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<DIV>Hi Doug:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Welcome to the group! I'll be glad to answer questions on your
VR-1200B restoration. It's remarkable that most of the machines from that
era can usually be fairly easily revived. Since they contain almost all
discrete circuitry, repairs are often much simpler than some of the later models
with IC's that are now classified as un-obtanium material. Look forward to
sharing your adventure!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Don Norwood<BR>Digitrak Communications, Inc.<BR><A
href="http://www.digitrakcom.com">www.digitrakcom.com</A></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=dbingley@rock95.com href="mailto:dbingley@rock95.com">Doug
Bingley</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=quadlist@quadvideotapegroup.com
href="mailto:quadlist@quadvideotapegroup.com">quadlist@quadvideotapegroup.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 19, 2009 4:03
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [QuadList] Story - New member
Background</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><U><FONT face=Arial
size=4>Doug Bingley – Introduction</FONT></U></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>Hello
to all – Here is a bit of my background:</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT size=4><FONT
face=Arial>High school – Ham radio. Took many radios and TV’s apart. Put a few
back together<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>. Developed a healthy respect for
high voltage...</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>1971 –
Enrolled in Electrical Engineering, I snagged the summer job to end all summer
jobs<SPAN class=453303519-19102009> </SPAN>- I heard that TVOntario, the
provincial Education television network wanted someone with experience on
VTR’s, so I dropped into my old high school and talked the AV tech into
showing me how to lace up a 1” Ampex. Armed with that extensive experience I
got a job maintaining and setting up small format VTR’s and studio equipment.
We had some of the earliest skip-field Sony’s, 1” Sony’s, Panasonic, Shibaden,
IVC etc. When they broke, I took them apart, put most of them back together.
(Mechanical problems seemed to dominate) This was all leading edge technology.
Imagine a Porta-pak weighing only 20 pounds!</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>1972-
Back for a second summer. Now EIAJ and colour ½” were king. The techs found
out that Sony was holding a hospitality event where there would be free beer.
When we showed up Sony unveiled the first videocassette. It was a monster;
about twice the size of a ½ inch reel to reel machine. They had the lid off of
the demo unit and when we saw the mechanical gyrations involved <SPAN
class=453303519-19102009>in </SPAN>threading <SPAN
class=453303519-19102009>up </SPAN>the tape all of us concluded that it would
surely jam up and videocassettes would go nowhere: An open reel tape was so
easy to th<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>r</SPAN>ead, why would you need the
complications? We went back to drinking Sony’s beer. ( First Forrest Gump
moment)</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>1973
Too much beer. Dropped out of engineering and got a job in master control
<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>at</SPAN>TVO. Rotated between switcher,
telecine and tape. We used VR 1200’s with an RCA TR3 thrown in for comic
relief. The TR3 would lock up somewhere between 7 and 9 ½ seconds, making
things very exciting when switching since we used a 10 second roll. Learned
many great things including how to clear an on-air head clog with your
fingernail…before you maintenance types start to twitch it was better than one
poor guy who thought he’d clean the head on-air with a Kim-Wipe<SPAN
class=453303519-19102009>. </SPAN>When he called in maintenance his comment
was “I dunno, it just stopped spinning<SPAN
class=453303519-19102009>.</SPAN>”</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT size=4><FONT
face=Arial>Moved to editing, working with VR2000’s with manual PP editors
(push and pray) and then Editec, then RCA TR70’s with EECO editors. We also
used RCA TR4’s for dubbing. My main fear was that one day I would forget to
switch to edit mode on the Editec and would go into hard record when I hit
recor<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>d</SPAN>/play for the actual edit. One day
it happened – the day that I was taking a studio feed and the whole crew was
waiting to see how my insert went..After that I previewed the edit, triple
checked I was in insert mode<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>, </SPAN>hit play
and only hit record/play at the last possible second.<SPAN
class=453303519-19102009> Never happened again.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>1976 –
CBC television – VR2000’s date coded 1967 with Editec, AVR1’s with Ampex
editors, <SPAN class=453303519-19102009>and most amazing the </SPAN>ACR
25’s for on-air playback of news items. It was always exciting when a feed
came in late and I had to record on one deck while the other deck was
on-air.<SPAN class=453303519-19102009> I still remember the gulping Thoonk
sound they made when loading a tape.</SPAN> </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>I
remember one night I was working with <SPAN class=453303519-19102009>Mike
Newell, </SPAN>a young freelance English producer, on a two hour drama. It was
not a good night. Everyone was tired and the AVR1’s were very poorly
maintained, meaning that every once in a while instead of stopping happily
from fast forward they would barf tape all over the floor. At about two in the
morning, the producer realized that half the shots he was using were from the
wrong take. He was so frustrated that he punched the door (better that than
the PA,) only to discover that the door was lead-lined. He turned white,”Gawd
I shouldn’t have done that,” but we worked for another couple of hours
correcting the errors. He showed up the next day with a cast on his hand.
