[QuadList] Ken Zin/Merlin Restored this VR-1000C-

[Ted Langdell]

I've asked John if he can offer more information about the project, now 26 years after its completion.

My understanding is that Ken Zin was responsible for all the electronic work and Dean Claycomb did the mechanical engineering.  I'm advised that there were other people helping get parts to and from various shops, and to help re-assemble the machine, the "heavy lifting..." in a literal sense.

If I hear something from John, I'll add to the information.

Ted

On May 13, 2012, at 1:57 PM, Bill Carpenter wrote:

> Yes, Park it was a BIG job,
> 
> I talked to my friend John Streets after it was done, and a lot of engineers worked on that project, most of them had never worked on tube equipment.
> 
> Since folks who never worked tubes, developed simple trouble shooting habits, like feeling with your hands or fingers for overheated components, the Hi-voltage B+ ( 200V- 450V?) was a constant challenge.
> I remember John saying that they had a "wall list" of when each engineer got "bit" by the high voltage for the first time. I told him that they should have posted that with the machine.
> 
> I learned about tubes first, and then transistors, my first projects we all tubes.
> Later in 64, I designed Hybrid audio tape recorders, with tube front ends and solid state outputs and also solid state front ends and tube output circuits, and then compared costs and performance, before committing to a design. 
> We had problems in the near South Side in Chicago, (11th & State) with the gain vs bandwidth of Motorola transistors which we used in the first stage after the play/record head. 
> We could see a good video signal on the output of the first stage, of an audio recorder, so we worked in a screen room for many design tests.
>  
> Bye for now, Bill & Gewyn & Ginger (whoof...whoof)
> From: C. Park Seward <park at videopark.com>
> To: Quad List <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com> 
> Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 8:52 AM
> Subject: Re: [QuadList] Ken Zin/Merlin Restored this VR-1000C--More Photos
> 
> I forget what a big job that is, thinking of just the transport recovery without appreciating the huge undertaking of getting all those tube electronics operating. Two racks full of tubes and dried out caps. What a job!
> 
> And not just operating but looking just as good as when it was shipped from Ampex.
> 
> Best,
> Park
> 
> C. Park Seward
> Cell: 818-535-2747
> Home: 541-476-6657
> 2" Quad and 1" "C" transfers
> The Transfer Lab at Video Park
> Visit us: http://www.videopark.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> 
>> Ken advises, "We display this machine at SMPTE in San Francisco, NAB in Las Vegas and at SMPTE in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City."
>> 
>> Merlin had CMC rebuild the MK 111 video head.  Tektronix rebuilt the WFM and Conrac rebuilt the picture monitor.
>> 
>> "At Merlin Eng. we completely rebuilt every other item. I worked-non stop for a month on this machine, as the chassis came from different places and the the two racks from a station near Bakersfield, California where they'd been sitting out side for three to four years."
>> 
>> "The proc amp came from one place, the transport  and bridge from some other place.  Many stations gave us the spares that they had, tubes, switches, capacitors, heads, manuals and other parts after they viewed the unit working."
>> 
>> Ken told me over dinner the other night that the machine was sent off to an eastern museum. He recalls it as a New York area organization, while David's post says it went to the Smithsonian.
>> 
>> I'm checking with John Streets to see what he remembers.  Perhaps it's still around.  It would be quite a treat to see this working at NAB in 2016, eh?
>> 
>> Have a good weekend!
>> 
>> Ted
>> 
>> Ted Langdell
>> Secretary
>> 
>> Please trim posts to relevant info when replying.
>> 
> 
> 
> Please trim posts to relevant info when replying.
> 
> Change subject to reflect thread direction. Thanks.
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Ted

Ted Langdell
Secretary

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