Huge Ampex roundie and video recorder
 

I was cruising web pages and came across this roundie. Does anybody know if any of the sets survived intact? $30,000 in 1963 must have been a million dollars now.

Web Page: http://www.rewindmuseum.com/home.htm

polaraman

Ampex Signature V 1963

The very fist attempt was by Ampex using a 1 inch reel to reel tape recorder in 1963



The Ampex Signature V 1963 The first domestic video recorder.
In 1963 this unit was offered in the Neiman-Marcus catalog for $30,000 It was nine feet long
and weighed 900 pounds. The video portion of the system included the Black & White
reel-to-reel video recorder with TV tuner and automatic timer as well as a home television camera.
The cabinet also housed a complete audio system including an AM/FM tuner, stereo amplifier, record
player, reel-to-reel audio recorder, and stereo loudspeakers. A colour TV was viewable from the
front of the console, while all other components were accessed from the top. The $30,000 price
tag included a personalized plaque and installation by an Ampex service engineer

Holy Merde ! Imagine stumblin' into some Antique Shoppe somewhere, & runnin' acrost one of THESE bad boys..

You guys probably know that Ray Dolby was a member of the team at Ampex that developed the rotating head VTR that made videotape recording practical.

You may not know that one of my former bosses, Dale Pfost, was the son of Fred Pfost, who was also on that small Ampex team. I had the pleasure to meet and chat with the elder Mr. Pfost some years ago at his home in Los Gatos. Interesting guy. Dale & Fred founded a robotics company which they later sold to Beckman (now Beckman Coulter). Dale's still out there somewhere in biotech or bioinformatics or something like that.

'Bout as close to fame as I get...

http://www.ampex.com/03corp/03corp.html
http://www.tvtechnology.com/features...TV-50years.jpg

In that particular unit, the video recorder actually used 2" tape, but instead of the signal being laid down in the traditional quad format, the video recorder used a proprietary helical scan system.

The recorder installed in the cabinet unit is probably a VR-660, advertised as the company's first portable VTR, which was later followed by the very similar looking VR-1500. The list price of the recorder alone was $14,500!!

To give you an indication of how "portable" they are, mine weighs 96 lbs... **without** the tape! :)

-Kevin

I just read an online article from England. The BBC is looking for a copy of a Bob Dylan Tv appearance in 1963. They have hope that somebody with this monster taped the show. Thin possibility to me: they would have to own this unit and be a Dylan fan. :smoke:

polaraman

Not to put a damper on this, but I'd tend to wonder if any of these were actually sold (or even built other than the one photographed for the catalog). Neiman-Marcus historically runs one or two super-duper-amazing-but-also-super-duper-expensive luxury items in their Christmas catalog each year, but I think they do that more for the "Wow!" factor rather than for any serious intent that anyone will actually call/write in and place an actual genuine order for one. If it turns out that nobody actually bought one, then does it really qualify as the first "domestic VTR"..? [If a VTR is pictured in a catalog, and nobody buys it, does it make a picture in a living room..?]
As another example, some claim that the Honeywell H316 computer offered in the 1965 Neiman-Marcus catalog was the first "home computer," but there seems to be some doubt as to whether or not there were any actual sales. If not, then I'd say it doesn't really count.

Legend has it Hugh Hefner was a big hi fi / video nut at the time and owned one. Well, the camera had obvious uses ;) and the anononymity of not having some guy at Kodak look over your 8mm film...

The VTR was B&W, but hey, we know what color a butt is....

I was told by one of the old Ampex guys that they did indeed sell **one** of these units.

But he had no idea who it was that bought it...

-Kevin

I like the ad with the dude in the tuxedo, videotaping his lovely wife. Now THAT'S what I call a closeup!! I can only imagine what Hugh Hefner would have taped if he had one of these things in his Grotto 8 )

This seems likely.
 

I have often wondered about the luckiest man in the worlds' toys.

Buying that 9' beauty for $30K would be so likely of Hugh to do.

It would have gone to the Chicago Playboy home or office.

Can any of you great minds suggest how we coud find out if it still exists?

Do you think he would have told you if he did know?
 

Could you contact him again to see if he knows how to find out?

It would be greatly appreciated.

Only one of the 9 footers but likely many of the VTR's like the one in it would have
 

been distributed.

I am certain there were more who might have taped the show than the smokers that might have set the machine up wrong or forgot to plug it in, etc.

I hope we hear of a copy being found as I get a funny feeling there could be one somewhere.
How could we go about finding this out?

I am very impressed!
 

Have you seen that huge Ampex in this B/W photo in person?
Do you know where it is today and if it is ever used for anything?

Could you help us try to locate the one Ampex Signature V?
Your friend would likely know who purchased it and possibly know it's current whereabouts.

It would not be unusual for us to find it just before it could become destroyed.
Stranger things happen all the time and I would love to help preserve it.

I have seen that huge Ampex in the photo in person.
Ampex displayed it at the 1988 or '89 NAB convention.
They had spent a great deal of time restoring it and it
worked quite well with excellent picture quality.
I don't know where it is now that Ampex is gone, maybe at the
museum of Broadcasting.

could one person run it?

I've met the beast in person, it was located at Ampex's corporate museum, but that has since closed. I'm not sure where its currently located, but I think its still in Ampex's possession (they haven't junked it). It was working well when I last saw it (about 7 years ago) and yes one person could run it. All the controls you needed to operate on a regular basis were on the control panel under the tape transport.

David

Seems close enough to be as impressive as any famous person I know of.

Could you help us try to locate the one Ampex Signature V?
Your friend would likely know who purchased it and possibly know it's current whereabouts.

It would not be unusual for us to find it just before it could become destroyed.
Stranger things happen all the time and I would love to help preserve it.

Thanks

Amazing to think.... someone actually made a 21" roundie in a "much larger than Curtis Mathes" cabinet!

i meant the one on the B/W picture with all the guys around it LOL