[ARC Tech-109]

There was a time before climate change when I had one of those VO-3800's strapped to my side and a TK-76 on my shoulder... all powered with a motorcycle battery that lasted maybe half hour. I was an A/V nerd in school and made the mistake of volunteering for camera duty during a school event at 12 years old, I was no match for this but I managed to keep it steady. We also had those Sony open-reel porta-pack's with the big camera and this long lens but being B&W wasn't good enough for me... lesson learned. Back then everything was clunky and heavy, we had a number of those Setchell Carlson "Educator" TV/monitors on tall carts with either a VP-2000 U-Matic or Sony 8600s feeding them. Problem here was the school floors were that terrazzo from the 1930's and the big carts had 4-wheel swivel steering meaning they would go in any direction and being top heavy would crush an A/V nerd flat. We didn't get VHS until the mid-80's and those were top load hand-me-down's from a larger school district that went front load and the big Setchell Carlson's survived into the early 90's.
There were a number of Panasonic NV-3160's in the A/V lab along with two of the "new" VO-5858's and Panasonic SEG which I always hated because everyone wanted to get EFX happy and make everyone sick. I ended up with the 3160's and a number of other decks when the district auctioned them off paying $20/lot but passed on the big sets. The 3160's died years later from the head chips coming off the little mounts. Just the centrifugal force of running at 1800 is enough to pull them loose so do be mindful of yours as both Sony and Panasonic used that urethane glue of the day and it gives out over time.