Tuesday - November 24, 2003 . I had a brain storm this morning. I would like to a dd a tribute page to Denson Electronics Coprpration of Rockville, Connecticut to this site. If you have any information on the history of this company please share. Or, if you have any catalogs and flyers, I'll gladly pay you fair value for them. Denson was the ultimate source for video experimenters in the 1960s and 70s. If I can get enough coherent info on the subject, I'll post a tribute page here. Thanks in advance, LabGuy. Tuesday - November 18, 2003 . Posted a new article this evening in the pre-EIAJ Museum. See the [ Shibaden SV-800UC ] VTR and monitor combination. Check it out, it's really something! Saturday - November 15, 2003 . Posted a new page today for the [ JVC GS-2500 ] small studio vidicon camera. Check it out, it's pretty! Thursday - November 13, 2003 . What a lucky day for LabGuy's World! A quick glance at Ebay today revealed a treasure beyond compare! "I LOVE EBAY'S BUY IT NOW"! An ultra-rare Shibaden [ SV-800CU ] combination VTR & TV monitor! Watch for that coming soon to the museum pages. Also scored a second Shibaden SV-700 reel to reel VTR. Slightly different version than my first one. It will be interesting to list the comparisons. Hopefully, this new one has TWO good video heads! My original Shiba 700 has one bad head and one good. Both of today's Shiba VTRs look to be in excellent display condition. I may be out over $500, but I beat you to them. Na na na na na naaa! A few days ago I also discovered an equally rare JVC GS-2500 small studio camera with 3" viewfinder. Wanted one of these since 1976! Photos of this great stuff coming soon! Coming all the way from France, and donated by my best friend there Bruno Merlier, a Philips LDL-1002! Thank you, BRUNO! Bruno also supplied me with a European un-interuptable power supply, which I will make into a 117VAC, 60Hz to 220VAC, 50Hz power converter for operating all of my CCIR equipment. There should be some nice things coming to the Euro-VTR museum pages soon. Don't be shy, be the first to donate a Loewe-Opta VTR to my museum. Make that any reel to reel model and I'll love you forever! If it is built into a TV console, and I'll gladly have your baby. Overall, it has been a good week. Stay tuned for these exciting new exhibits! Monday - November 10, 2003 . One of my fans from Australia, Troy Walters, sent a nice photo of his collection. Here it is for all to enjoy. I call it [Troy's Toys!] Keep up the good work at preserving this priceless technologies and the programs recorded on them! I performed some minor updates to my CCD camera page [HERE]. I added the photo of the actual SID504 imager chip and corrected some wrong numbers in the spec's. Enjoy! Monday - November 3, 2003 . The super rare Sanyo VTR-2000C, color reel to reel EIAJ VTR has arrived. Packing was perfect and there was absolutely no shipping damage. For a change. Enjoy this wonderful collectable! . LABGUY RAMBLINGS: For all of you numerologists, trivia and HTML freaks out there, this site now consists of 1,750 individual files. There are 1,512 image files as of tonight's update. Total computer storage space consumed is 107 megabytes. Annual cost for web site hosting, paid for out of the pocket of your gracious (though not very modest) host, is over $200 U.S. dollars a year. The web host server is located in Corpus Christi, Texas. Web hosting provided by Blue Domino dot com. The site is authored from San Jose, California on a Sony VAIO slimtop computer. The museum collection is approaching 200 artifacts. The collection lives in a 10 by 20 foot storage locker. Storage rental costs $265 a month. My total cash investment in vintage equipment, not counting recurring costs, has now reached the $50,000 mark. This site had been on line for 6 years this month. LabGuy's World was launched in November, 1997. This site is dedicated to my father for his love and encouragement in the pursuits of my passions. Since that time, the site has been enriched by 66 official contributors and dozens of other generous folks who opted out of being officially named. Contributions of moral and economic support, information and equipment have come from dozens of countries located on all continents, except Antarctica! (hint, hint) Thank Ebay for accellerating the growth of LabGuy's World by bringing long lost artifacts to the light of day once again. Aren't you all glad I was wrong when I thought this was going to be a very limited data set? Be sure to NOT recomend LabGuy's World to anyone, except all your friends and enemies. Once again, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who has contributed to this project. Peace to you all. Thursday - October 30, 2003 . Coming Soon: A super rare Sanyo VTR-2000C, color reel to reel EIAJ? VTR. Pray that the OOPS man doesn't convert this priceless collectable VTR into a maraca. AGAIN! For your amusement, here is a humorous photo of LabGuy, called: The One Who Dies With The Most VPR-5's Wins! Sunday - October 12, 2003 . The economy is effecting everything. Not to mention local and state politics. I have no bad news to report about my available lab space, but the good news is that the situation hasn't gotten any worse. Under the heading, "a small light at the end of the tunnel", I have been informed that my week-end lab access, where I work, may be restored soon. The loss of this privilege had nothing to do with me personally, but was