Top view of the recorder. Control center is at extreme left. Ampex Home Video Recorder By JOSEPH ROIZENInternational Video Consultant, Ampex Corporation Design and operation of this manufacturer's lowest priced full helical scan recorder for in -home, educational, and industrial uses. VIDEO recorders utilizing magnetic tape as a storage tape. A 10 -inch reel of this tape (3000 feet) costs $59.95, medium are beginning to rival the already familiar while a lighter duty tape is expected to cost $39.95 a roll. audio tape units in size, price, and simplicity. The The video head used is expected to have a minimum life of Ampex VR-6000 series, designed for home use, is an example 500 hours with a replacement cost of under $35. A tape of such a device. Its cubic dimensions, weight, and cost are made on one of these recorders can be played back on an- roughly double that of a good -quality audio recorder. other similar Ampex recorder. The Model 6200 consolette, which includes deck, base, The VR-6000 uses the helical -scan principle with a single and video control center, costs $1495; the price of the Model rotating head assembly (Fig. 1), laying down the 3° 6' 6100 basic deck alone is $1095. The control center contains angled tracks containing the picture signal. Two stationary TV receiver front-end circuits for making a recording but heads record the control and audio track signals in normal no display monitor. The center also permits the recorder to longitudinal fashion along the top and bottom edges of the be connected to any TV set's antenna terminals to allow the one -inch -wide tape (Fig. 2). Although the tape moves from set to be used as a monitor during playback. A separately reel to reel at only 9.6 inches per second, the effective writing available camera and microphone kit sells for $580. The speed of the 3600 rpm video head is 1000 ips. recorder weighs just under a hundred pounds and will record The tape is guided around the helical scanning assembly and play back a 1 -hour program using special 1 -inch video by entry and exit guides that can be opened to facilitate threading (Fig. 3). When the guides are in the closed posi- Fig.1. A single rotating video head lays down very slightly tion, the video head is out of contact with the tape for only slanted 13°Cl video tracks on the1 -intape.Fixed heads record and play back control and audio tracks near tape edges. Fig. 2. Track pattern produced by the home video tape recorder. CONTROL VIDEO HEAD TRACK .020 WIDE HEAD DRUM ROTATING VIDEO TRACKS .006"WIDE .905" .0027"GUARD BAND CONTROL TRACK COMPOSITE VIDEO AUDIO .0075" .043" STATIONARY GUARD AUDIO TRACK DRUM BAND TRACK 52 ELECTRONICS WORLD.