LabGuy's World: 1963 Ampex VR-660 Two Inch Helical Scan VTR NEW! 02.05.07 NEW PHOTOS! 02.06.08 Ampex VR-660 Two Inch Half Helical VTR and a Memorex tape!        This is the elusive and rare Ampex VR-660(B?) with Edicon from 1963. LabGuy's World has been seeking one of these for a very long time. The first photo is provided by the fellow who sold me the machine. It took three weeks to arrive, but now it is here for us all to enjoy! Overall, the unit is in excellent condition considering how long it has been stored. It did arrive with a couple of show stopper problems. The video heads had been removed sometime in the past and the drum entry and exit guides are not complete. I am working with the seller at this time to rectify these problems. As usual, stay tuned for updates about that. If you have any spare parts or service literature for this machine, be sure to contact me!        Two Memorex tapes for the VR-660, as seen in the second photo, were obtained recently from my newest friend, Grant Newland. Thanks, Grant!         This machine can accommodate a total of four different reel sizes containing differing amounts of tape to give the appropriate running times. They were: 6. 5 inch reel, 750 feet of tape, 40 minutes. 8. 0 inch reel, 1650 feet of tape, 90 minutes / 1 hour & 30 minutes. 10. 5 inch reel, 3600 feet of tape, 195 minutes / 3 hours & 15 minutes. 12. 5 inch reel, 5540 feet of tape, 300 minutes / 5 hours. (That's over 1 mile of tape!)       Five hours recording time! Thirteen years before VHS or long playing Betamax? Isn't that fascinating! And just imagine, the entire film, Titanic, could fit on a single reel of tape! Again, a dozen or more years before the long play DVD was invented! And you thought TV was in a primitive state in the early 60s!         The "Edicon" is the fancy name for the electronic editing controls built in this machine. In the early 60s, this was a fantastic feature. From interviewing people who used these VTRs, I have been told that they worked very well! In the next to the last photo, you can see the Edicon control panel which allowed the user ot select  several different recording and editing modes. Also visible is the transport control joystick. Sadly, the ID label is seriously faded, but the word Edicon can be made out with the naked eye. The last photo is of the jack bay.         Ampex produced another model, the VR-1500, which is interchange compatible with the VR-660. The VR-1500 was actually marketed, though not very enthusiastically, as a possible consumer home VTR.          The third and fourth photos are graphics of the tape threading path on the VR-1500. This tape path is identical for the VR-660. The fifth photo is a graphic of the pattern produced on tape by the VR-1500. The VR-660 conforms to this same pattern.           The bottom row of photos shows the machine as I received it. Grant Newland's tapes are on it in the first three photos. In the last two photos, I show the VR-660 with the large reels capable of recording up to five hours! The very last photo gives a clear view of the tape ascending around the head drum. That large roll of tape is very heavy. It weighs about 25 pounds! Thanks to John Pommon, of [Antique Video Transfer Service] in San Francisco, for the greatest deal on the large reel of tape and the empty take up reel.          This machine uses tape that is two inches wide, running at 3.7 inches per second, wrapped half way around a two head scanner. It supports two independent audio channels with audio overdub available on one channel. The video bandwidth is approximately 3 Mhz with a signal to noise ratio of 40 db. Great for monochrome, a little bit short for color. A later version of this machine, the VR-660C, was color capable with an external color adapter unit.           Last, but not least, the VR-660 is 14. 5 inches high X 30 inches wide X 17. 5 inches deep and weighs 100 pounds (45 Kilos). It was a jewel of miniaturization in its time if you compare it with the mighty Quadruplex! UPDATE: The missing tape guides are being remanufactured for me from critical dimensions provided to me by John Turner of [Turner Engineering Inc.] in New Jersey. Thanks John!          For a giggle, [CLICK HERE] to see the VR-660s baby! I guess the unit was pregnant when I got it? NEEDED: Operator and Service Manuals for the VR-660. Will trade for a copy of the VR-1500 manual. Progress Report: 020618 RESTORATION REPORT #1: The VR-660 gets new entrance and exit guide pins!        With information provided by John Turner, I have managed to get replacement tape guide pins manufactured for my Ampex VR-660.         