more to do with restructuring of security under the new management. That's fair enough, I suppose. Fear not, loyal visitors. LabGuy's World, and the priceless information content, will not be going anywhere soon. I am still actively involved with providing advice and guidance to those who take the time to write. As is probably obvious, I enjoy the topic too much to give it up any time soon. Physical reality, on the other hand, still weighs heavy on the practical side of collecting. My 2,000 cubic foot storage space is over half full and that is about the practical extent to which the contents can be stacked haphazardly! I'd like to thank the several LabGuy's World "fans" I met yesterday at the Foothill College Electronics Swap Meet. It is always great when I can put a face to the name. I hope to see you all again next season! Thanks to my good friend Bigglez too for providing the transportation and support services needed to pull it all off. The end result was a substantial inflow of cash to my own vehicular acquisition fund and loads and loads of fun! Not to mention two very nice late season tans. Thanks also go out to all of you who take the time to visit my site and double thanks to those who contribute! My gratitude is immeasurable. Friday - September 26, 2003 . I have listed my Ampex VR-660B on Ebay. Auction number: 3049535259. Don't miss this rare opportunity to snag a bit of history. If there is an item of interest on my site, feel free to write and make me a realistic offer. The worst I will say is "No". I am selling off most of the collection because of the loss of my lab access where I work. This leaves no place to play with my "toys". I will be keeping a few items for senti-"mental" reasons. I will be changing very little here on the site. Its context will become mostly information oriented and I will concentrate on collecting literature and documentation on the subject. As well as assisting others to buy/restore/sell their classic television equipment. I will soon be posting a vintage video service manuals for sale list. Stay tuned! Thursday - August 21, 2003 . Are you located in the San Jose / South Bay area? Do you have a video / television oriented company? Would you like an authentic vintage VTR or video camera to decorate your lobby or conference room? You could use the prestige and LabGuy's World could use the exposure! Feel free to contact me for details about my "historical display sharing plan". Alternatively, feel free to contact me if you have more industrial space than you can use that you may be willing to lease or lend for some "full time" lab (and or public display?) space. LabGuy's World has lost the current lab space and is in need of new quarters. I operate the collection in a non-profit mode if this means anything concerning tax "advantages". Tuesday - August 05, 2003 . Added another new entry this morning. Check out the Sony VP-3000 Umatic Video Cassette Player. This beauty comes from our good friend across the big ditch, Bruno Merlier! Thanks B! Monday - August 04, 2003 . Added three new entries this evening. First is the Craig 6402 pre-EIAJ VTR. Second is the Philips LDL-1000 European VTR. And last but not least is the Columbo-Cam! Also known as a Panasonic WV-2200 two tube hand held color camera! Why do I call it that? Click the link and find out! Wednesday - July 30, 2003 . Coming very soon: A Philips LDL-1002 and a Craig 6402! Both are half inch VTRs. Both are exceptionally rare too! Still to come, the Panasonic WV-2200/KT two tube color camera and probably a million other things! Stay tuned. . . Sunday - July 20, 2003 . Recently, on the Old VTRs Discussion Group, the subject of old VTRs as seen in popular TV programs and movies came up. One program in particular comes to mind for me. It was an episode of Columbo, shot in 1976, called, "Fade into Murder", that guest starred William Shatner. He was playing an actor, with a hit TV cop show, who murdered someone. He used his Panasonic Umatic VCR to record the big game while his friend slept off the Mickey he was slipped. Shatner reset his friend's watch, slipped out and killed the person, then returned to wake his friend and finish watching the "big game". The friend has no idea he is watching a recorded game! (Without the express written permission of the commissioner, no less! Remember it is 1976 and most people have yet to even hear about home video, let alone see it!) So, Shatner now has an air tight alibi. Later, Shatner shows off his video equipment to Lt. Columbo, who figures it all out, of course. (Why not just confess?) Anyway, the video camera was a Panasonic WV-2200/KT, two tube hand held with a CCU carried on a strap over the shoulder! Well, Labguy is insane as we all know, and he has obtained the video tape of this Columbo episode (with under titles in Japanese!), an actual copy of the script from this episode and a WV-2200 camera! Not the actual camera used on the show, but one that is identical! Stay tuned for this bit of silliness in the next couple of weeks! Also, new today, the matching camera kit for the GE (CV-2000 clone) VTR. [See it here] What a neat find! Friday - July 18, 2003 . I have already mentioned the Philips LDL-1000 1/2" VTR from the early 1970s will be arriving soon. But, it turns out that there will be two more Euro VTR's being added to my collection as well. A Philips LDL-1002 and a working Bauer VTR-1004! Add to that an extremely rare Craig 6702 