Vintage RCA 1964 TR-4 Television Video Tape Recorder 1966 Film (improved audio)

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Computer History Archives Project ("CHAP")

3 жыл бұрын

Today we explore the RCA TR-4 Television Video Tape Recorder. Together we look at a 1966 RCA promotional film showing technical details on how the recorder works. The film quality is a bit rough, but the technical content is very good. - The RCA TR-4 was a quadraplex or “quadruplex” (four-head) analog video recording machine, introduced in 1964, as part of RCA’s ongoing competing product line with its competitor AMPEX. It was used for monochrome or color recording of television programs. RCA followed the TR-4 with many improved models and was a leader in recording technology for many years. These early machines were extremely expensive and purchased primarily by large television stations. The TR-4 cost over $35,000 in 1966, equivalent to over $283,300 in 2021.
For excellent RCA reference material, see the web site for
World Radio History --
worldradiohistory.com/index.htm

Пікірлер: 34

@josugambee3701 2 жыл бұрын

Gotta love these old promotional films. No marketing BS, just straight technical facts.

@drakefallentine8351 3 жыл бұрын

This RCA Television Recorder was made possible through technology licencing agreements with the AMPEX Corporation, who was the pioneering developer and patent holder of this process since 1956. Thank you Mr. Alexander Poniatoff for your monumental visionary leadership.

@Aetila 3 жыл бұрын

This is how you watch a video like a REAL man!

@maryrafuse3851 3 жыл бұрын

Even the AMPEX & SCULLY floor model audio tape recorders were very noisy on rewind. Boy did they ever go fast. When I think of the work that was done with these machines, the editing blocks and all the effort put in. Another great US Company was Magnecord, massive motors and built extremely tough. When you think of the duty cycles on these tape machines used by broadcasters and airport control towers. This was the era when made in USA meant quality. The GATES Radio Company was also a quality builder of broadcast equipment. It's now so easy to do production because of digital. Our thanks go out to America for the Transistor and to the British for the first Programable Computers. I wonder what Tommy Flowers would think?

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject 3 жыл бұрын

@Mary Rafuse, Hi Mary, thank you for your great and informative comment! I haven't heard the name Magnecord in a long time. They have a fascinating history in this field! ~ Victor, CHAP

@allanblack1645 Ай бұрын

In 1962 at NBN Channel 3 in Newcastle Australia, a new video recorder we had was the huge tube RCA Model TRT-1B. It was called a ‘Television Tape Recorder’, because the rival U.S. company Ampex, had trademarked the name ‘Videotape.’ The TRT-1B was RCAs very first production 2” tape video recorder, and we were very proud that ours was the first one outside the major city TV stations in Australia. To start it for transmission, it had a 10-1 countdown 15 second leader during which we had time to go to black and lock it to NBNs station sync. It always worked ok but in the control room there was always a big sigh of relief when we faded up and the taped program went to air.

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Ай бұрын

Hi @allanblack1645, great info! Sounds like you lived through a fantastic bit of history. Thank you for sharing your experience, much appreciated. ~ VK, CHAP

@allanblack1645 Ай бұрын

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject We never actually cut, edited the 2” tape but the 1962 U.S. RCA installation engineers showed us how to do it. They left us with a handheld 3M saucer shaped device which we would lay the 2” tape over and it kinda X rayed the tape to show the diagonal video stripes. The idea was we would slice the tape between the outgoing and incoming stripes to delete the unwanted video section. But we had limited rolls of tape, and used them for 30min programs and music inserts for our Sat night rock show. Great days in early television.

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject 29 күн бұрын

That is quite an amazingly manual process. A technique most video folks probably don't know about today. Thank you for bringing up that memory!. ~ VK

@allanblack1645 29 күн бұрын

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Happy to do it. NBN Channel 3 was a total RCA package from all the RCA microphones, cameras through to the RCA transmitter. There’s more here in Part 16 … www.australianotr.com.au/allan-black-nbn3-parts-16-40.html

@Madness832 3 жыл бұрын

My VCR's granddaddy!

@thiswillprobhrt 9 ай бұрын

Developing the servo system to balance the capstan speed and head sync must have been a challenge with something as flexible as tape.

