[QuadList] AMPEX VR-5100 WILL IT PLAY OTHER MACHNESTYPE A TAP...

[Don Norwood]

I agree with many of the comments on this thread, and to be sure, the answer to Ed's question comes with many qualifiers.  The primary reason that we use VPR-7900's for recovery of Type-A tapes is their ability to handle all three variants of the format's carrier frequencies.  I believe the 5100 is low band only which was intended only for black and white, but since the Ampex format was direct record, you can still recover color from the lowband tapes if they contain color material.  Obviously not the best situation, but possible.  Tapes recorded in hi-band or very-high-band will not reproduce properly on a low-band machine.

Regarding interchange, there's no doubt that the movable guides were a bad design.  However, our experience has shown that many of the interchange problems were the result of incorrect adjustment of the machines more often than "naturally occurring" changes in the guide path.  Because this was originally a "non-broadcast" format, much of its use was in educational or industrial applications, and generally with un-trained operators.  My favorite example was a tape we received from a large university.  It begins with no video, but on the audio track, you hear "Hey Bill, how do you work this thing?".  Then the machine was obviously stopped, and when it was re-started, there was video, recorded with a setup level of about 70%!  

The challenges of recovering Type-A tapes can be significant, and we have even done custom modifications when required for special problems if the budget was available.  When the tapes are good, the quality, especially from the VHB tapes can be excellent, but that is certainly the exception rather than the rule.  Bottom line is, we're talking about a format developed in the mid 60's, and a lot has changed since then!

Don Norwood
Digitrak Communications, Inc.
www.digitrakcom.com
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