capstan assemblies guarantee long and trouble-free operation. Adequate torque reduces the heating effect to a negligible point.
Precision machined or cast parts, made under strictest quality control to stringent tolerances, provide smooth functioning of all moving parts with minimum wear.
A specially-built optical comparator (Leitz) and 51 high-power microscopes in Ampex’s head assembly department contribute to the uniformity of the video head assemblies now logging thousands of hours of operating time every day in the more than 500 Ampex machines in use.
Aesthetic design helps keep the “new look” of Ampex gear for years to come. The console design puts everything within easy reach of the operator. Good “human engineering” contributes to operational ease and high operator morale.
VR-1000B electronic assemblies, as well, have been designed to the highest broadcast standards with adequate safety margins on all components. Three years of constant field testing under every conceivable operational condition has yielded simplified stable circuitry which can be relied on for day-in, day-out service. Adequate protective fusing guards against major break-
downs. Quality parts throughout minimize even the common minor electronic problems.
Conservative design of the VR-1000B pays off in machine longevity and customer satisfaction.
 
Short Splices...
FROM ENGLAND comes the report that the BBC now “Ampexes” 60 per cent of its programming. The BBC even transfers many film features to tape for ease of handling.
• • •
JOVI PRODUCTIONS, Detroit, using the Ampex equipped mobile unit of GiantView Television Network, is producing tapes of “Juvenile Court” for syndication to local markets. The organization plans other dramatic series for tape syndication.
• • •
MICHAEL H. INGAMELLS, Australian advertising executive, reports great successs with pre-taping of the monthly “Shell Presents” dramatic productions on Ampex machines at ATN-7 (Sydney) and GTV-9 (Melbourne). “With the extension of television into all other states of Australia, it is possible that at some later date ‘Shell Presents’ may be telecast nationally, which would almost certainly mean the use of tape throughout the country,” Ingamells said.
• • •
Two AMPEX RECORDERS in mobile rigs, one from Los Angeles (KTLA) and the other from St. Louis ( KMOX-TV), were dispatched to Brackettville, Texas, 6 early this month for taping a Pontiac special (NBC-TV). KTLA assembled the production gear (including six cameras) for the assignment and furnished the 18-man crew, headed by chief engineer John Silva, program manager Bob Quinlan and production supervisor Hal Dasbach.
• • •
BY MEANS OF TAPES produced on the Ampex facilities of GiantView Television Network, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. staged a unique 33-city closed circuit telecast on Nov. 16. It was 4 p.m. in all four of the nation’s time zones when some 17,000 builders and distributors in the 33 cities viewed the program detailing Fiberglas’ 1960 building industry marketing plans.
Tapes of the program were telecast separately from a central transmission point in each time zone.
• • •
KPLR-TV, St. Louis, has its mobile Ampex unit rolling smoothly. Already in production are “Wrestling at the Chase” and “Hi-School Football.” “Open House,” a weekly half-hour in which prominent St. Louis people will be interviewed in their homes, is set next. Another series scheduled is “No Admittance,” mobile tape tours through locations not normally seen by many people.






Ted Langdell
Secretary
Skype: 	TedLangdell
e-mail:	ted at quadvideotapegroup.com

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