1/2" VTR. Woo hoo! Stay tuned! Wednesday - July 16, 2003 . Coming soon! A Philips LDL-1000 1/2" VTR from the early 1970s. I don't know much about it, but these were very popular in Europe. I have no figures for how many EIA units were shipped. In 25 years, I have seen 3 or 4 of these here in the colonies. This will be the most recent addition to the European VTRs museum pages. Stay tuned! The restoration of the DXC-5000B continues. Extensive shipping damage is delaying the display of this wonderful and extremely rare artifact. It turns out that these cameras do not travel well standing on their lens! Can you say heli-arc welding? it may be possible to get the lens castings rebuilt, but it will cost me some unnecessary big buck$! The second package, containing the CCU and cables did not fair much better. The CCU had a couple of big dents and dings in it. Most of that damage has been straightened out. It remains to be seen if the camera can be made to operate and still be mechanically sound enough ot align properly. This project has tapped into LabGuy's rage. No need to see The Hulk, I was living it! Speaking of scary movies, go see 28 days later! Let me put it this way, I am a 45 year old full grown man, but that film made me scream like the little girl and jump six feet straight up and out of my seat! Good movie! Turns out, Bruno is getting anxious for me to display the VP-3000 Umatic-S video player. I can't blame him. It is too cool. Imagine a VO-3800 adapted to portable AC powered operation as would be used by traveling sales agents. Not the most elegant solution, but a good one none the less! Stay tuned for that too! I admit it. I'm far behind on updates. Feel free to contribute material or artifacts and I will do my best to post it all here. Stay tuned! Thursday - July 10, 2003 . Added the JVC GC-3300U two tube hand held color camera tonight. Other minor HTML clean up in the color camera museum. The Sony DXC-5000B has arrived! Stay tuned for the posting this old beauty! It needs some TLC before it can be shown. Tuesday - July 08, 2003 . I will be posting a few new things this coming weekend. Look for the JVC FV-3500 EIAJ Color VTR, a Sylvania 800 Turret style vidicon camera, a really cool Concord triple five inch video monitor, a DPS-325 TBC/Synchronizer, a Sony VP-3000 - Umatic-S, AC powered, portable video cassette player (Thanks Bruno!), a JVC GC-3300U two tube color camera, a GE video camera "kit" that precisely matches my GE skip field VTR (Sony CV-2000 clone) and probably few more things I can't remember at the moment. There is never a dull moment at LabGuy's World. No sir! Sunday - July 06, 2003 . The last week has been amazing! I took my vacation in Reno, Nevada this year. Reno is now the home of Tim Stoffel, a collector of quadruplex format, and other broadcast type, video tape recorders. Be sure to visit Tim's site [LOCATED HERE]. It all started when I answered the call for helpers to move Tim's quadruplex video recorders from storage to his new house. This is no small task for only two people considering the size and weight of this kind of equipment. Giving it our best efforts, we successfully moved an entire AVR-1 quadruplex VTR, two one inch type C VTRs with TBCs and bridges, in racks, and part of an ACR-225 D2 video "juke box style" server. The frame of the ACR-225 was just too much for the two of us, but almost all other goals were reached. As seen in the following photos, the AVR-1 needs a lot of space! The third photo shows the staging of the rest of the haul! "Oh, my aching back!" Tim strikes a pose with the base of the AVR-1 in its new permanent location During the course of the week, Tim invited me to spend a day working at television station KNPB in Reno. I helped out by making some cables and even got a chance to run video camera on the program, "Book Talk". This was the first time I ever got to operate a camera in a professional environment. Piece of cake! The photo was taken after taping was completed. Best of all, Tim introduced me to Charley Anderson, one of the members of the original VTR design team at Ampex in the mid 1950s. This was the high point of my trip! it was a great honor for me to connect so directly with someone who helped launch the very career field in which I work. Charley and I talked of his days at Ampex, about his experiences since then and what he's up to now. It turns out, we have many friends and colleagues in common. Charley actually works part time at the station performing maintenance and operating cameras. The day I was there, while Charley was setting up a dubbing station, the Umatic VCR malfunctioned. it only took a moment for us to straighten it out. So, now I can honestly say Charley Anderson and Labguy repaired a video tape recorder together. Talk about your overkill! In addition to the three "great endeavors", Tim and I managed several other fun activities. He took me to visit the new transmitter site for KNPB, where I saw a personal demonstration of the Digital SD and HDTV transmitters. We caught the fourth of July fireworks show from that location as well. Tim is a lover of the "big cats", so he strategically located his home right next to the zoo! Of course, the trip was not complete without a visit with these magnificent creatures. Tim sleeps better at night, hearing the roar of his favorite lion, Kenya! Between the clean desert air, the bright sunshine, great eats, and the exercise of moving the machines, I