<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>Here's a link to the 2006 NASA article about the search for the missing data tapes, and the preservation of the equipment to play them.</div><div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo_tapes.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo_tapes.html</a></div></div></div><div><br></div><div>Basic summary and side notes:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; ">Because of power limitations, Apollo 11 used specially developed slow-scan video that had to be converted into a format that could be broadcast over commercial television. The original signal was transmitted at 10 frames per second in one field and had to be converted to 30 frames per second in two fields to be viewed on your TV set.</span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2E2E2E" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; "><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2E2E2E" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; ">The signal originated on the Moon, traveled through the emptiness of space back to Earth, and was received by tracking stations on the ground in Goldstone, California; Parkes, Australia; and Honeysuckle Creek, Australia. These three tracking stations recorded the original signal that included the television video, as well as voice, telemetry, and biomedical data. The data was recorded onto magnetic tapes, and simultaneously converted into a U.S. broadcast format for transmission to Houston and final release to U.S. television networks. </span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2E2E2E" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">----</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2E2E2E" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; ">(TL notes: The conversion was done by using a long-persistence picture tube to display the slow scan images, which were shot by an RCA TK-22 vidicon camera. A disk recorder was used to create enough fields to work with the NTSC signal.</span></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Read more here: </span></font><a href="http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/tv_from_moon.htm"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/tv_from_moon.html</span></font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Photo of Honeysuckle Creek scan converter: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><a href="http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/images/ed_von_r_tv1.jpg">http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/images/ed_von_r_tv1.jpg</a></span></span></font></div><div><br></div><div>---</div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2E2E2E" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; ">The equipment used to convert the signal unfortunately caused some unavoidable loss of image quality.</span></font></div><div><br></div><div>The dark-looking images are due—in part—to using a gamma of 1.0 in the camera. That choice was made to preserve the option for post-facto processing of 1200+ scan-line pictures the camera could produce in case film-based photos weren't possible.</div><div><br></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2E2E2E"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000">See comparions of the Slow scan monitor images and NTSC pictures here: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><a href="http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/Parkes_Apollo11_TV_quality.html">http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/Parkes_Apollo11_TV_quality.html</a></span></font></span></font></div><div><br></div><div>and here:</div><div><a href="http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/index.htm">http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/index.htm</a>l</div><div><br></div><div>(Click on the links as necessary)</div><div><br></div><div>Stills here: <a href="http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11_EVA_stills/index.html">http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11_EVA_stills/index.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>The Scan converter operator at Honeysuckle shot Super8 footage of both the slow-scan and NTSC monitors during the moonwalk. Interesting differences.</div><div><br></div><div>The footage has been used to make two DVD's about the station's activities.</div><div><br></div><div>The Parkes video signal was what was used for most of the TV coverage. </div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><br></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">Ampex VR-660 2" helical recorders were used to record the NTSC-converted Parkes signal in Sydney.</span></font></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><br></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">Some very good photos of the other Australian station—Honeysuckle Creek—show the 2" Quad recorder used there, backed by Ampex VR-660's.</span></font></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br></span></font></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">See photos here: <a href="http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/station/video.html">http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/station/video.html</a></span></font></div><div><br></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">The NASA webpage on the data tape search reports:</span></font></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; ">First-generation copies of the converted video from Apollo 11 as well as other first-generation copies and some original versions of the converted video for the Apollo 12 through Apollo 17 flights are still in NASA Johnson Space Center's Informational Resources Directorate's video vault in Houston. </span></div><div><br></div><div>So it is possible that the enhanced video being showcased on Thursday came from two different 2" formats: Quad and VR-660 Helical.</div><div><br></div><div>Yet to be rediscovered:</div><div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">The telemetry signals (including the SSTV video) were recorded onto what the Parkes link says were 1/2" tapes mounted on Mincom M22 instrumentation recorders.</span></font></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><br></span></font></div><div style="font-size: 17px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">The NASA webpage about the preserved data equipment and the Honeysuckle website say they were one-inch tapes. Goldstone used Ampex FR-1400's according to the <a href="http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/station/index.html">Honeysuckle Creek website.</a></span></font></div><div><br></div></div><div>The telemetry tapes are what is being sought, in the hope that modern digital processing will yield even better images from the 320 line Slow Scan data.</div><div><br></div><div>Especially if gamma correction were applied.</div><div><br></div><div>Ted</div><div><br></div><div apple-content-edited="true"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Ted Langdell</span></font></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Secretary</span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Skype: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>TedLangdell</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">e-mail:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span><a href="mailto:ted@quadvideotapegroup.com">ted@quadvideotapegroup.com</a></span></font></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br></body></html>