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

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

Don  -  Well if  we never getting it  working that is  ok too as  we have 
an  Ampex camera that is a nice  match for  it...  the  TelePrompTer   1 inch 
 tape    was  supposedly done    on a IVC  so we  will try  that. 
If it  works that is  great as we  have no budget for  outside services   
to  convert it! So  fingers are   crossed! 
Ed#
 
 
 
In a message dated 5/16/2014 11:41:05 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
dwnorwood at digitrakcom.com writes:




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_ (http://www.digitrakcom.com/) 


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Please  trim posts to relevant info when replying.

Change subject to reflect  thread direction.  Thanks.
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