What exactly are entrance and exit guides, LabGuy? I'm glad you asked! These two guides are the most important points in the tape path on any video tape recorder. These two guides are responsible for precisely changing the tape direction so that it follows an absolutely precise path around the head drum. The first part of that function is to change the tape travel from a level direction, parallel with the top plane of the transport, to an angled rise (in this case) taking the tape around the drum in a spiral or helix. Hence the term, helical scan! The scan part is not helical only the travel of the tape around the drum. The exit guide performs the reverse translation as the entrance guide, returning tape travel to its original horizontal plane.        While the tape is circumscribing the drum, it must also be positioned so that the prerecorded video tracks are lying in a perfectly horizontal plane with the video heads. The heads protrude from a slot around the drum and contact the tape. As the head disk spins, inside the drum, the heads trace perfectly horizontal bands across the tape. When the tape is not wrapped around the drum, these tracks are actually at an angle, relative to the edge of the tape. But, they should be perfectly straight. The drum guides are mostly responsible for this precision geometry. Drum roundness, exact centering of the heads and other factors are also important in achieving perfect tape geometry. But, these guides are the most important part to restoring this machine!        Another property of these guides is their mechanical stability. They need to be precisely shaped and positioned to do their job correctly. A little too far one way or another and the tape will not meet the face of the drum correctly. Wrinkling, riding up or down the drum, edge damage and other geometric horrors can occur.  The guides must also be very hard since the oxide recording surface of the tape will be riding over them continuously in all transport modes. To soft of a metal and the guides would wear out in a very short time. The guides must also be non magnetic so that the tape is not partially or, in extreme cases, completely erased by passing over them! These guides are made from precisely machined stainless steel for this job.        In the first photo, LabGuy is cleaning the aluminum support bracket for the entrance guide which is on the bottom. I had to scrape out the old epoxy and clean the metal surface, removing all dirt and oil that my have been there. I used an industrial non CFC solvent similar to freon for this part of the job. The upper guide support got exactly the same treatment. Next, the guide pins were assembled and cleaned with solvent. The prep work took most of my lunch hour. As a last step, I mixed up some two part epoxy and secured the pins to the guides. A couple industrial paper clips held the pins tightly while the glue set.        After a couple of hours, the clips were removed to reveal perfectly installed tape guides! As can be seen in photos two and three. Barely containing my excitement, I tossed a reel of tape onto the deck and threaded it up. To my amazement, I was able to rotate the take reel with two fingers, even though there are many square inches of tape in continuous contact with the fixed surface of the drum! The resistance of the tape, to this static surface, is called stiction. The last two photos clearly show the tape travel around the guides and head drum. No wrinkles, no creases, no folded edges. It is perfectly good to continue to the next phase, transport restoration!        LabGuy's World would like to thank Charley at [ACI Alloys] for accepting the contract to make these parts. Without your help, this project would be progressing at a much slower rate! Thanks Charley!        Stay tuned! Progress Report: 020913: RESTORATION REPORT #2: Will Quadruplex VTR heads work in a VR-660?        That is the big question, huh? I recently obtained an old Ampex quadruplex VTR head assembly. Working very carefully, as to not damage the actual video head tips, I disassembled the unit. In the first photo, you ca see what was left after my salvage operation. To the left is the main motor assembly, covered in red iron oxide powder that accumulated under the main covers. Lower right is the remains of the head wheel. To the right of that is the four video head "tips", as I call them.         The second photo is a close up of the individual head tips. Soon as I get a chance, I will try them in the VR-660. My reasoning is that if Ampex engineers were designing a whole VTR from scratch, but the company was already fabricating a large quantity of high quality tape heads, why not use them in the new design? It is good logic, but nothing guarantees it is correct.       Stay tuned! [HOME]......[VIDEO RECORDERS MUSEUM] Last updated: January 09, 2005