[BC] ACR-25 and TCR-100 quad cart machines

[Ron Cole]

I heard a rumor that MTV had an ACR-25. But then it was only a Rumor..

Ron

On 10/26/05, Xen Scott <xenscott at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> At 02:51 PM 10/26/05 -0500, Ron Cole wrote:
> >We used to make dub reels for all of the newscast stop sets... so when
> the
> >ACR failed we could get out of the stopset intact and hope the engineer
> could
> >get the ACR running ASAP.
> >
> >On 10/26/05, Jack Antonio <JAntonio at ktvn.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > ...my impression of RCA VTRs compared to Ampex, was that the RCAs
> > broke >more often, but were easier to fix than the Ampex machines...
>
> I had about 15 years experience with Ampex ACR-25s at KYW-TV in
> Philadelphia.
> Any machine of this mechanical and electronic complexity will require some
> preventive maintenance and will fail from time to time. Those of you who
> never saw or worked with the Ampex ACR-25 can get a sense of the machine
> by
> knowing that the maintenance manual came in a set of 10 notebooks and that
> the schematic drawing of the air system was a two page foldout. The key to
> reliable performance was to have the station maintenance techs attend
> Ampex
> training school and then get lots of experience with the machine.
>
> However, the ACR-25 could do things not possible with any other VTR such
> as random access, instant start, and playback of any number of carts
> with durations anywhere from ten seconds to six minutes, or longer if
> you programmed a series of cart plays. The Ampex ACR-25 was generally
> pretty reliable, especially the later versions, as long as it was kept
> clean and cool. Early models were bothered by static electricity and some
> design problems which were fixed with field modifications. Using the same
> brand of good quality videotape in all carts improved reliability greatly.
> It was also important to replace damaged or stressed videotape so it
> wouldn't cause a later problem.
>
> I once made 56 ACR-25 plays (news pieces, graphic backgrounds, bumpers
> and other news production) into a one hour local news program, not
> including commercials which played from a second ACR-25. I also
> aired a complete one hour program from an ACR-25 which consisted of
> a sequence of segments recorded on six-minute cassettes.
>
> I understand that the record for the most number of carts played
> in a local break was held by WTTG-TV in Washington. They aired
> 22 carts between one local movie segment and the next.
>
> Xen Scott
>
>
>
>
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