have to say this was a five star vacation! Thanks Tim! It is highly likely that Tim will update his site with the rest of this story in greater detail very soon. Stay tuned for that! I traveled both ways between San Jose, California to Reno, Nevada on Amtrak, following the route of the original transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains. In Reno, I stayed at the the Hilton and had a blast! The VFW held a convention during the week and I had many fascinating conversations with the old timers who remind me so much of my dad. Being a tourist industry town, I found no shortage of worthwhile activities to keep me occupied during the off hours. The entire trip cost me less than an round trip airline ticket to the east coast. What a bargain! Thursday - June 25, 2003 . At long last! I have finally located and posted the pin outs of the connector on the very popular [Hitachi GP-5] color video camera. [CLICK HERE], then scroll to the bottom of that page. This information was gathered from my latest treasure, a Zenith KC-1000, identical to the GP-5 in every way! Except for the outer covers. COMING SOON! A very rare Sony DXC-5000B. Also, a very very rare JVC FV-3500! ( I need a head cover for one of these) Tuesday - June 24, 2003 . Check out these beauties currently in the pipeline! They will be posted soon, just not today. LabGuy is feeling too lazy to describe these items tonight. So, I'll just post some photos and let you sort this one out! Enjoy!!! JVC FV-3500 EIAJ Color VTR, 1973
For answers to that, and
many more questions, STAY TUNED!
Monday - June 23, 2003 . We finally have a COMPLETE Sony DXC-1600 hand held Trinicon color video camera in the collection. This one finally has the hand grip! It is in A1 beautiful condition too! Wanna see it? [CLICK HERE] Sunday - June 22, 2003 . Added the operator's manual for the DXC-1600 Trinicon Color Camera this afternoon. [CLICK HERE]. This manual is permanently linked from [THIS PAGE]. Enjoy! Tuesday - June 17, 2003 . Scanned and posted the operator's manual for the Shibaden SV-707 portapack VTR. [Read It Here]. This manual is permanently linked at the bottom of [This Page], with the Bell & Howell version of this same portapack VTR. It is also permanently linked on [This Page] with the SV-550, the EIAJ version of the SV-707. I posted a link to photo a few days ago. [The Storage Locker]. How many vintage items can you spot in the picture? The clues are subtle and only the hardest of hard cores will be able to identify it all. [Here's the key] Monday - June 16, 2003 . Well, well! I love learning something new every day! Today I learned that there was an EIAJ equivalent to the Shibaden SV-707 record only portapack VTR. It was the model SV-550. [See it here!] This marvelous contribution came from Kurt Eck. Thanks a million, Kurt! I have actually been showing this VTR on the [Shibaden Catalog Page] as an SV-707! Duh! It's only obvious, after the fact! Enjoy this new contribution! Cartrivision progress report: Limited progress this weekend. Did not get as much time for this as I'd hoped. Found that the rewinder will rewind non rental cassettes, but not the small ones. If it was working. I fear the belts are stretched out too far in the rewinder. You can hear it running, using all its "wheaties", but the tape doesn't move. The case of the complete rewinder is riveted shut (it appears) and I was not willing to risk breaking the plastic parts to get inside. Will go back to the manuals and figure out the solution. Larry Fritz was able to turn up some more Cartrivision parts this weekend also. One of these new boxes is alleged to contain belts. JOY! Hope there is a couple of spare belts for the rewinder in there too. Or, even better yet, the main belts for my VCR and then it can rewind its own tapes!! Stay tuned! Question: Does anyone have recent experience with the Cartrivision cartridges? I am beginning to wonder if they have warped or changed size over time. All of the tapes I have are very hard to turn by hand. Is it possible they need a few drops of silicone lubricant? The tape guides in these cartridges are not the precision steel roller type like are used today in VHS and other cassettes. These cartridges just have a fixed steel guide that may lend itself to high stiction. Any comments or thoughts? [Talk to me!] In a couple of weeks, the Quadruplex Park Museum will be having a large burst of activity and LabGuy must be right in the middle of it all. Tim Stoffel's new home is now ready to receive several of his wonderful Ampex quadruplex VTRs. As you can imagine, this will be an extremely labor intensive operation. There will be many friends of Tim's there to assist. Stay tuned for a full report of this grand event on both of our web sites! Visit [Quadruplex Park] here. Wednesday - June 11, 2003 . Coming Soon! A very very rare JVC FV-3500 EIAJ color VTR. This is a model number I first heard of only a few months ago. Now, does anyone know the location of a JVC FV-1500 EIAJ color player? Also coming, an ACTUAL Shibaden SV-707 portapack VTR with literature. But, still no FP-707 camera. <hint!, hint!