@hylmmanseinscrevaamplifica007 3 жыл бұрын

Nice job. When we have transistor RCA?

@RetroJack 2 жыл бұрын

Was the transverse scanning in any way similar to the helical scanning used in later VCRs? In the drawing, it looked very similar, although I think the scan path used in VCRs leaned a lot more towards the horizontal.

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Retro Jack, that is a good question. Not sure, but just the visual provided does look similar as you say. Maybe another of our viewers can shed light on this. ~ C. Hunter, CHAP

@josugambee3701 2 жыл бұрын

This older method is called "quadruplex videotape" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadruplex_videotape) and is a direct predecessor to the "modern" helical scanning, except here the angle across the tape is quite sharp, and I believe the quadruplex drum has to make several revolutions per video frame, judging by the high-pitched whine and the way disabling one head causes several (rather than one) blank segment on the screen. VHS and Beta tape recorders, however, record an entire video frame in one revolution of the drum, with 2 heads on opposite sides of the drum. Being interlaced video, the odd-numbered lines are recorded on one half-revolution of the drum by one head, and opposite for the even field. Fancier models may use more heads to improve picture quality while paused, fast-forwarding or rewinding and add Hi-Fi stereo sound recorded as an FM signal with the video track, rather than a discrete linear track.

@RetroJack 2 жыл бұрын

@@josugambee3701 Thanks for the great description - I just found some modern footage of a unit from 1969 in working order: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fdVprJCXlbHIg3k.html

@rty1955 2 жыл бұрын

Not at all. Helical scan recorded along the length of the tape in a slanted scan, transverse scanning was recorded along the width of the tape. Because of this, it was not possible for stop motion or to see a picture in fast FWD to RWD. Each head could only reproduce 17 lines of a video signal, where helical could record am entire frame of video in a single scan. The downside was that the delicate video was always in contact with the tape, this heads & drum wear faster. The heads on a quad tape machine rode on air bearings and rotated at 14,400 rpm. Ball bearings were not capable of keeping the heads steady enough. I worked on every 2" machine AMPEX made

@RetroJack 2 жыл бұрын

Great to get an insider's perspective - thanks!

@kc4cvh 2 жыл бұрын

Too bad RCA did not see the videotape recorder as a consumer product. Then, twenty years later they would not have had to buy VCRs for resale from Hitachi.

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject 2 жыл бұрын

So true! : ) Thanks! ~ C. Hunter, at CHAP

@ramiropedraza5768 3 жыл бұрын

En español por favor

@brunomoyano8727 3 жыл бұрын

Ojala

@ariliendo 3 жыл бұрын

o al menos con subtítulos...

@oscarrobertodiaz2907 3 жыл бұрын

Coincido . Bueno , refleccionando un poco , que admirable el trabajo de los ingenieros del mundo ! . Estamos rodeados de cosas que ellos han ideado y llevado a la practica y que tienen tanta repercusion en nuestras vidas , y la mayoria de la gente no se detiene a pensar en como llegaron a materializarse ( me incluyo ) Salvo , en ocaciones como esta , en la que se publica un un documental sobre la fabricacion y presentacion de un video grabador para television , dificil de entender para los que no dominamos la electronica , aunque igualmente sorprendente .

@rty1955 2 жыл бұрын

Notice he never calls it VIDEOTAPE. That is copyrighted by AMPEX. The only reason AMPEX let them build this machine is because AMPEX gave them permission to use thier patents in exchange for the color circuitry which AMPEX did no develop yet. Withing 2 years AMPEX has developed a much better color circuitry than the one RCA developed. I worked on every machine AMPEX created.

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Roy, fascinating bit of history! I didn't know that. Thank you for sharing that info! ~ Victor

@rty1955 2 жыл бұрын

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject anything you want to know about quad videotape machines let me know. I found it fascinating how you can record a 6MHZ bandwidth signal on magnetic tape. Recording a 30khz audio signal on tape is childs play compared to this! You have video circuits audio circuits and several servo circuits. They are truely amazing machines. I volunteer now to restore Amped quad video tape machines. We are a dying breed

@miguelmouta5372 2 жыл бұрын

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject There are much more hidden facts in electronics, than we can suppose with our naive morality...