My school's old 3/4" Video cassette recorder.
Found under school stage, the eject lock was
seized and the tapes indicate it was last used
1983.
Made by Sony and released 1971 they were the first
VCR. Tape spools ran opposite directions and
overlapped. This presumably reduced tape curl.
I've been told it's the first u-matic with
recording options. Some previous models could only
play-back. U-Matic became a success because The
Ford Motor Company bought about 500 prior to the
introduction. The introduction was in fact sooner
in the USA than in Japan.
The model was also available with a tuner on the
right side instead of the two channel mix
facility.
Here we see inside. There's one big motor which
drives the lot. The tape lacing mechanism I've
adapted because short stout drive belts are hard
to come by. For the time being it needs manual
help spooling and it's too fast unspooling. It
records a bit of a fuzzy picture similar to
Youtube Quality. I've got a CD of the technical
manual thanks to a man in Australia who mailed it
me! Tags :UmaticVO1810SonyVideoCassettevcrtapeold
What you see in approximate order:
Belling Tango 3 Fan Heater
CUB monitor for BBC Micro Computer
Uher 4000 Report Monitor
SVHS Editing Controller
Sony Radio Amp STR 2800L
JVC old VHS VCR
Sony Amp
Kenwood cassette deck KX1010
Sony MiniDisc/CD MDX-D40
JVC Time Base Corrector
Sony VO5630 Lo Band
Sony VO5800PS Modified Lo&Hi
Sony VO5850 Hi
Monitor
JVC BR-S525E
JVC BR-S822E
JVC BR-S411E
JVC variable Speed/Tracking BR-S***
Super-8
Sony RM440
Sony VO1810 (seat)
The faulty VO-5850 got scraped but the audio card
was useful in fixing another one of its kind I
brought for £10, and it came with a bonus of
being SP capable. That was the most I have paid
for a non- VHS machine. All this stuff was found
in skips etc, with permission.
If I have a multi-camera shoot to do it is easier
to use linear editing than using iMovie. I favour
Umatic HiBand for this above the S-VHS kit, which
now lives with a friend. I would like to meet
someone else who runs old machines like I do, and
particularly how can I get them serviced
professionally. Head wear is a real threat.
One day I'll do an in-depth on some of my machines
for you to see. Please leave a comment! Tags :UmaticSVHSVideoFilmMovieTourEditings-vhssonyVO1810BRSmonitorstudiojunk