> Did I mention the very rare Sony VP-3000? No? This is not the color video printer of the same model number. This is better! This VP-3000 is a portable AC powered Umatic video tape player such as would be used for sales demonstrations. Donated to LabGuy's World by Bruno Merlier, my counterpart on the south of France. Many Thanks, Bruno! Some information updates posted at the bottom of the [Cartrivision page]. You will find there the details for connecting AC power and I/O signals to the Cartrivision VCR. Sunday - June 08, 2003 . LabGuy needed some exercise, so he rode his bicycle to [his storage locker today]. While there, it seemed logical to do some inventory and photograph a few choice items for posting. The result is a new sub page devoted entirely to Cartrivision. See, for the first time anywhere on the web, a Cartrivision rental tape rewinder and an Emerson Cartrivision console TV / VCR combo. See one of my other mint condition Cartrivision VCRs built into a nice end table cabinet with doors that tastefully hide the VCR when not in use! To name but a few. (Yes, LabGuy has a secret number of these units!) You get to it the same way as ever, by clicking [HERE]. I am hoping to get the first Cartrivision restoration complete by the end of next week end. Stay tuned. Saturday - June 07, 2003 . Good news to report this evening. I have finally gotten the Cartrivision playing tape! It won't rewind them but it does make pictures and sound! Read more about today's progress [HERE]. Wednesday - June 04, 2003 . A couple of interesting updates to note this evening. First is a fine contribution by Darren Rootring from the Netherlands. Darren provides us with some excellent information and photos of the Sony AVC-4600CE CCIR small TV studio camera. He has three of them with CCU's, sync generator and a small switcher. To view the update, scroll to the bottom of [THIS PAGE]. I received email from Dr. Helmut Post with some fascinating information about my Philips Sirecord XH medical VTR. He happily informs me that it is actually a Grundig BK-401 VTR with some impressive spec's. These were even used in broadcasting! Get this, it sold for $60,000! WOW! Thanks, Dr. Post! (Since I lost his original email, that page will be updated at a later time.) And finally, I found a set of scans in my research archive this evening. These were scans of four technical papers describing the IVC-9000 high band two inch helical broadcast VTR in some detail. [CLICK HERE] to read them. These were provided several years ago by William Meyer. At that time, I did not have enough web space to post files of that size. Now they are available to the world. Monday - June 02, 2003 . Posted some new info about [Craig Video Recorders] today. Thanks go to Bob at [New Hampshire Video] for those contributions. While there, see Bob's tribute page to Telemation Inc., an early pioneering company in the CCTV and broadcast markets since the 1960s. The [Cartrivision VCR] is on the bench and under restoration. Progress so far: Brought up unit slowly with a variac transformer to spare the capacitors the shock of a sudden surge of current. All appeared OK. Turned on full power. The VCR runs, but refuses to thread the tape. It's either a dirty switch or a rotten drive belt. Due to some incredible gear reduction, LabGuy will first read the manuals some more before losing a finger! Don't believe me? The manual warns of this!!! Stay tuned. Posted my two new, I mean OLD!, Soviet Video Cameras. [SEE THEM HERE]! Wednesday - May 28, 2003 . Good news, comrades! The Soviet 1970s and 1980s vintage video cameras have arrived. Voo hoo! Sunday - May 18, 2003 . Cartrivision updates! Yesterday, I received a donation of several Cartrivision VCRs, parts, manuals, tapes, and misc. other items. I will post as much of it as I can as quickly as I can. this is the closest I've come yet to having operational Cartrivision equipment. I must make more time in the day! I swear there is never enough of it! [CLICK HERE] Enjoy! Tuesday - May 13, 2003 . It has been a good week! Last Saturday, while browsing the Foothill College electronics flea market, I stumbled across a couple of Akai 1/4" portapacks. One of them had the mythical TV tuner module (option)! LabGuy will be needing government cheese to survive, but he did get that outfit! See it on the [Quarter Inch VTR Museum] page. Also arrived in this evening's post. Another GBC CTC-5X single tube color camera. This camera is in showroom condition. Stay tuned! Monday - May 12, 2003 . So, what exactly are the odds, that an ex-employee of Cartridge Television, Incorporated would be hoarding a ton of Cartrivision equipment within walking distance of where I live? Stranger things have happened, I suppose. The fact remains, that LabGuy's collection has just jumped up in size by several more video tape recorders. Happy happy! Stay tuned! In other news, I have posted everything I have pertaining to the mythical Sony SV-300, a PROFESSIONAL version of the CV-2000. Read about it on this page [HERE], scroll down to the News Flash entry. I hope you enjoy puzzling over this document as much as I have. It was located in a 1972 printing of the Sony CV-2000 service manual. These pages appear to have been included as an insert. Has anyone ever seen an SV-300? Please write and share your experience. I'd be pleased to post follow up information on this topic. Friday - May 9, 2003 . Added the operator's manual for the JVC CR-6060U Umatic VCR [HERE]. The VCR article is on this page [HERE]. Thursday - May 8, 2003 . New tonight, the complete schematics of the [Sony CV-2000 pre-EIAJ videocorder]! (See the: Hot Update!) I have been contacted recently by a man who has experienced the same motor failure as I have while using his CV-2000. From his information, it