RCA TCR-100 videotape cartridge system - Videokarma.org TV - Video

austvarchive · #1 10-02-2011, 03:06 AM

as a treat for everyone, please find this video i uploaded today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM_2upiGUO0

jpdylon · #2 10-02-2011, 12:37 PM

Cool vid. Thanks for sharing that.

old_tv_nut · #3 10-02-2011, 02:50 PM

Thanks for posting

magnasonic66 · #4 10-02-2011, 03:46 PM

What year is that? I'm guessing around 1969 with the Chrysler commercial, not much later. Neat video, thanks for posting it!

***Eric H*** · #5 10-02-2011, 04:09 PM

Really cool.
Any of those still operational today?
Can the tape inside the cartridge be played on anything else besides this machine?

How did these work out in actual use, it looks like a potential disaster waiting to happen based on it's complexity.

N2IXK · #6 10-02-2011, 08:11 PM

AFAIK, the tape and recording format inside those carts is standard 2" quadruplex.

Woodronics · #7 10-02-2011, 09:19 PM

Mmm. Looks like I'll have to dig out my Ampex quad tape with the promo for their ACR-25. Larger machine, more pneumatics ;-) I believe more were in use in Australian TV stations than RCA's TCR-100?

10 seconds back-to-back operation and yes, the format was standard 2" quad - but a different cartridge to RCA.

Thanks for posting your clip

NewVista · #8 10-03-2011, 01:55 AM

Simpler, cheaper?, more reliable? than later? more sophisticated Ampex.

austvarchive · #9 10-03-2011, 04:31 AM

TCR-100's were very popular here...

GTV9 Melbourne
BTV6 Ballarat
GMV6 Shepparton

etc

basically all the regional RCA stations went with the RCA TCR-100....some went with AMPEX, it seems those were the two choices of the era...and if you already had RCA machines it could talk to those.

1969 would probably be around the right time

The TCR-100 was in use up until the early 90's in many places

bgadow · #10 10-08-2011, 10:59 PM

Well, I'm really impressed! Great video!

NewVista · #11 10-10-2011, 10:34 AM

What would one cost in '69 ? I think $100k

arbilab · #12 12-16-2011, 12:24 AM

TCR was cheaper than Ampex. ACR 25 when introduced was $1/4M, TCR may have been ~1/2 that. Unfortunately for you, fortunately for me, I only worked at Ampex stations so I can't tell you the exact differences. Except that TCR made a noise in operation that sounded like it was coming apart. And sometimes it did.

Original TCR was sequential access only, Ampex was random access. IINM TCR was still the standard 5sec preroll, Ampex was 200msec. Part of that 'instant' start was zero reel momentum to settle, using vacuum/optical reel servos and vacuum capstan @3160Hz tach rate. Part was digital framing and tracking servos that didn't need to wait for the next V to see how far off it was. It measured the first V then counted the error in increments of H. Part was the first digitally-switched analog delay TBC with a window exceeding a full television line. See the wiki entry under 'ampex' and ACR 25, I wrote it.

ACR also featured an analog video signal system implemented with ECL chips, the Ampex predictive audio predistortion recording, multistandard operation NTSC/PAL/SECAM, and a custom SMPTE track allowing precise cuing from shuttle speed in one second.

In the early 90s stations were shoving them off the loading docks, as Ampex had discontinued all support. All you needed was a big truck and a place to put the thing and you could have one. I would if I could.

Electrohome · #13 12-16-2011, 02:04 AM

Cool:-) That's how they used to set up and play commercials in the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's-awesome:-) I've always wondered how they would set up those commercial breaks on my vintage TV broadcasts from the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's:-)
Those 2-inch video cartridges were pretty cool, although they were good for 200 passes(playings) as mentioned in in that 1969 RCA TCR-100 video. I'll bet that's how a lot of sports replays were done as well back then also as well as some news segments and some TV show openings too.

arbilab · #14 12-16-2011, 11:44 PM

Sports replays were almost exclusively the purview of Ampex HS100 analog disc recorder. The carts had to have cue points entered/prerecorded by an operator for the transport to find them. HS cue points could be entered on the fly and cue time typically 1 second.

W3XWT · #15 02-06-2012, 07:53 PM

Actually, they came along in the early 1970's. WDCA-20 in Washington was the testbed. I first saw one there in late November 1972 and there was a guy from RCA Broadcast always babysitting the thing. It was a heckuva thing to see.

Before the "cart machine" came along, many a TV broadcast tech cut their teeth doing the "spot reel" for the next day!