seems probable that the failure is not necessarily the motor itself. If you are interested or knowledgeable in this topic, then join in at the [OLDVTRS] discussion group. Ever heard of a Sony SV-300? Then you better Staaaaayyyyy Tuuuuuned! Wednesday - May 7, 2003 . Coming soon! A pair of vidicon cameras from the former Soviet Union! A [1978 Volna 801], and [1982 Elektronica 841] respectively. The Volna looks very similar to the camera for the Bauer Video VTR-1004 system and appears to have only an optical viewfinder. The Elektronica camera looks for all intents and purposes like a Sony AVC-3400. Does anyone have any information beyond what I have stated so far? Monday - May 5, 2003 . The General Electric VTR is posted! [CLICK HERE] Updates to on the Craig (Diamond Power) page too!! Woo Hoo!!! [CLICK HERE] Also, lots of new links added to the links page! [CLICK HERE] Monday - April 21, 2003 . Finally! After all these years, I will be adding the GE version of the Sony CV-2000 video recorder to my collection! Someone was snoozing on their Ebay auctions!!! Your loss was my gain and I thank you. Watch for this rarity, Coming Soon! On the lighter side of the news, I picked up a very nice, very clean, Craig brand 1960s vintage BW vidicon camera. It arrived today and I was preparing to photograph it for posting on this site. I noticed that the lens rings would not rotate, so I quickly unscrewed the lens for a look. The lens turned out ot be window glass. Hmmmm, I says to myself. Slowly, I turned, and much to my surprise when I peered into the lens mount, the camera body was EMPTY! Hollow. Full of echoes! The steel case was heavy enough for me to not even notice that this camera was even more gutless than Viet Nam veteran with a Canadian war bride!!! Well, there it is. The funny story. Laugh, I say!!! Sunday - April 13, 2003 . Very little to report on the web site today. But, LabGuy did go to the NAB convention this year and spoke with representatives of many fine video companies. It is my take that the video industry is reinventing itself into an almost incomprehensible mess. This is not only my opinion. My colleagues and I would visit hundred thousand dollar display booths that were pretty and flashy, but left us absolutely baffled as to what product or service they actually had to offer! I suppose if a friend of mine from Cisco systems were along it would have helped a little. It appears that a good one third of the exhibits had more to do with data (read: computer) networking and storage than with traditional paradigms of TV broadcasting. Another third of the exhibits would have impressed lawyers more than engineers or business folk, as the industry paranoia of piracy was being addressed in spades. Lawyers and crooks! Hmmm, how does one tell them apart these days? Ever notice that car thieves have the best alarms on their cars? 'nuff said. For those of us who appreciate the hardware side of the business, there was plenty to look at. But, virtually none of it was VTR related! <sadness> Tape is now taking the role of backup medium to the advancement of magnetic, optical and solid state disk drive alternatives to the traditional VTR. The companies doing the best trade in the VTR business are the equipment refurbishers! That is not to say there were no VTRs, but they were definitely in the declining minority of products. What I did see in vast abundance, were hundreds of flat panel display screens ranging in size from a fraction of an inch to dozens of feet in size! Every form of physics was on display (no pun intended). I saw LCD's, TFT's, plasma screens and LED based displays. Projection technologies are advancing along at an ever increasing rate and prices are dropping like stones! NEC has a model the size of a toaster that will project a 100 inch picture on the wall with a "throw" distance of only 14 inches! Which means it can sit on a table that is right up against the wall screen! Impressssiiiiiive! You can still drop twenty thousand dollars for a high end HDTV monitor, but let me tell you, you don't have to any more. Would you be interested in a direct view thirty inch CRT HDTV with built in full ATSC compatible digital tv receiver for less than $2,000 (U.S.)? Apparently, Daewoo has just such a product and in my humble opinion, it was gorgeous! Most HD sets in this size and quality are still retailing at the $5K+ price range. The Daewoo set that I saw, at a display for digital tv transmitters, sells for only $1,600 retail! That is half of the price of the nearest competitor I could find ~ And that did not even include the digital TV receiver! I guess my point is that HDTV is about where color TV was in 1964, just about to hit critical mass and fly away on its own! Well that's my Reader's Digest version of my experience at NAB 2003. Comments and questions always welcome! ~LabGuy~ Friday - March 28, 2003 . Updated the links page under the Entertainment heading this evening. Modernizing? the front page a little. Took down the "for sale" link. Don't panic, the site is still for sale, I just took down the sign. Make an offer at any time. Sunday - March 02, 2003 . More updates to the article about the JVC [PV-4800U] color EIAJ portapack VTR and [GC-4800U] two tube color camera. Click the model numbers for the appropriate articles. While I'm on the subject of mid-1970s JVC Video Products, why don't you check out the [1976 JVC Video Products Catalog]! This catalog is linked to my [JVC Catalog (web) Page]. Saturday - March 01, 2003 . This evening, I have added the operator's manual for the JVC PV-4800U color EIAJ Portapack. [CLICK HERE] and scroll down to the article for the JVC PV-4800U. Sunday - February 23, 2003 . Updated the entry for the JVC PV-4500 portapack and camera. [CLICK HERE] to see the operator's manuals for the JVC PV-4500 VTR, the GS-4500 camera, the ACP-22D power supply and the KVR-5U RF adapter. New today! A new [Betamax VCR section] has been added to the [Sony Catalog page]. This new page was created by Sean Meskill for LabGuy's World. Be sure to check it out. More VCR's to be added as time permits. In the "better late than never" category, I finally got around to posting a couple of photos contributed by Mike North in Great Britain. He has a mostly complete and exceptionally rare [Precision Instruments PI-3V] one inch helical scan VTR, circa 1963. Thank you Mike! Still to come: A JVC PV-4800U portable color portapack VTR and matching GC-4800U two tube color camera. Stay tuned!!! Thursday - February 20, 2003 . The JVC PV-4500 portapack and camera has arrived! [SEE IT HERE] Tuesday - February 18, 2003 . Coming soon! A complete JVC PV-4800U color EIAJ portapack VTR and yet another matching GC-4800 color portapack camera! I have one of these outfits already ~ more or less. That is, I have collected most of the pieces of such an outfit. The new kit appears to be more complete than the set I have now. Stay tuned! I'd like to express my thanks to all the people who have written to me over the last few weeks regarding the potential sale of my collection. Your kind thoughts and ideas are very welcome. No doubt, some of you have noticed my erratic moods and behaviors. Just chalk it up to the times we live in. If you aren't border line insane in today's world, then you're truly crazy! If I have offended anyone, I apologize. With issues at my job and the insanity in the world right now, I admit struggling to keep hold of my senses. The pressure has raised a lot of demons from my past! My primary goal is to keep my collection if at all possible. The only reason I'd consider selling it all is simply to keep the collection intact and to protect the work I have invested. It is not impossible that I could become unemployed in the near future. The cost of storing this collection is close to $300 per month! If anyone can offer low-cost or, better yet, no cost storage space in the San Jose California (south bay area), please feel free to contact me. The collection is currently consuming a ten by twenty foot storage locker to a depth of about four feet and another ten by ten feet of space where I work! Sunday - February 09, 2003 . Coming soon! A complete JVC PV-4500 portapack VTR and matching GS-4500 BW portapack camera! Saturday - February 01, 2003 . No updates today. I am in mourning the loss of the space shuttle Columbia over the state of Texas earlier this morning. My condolences to the families of the crew. I am a great enthusiast of our space program and this tragedy is very personal. I have actually seen the space shuttle Columbia, in person, on many occasions. I witnessed its third launch and landings #2 through #6 at Edwards AFB in southern California. I will publish stills from my personal videos very soon. In the meantime, here are photos I personally took of another space shuttle as it passed over me in Leesville, Louisiana, on the date of December 27,1999. I don't immediately recall which shuttle this was. This is what today's landing should have looked like.       Tuesday - January 28, 2003 . Added photos and descriptions of common adapter plugs used with old VTRs and contemporary video equipment. If you need to connect your obsolete video equipment to your VCR or DVD recorder, then check out [THIS PAGE] here. Coming Soon: A 1980-ish RCA CC-010 portable color video camera. This model is probably the most common of the yard sale treasures these days. It makes fair pictures when their is lots of light and just generates a lot of green noise when their isn't. A real work horse for the pioneering consumers of the late 70s. As always, Stay Tuned! Monday - January 27, 2003 . Alrighty then! Finally placed the article about the Panasonic NV-3120 color EIAJ VTR at the top of [THIS PAGE] here. Also added two very improved photos of the front and interior of my B&K Precision Instruments 1077B Television Analyst. See it at the very bottom of [THIS PAGE]. Coming soon: A possible restoration of a [Funai / Technicolor 212 1/4" VCR]. I recently obtained one of these in operational condition. I use the term loosely, however this unit does operate. It will provide me with the proper measurements for replacement belts and wheels. From this data, I intend to create a belt kit and market it from my site. The kit will also contain instructions for unjamming a tape from one of these VCRs, as that seems to be a common problem. At least these VCRs are not that rare! There are at least a half dozen of these in the LabGuy's World collection. It may be necessary to sacrifice one unit before this project is over. Time will tell! Of course, if you have any technical documentation for these units, please share it? Stay tuned. Sunday - January 26, 2003 . Finally got around to posting a little something about the Sony TT-100 Tuner/Timer for first generation Umatic VCRs. [SEE IT HERE]. At the bottom of that same page, be sure to read about some current information pertaining to the restoration of my B&K Precision Instruments 1077B flying spot scanner! Coming later this week: The fully functional Panasonic NV-3120 color EIAJ VTR. Stay tuned! Saturday - January 25, 2003 . A fascinating tale of discovery and bad luck. I was contacted earlier this week by a fellow who claimed to be in possession of some home video shot by the legendary jazz drummer, Buddy Rich. Home video it may have been, but home movies it was not. Apparently Mr. Rich enjoyed recording his favorite episodes of Mod Squad on his Sony CV videocorder! The gentleman arrived at my work place and we dusted off both the Sony CV-2000 and the Sony CV-2600 and threaded his tape. The 2600 would not play very well because of a stretched head belt. So we moved the tape to the CV-2000. It produced a viewable image after a fashion. We ran the tape through hoping to discover any hidden treasure it may contain. We found nothing but the off the air recording of a crime drama. During the run of the tape however, the smell of smoke became apparent. At that same instant, the CV-2000 slowed to a halt. Toggling the power switch a couple of times made it start running again ~ for a few more seconds. At this point, the smoke was very noticeable. More than likely, the main motor has checked out of hotel life. :-( And that is why I don't usually rent or loan VTRs. At least I was present to experience the failure. It is important to know that the other fellow had honest intentions. Had I loaned him the deck and the same failure occurred, it would be virtually impossible to believe the failure was not the result of abuse. That's how simple it is to develop bad blood between two people. Even though I am saddened by the demise of the CV-2000, at least I have a new contact in the world of vintage video recovery. Hi Chris! Be sure to check out the DVD, "Buddy Rich and hs band ~ The Lost West Side Story Tapes", available from Hudson Music LLC. On another music related topic, I have listed two pairs of tickets for sale on Ebay. What sort of tickets, LabGuy? I'm glad you asked! These are four tickets to the Rolling Stones concert in San Jose at the HP Pavilion on February 4, 2003. You better get them while the getting is good! Check out [Auction #1] or [Auction #2]. These tickets will be going fast! This could be your last chance to see the Stones in the San Francisco bay area ~ ever! Don't sit there reading this! Go bid!!!!! Last, but surely not least: I have added a bit of an update to the [RCA TC-2811 CCD camera page]. I found one of my very rare SID504 CCD camera chip circuit boards from an old medical endoscope camera. I traced the partial circuit schematic and present it for all to see. More info desired and required. If you have data sheets for the RCA SID504, drop me a line! TIA. Tuesday - January 21, 2003 . Update on the FAQ page tonight. I describe a way to make a "man killer" cheater cord for use with old VTRs. A project for the truly desperate! [SEE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION #7]. The Panasonic NV-3120 color EIAJ VTR has arrived in great shape. It turns out to be the standardized color under system and conforms perfectly to the EIAJ color spec. In other words, it plays the color recordings made on my Sony AV-8600 just fine. Photos and an article coming very soon! Also, coming soon. I have dusted off my B&K 1077B "Television Analyst", a classic flying spot scanner, and tried it out. My room mate was kind enough to attach a power cord and we fired it up for the first time since I got it over six years ago. Wadda ya know? It works! Photos and update article coming very soon! [SEE THE CURRENT ARTICLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.] Monday - January 20, 2003 . Life goes on. Coming soon, a Sony TT-100 Tuner Timer Unit for use with first generation Umatic decks. We take our VCR tuner timers for granted today, but it was not always so. See how the problem was dealt with in the early days. Photos and article coming very soon! Still awaiting the legendary Panasonic NV-3120 color EIAJ VTR. Is it standard? Is it unique? Only thorough testing will tell. Stay tuned! Saturday - January 04, 2003 . Happy new year! Time keeps on rolling by. Time to roll over the what's new pages, add updates to the site and keep feeding the insatiable appetite for info on extinct video equipment. Coming Soon! A nice Panasonic NV-3120 VTR. This model appears to be another AV-5000 copy cat. EIAJ compatible in BW, but not in color. According to the manual, the machine is a direct recorder with playback (SC) heterodyne process. Unlike most color VTRs, this one does not process color separately during recording, only during playback. Ask anyone who has seen this technique applied, even on one inch type C broadcast VTRs, and they will tell you it sucks! It will be interesting to experiment with this beast! Also new at LabGuy's World, a working AV-8600 color videocorder and matching CV-1225 color Trinitron monitor from 1974. It has taken some time, but I finally have a working EIAJ color VTR! True, it could use belts and alignment, but compared to the rest it is in showroom condition. I'd like to send my thanks to the original owner, Paul, for the great condition he kept his equipment in! Scroll down to the bottom of [THIS PAGE] to see this wonderful find! Click here to: Read last year's What's New Page Return to The Top of LabGuy's World Last updated: January, 21, 2003 |