(Second Forrest Gump moment)<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>..</SPAN> Mike went
on to bigger things<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>: </SPAN>Four Weddings
and<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Funeral, Harry Potter and
Goblet of Fire, etc.<SPAN class=453303519-19102009>,</SPAN> but I’ll always
remember him as the only guy who broke his hand during an edit
session.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>By
this time I had married<SPAN class=453303519-19102009> to my
d</SPAN>ream <SPAN class=453303519-19102009>g</SPAN>irl. My new wife
worked in Master Control and could handle tapes with the best of
them. Our first son was born and money was tight so I took a job selling
Life Insurance. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>Later
I moved on to Bell Canada selling Datacomm products. In 1981 we could provide
email and an integrated telephone and data terminal. Shortly after that we
added access to networks, online shopping, etc. No one wanted any of
it.(another Forrest Gump<SPAN class=453303519-19102009> coming..</SPAN>) A few
years later the President of the United States started to carry a little one
of those voice and data terminals around in his pocket and now everyone wants
to send email, and.. that’s all I’m going to say, etc. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>During
this period my wife, Pat went back to work first as an ENG editor at CFTO TV
and later, after a bitter strike, back to her old job at TVO in master
control. I wandered in one day in late 1984 and she let me line up and cue an
on-air show. The crew chief was a bit nervous that some guy in a suit had just
cued up the next item to go to air. That was the last time I operated a quad
machine.<SPAN class=453303519-19102009> (come to think of it the shop steward
probably would have ben a bit miffed as
well.)</SPAN> </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>In
1986 I decided I wanted to get back into broadcasting so I applied for an FM
licence in Barrie, Ontario, about 60 miles north of Toronto. We launched <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Rock 95</I> in 1988, <SPAN
class=453303519-19102009><A
href="http://www.rock95.com">www.</SPAN>rock95.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=4> later followed by a Hot AC, <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">KOOL FM</I> <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <SPAN class=453303519-19102009><A
href="http://www.1075koolfm.com">www.</SPAN></SPAN>1075koolfm.com</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=4> in 2001. In 1994 I travelled to Russia and set up a JV
radio station in St. Petersburg <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Radio
Hits.</I> <SPAN class=453303519-19102009><EM><A
href="http://www.Radiohit.ru">www.</EM></SPAN>Radiohit.ru</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=4> <SPAN class=453303519-19102009> </SPAN>I’m still the
president of the company and GM of the Canadian stations. (No Bubba Shrimp
Co., but it will have to do..) </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>Our
youngest son is carrying on the family tradition. He is working for CBC as a
freelance writer/producer and last year did some reporting from Canada’s far
north.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>The
last few years I have been restoring some boat-anchor radios, but some of my
fondest memories involve working as a tape editor. I have a line on a VR1200B
and I hope to restore it. </FONT><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial>It’s great to
find your user group since, as compared to fixing an old radio, restoring a 40
year old machine can be a daunting project. <SPAN
class=453303519-19102009>Perhaps</SPAN> some of you can help out with a bit of
advice (not, “run while you can,” I hope)<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><FONT face=Arial size=4>I’ve
also enjoyed the great videos on restoring a VR1200 on Youtube. It all looks
so easy in high speed… I’m not sure who that is in the video, but in addition
to his obvious technical skills he has a great set o
pipes!</FONT></P></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=4>I’ll keep you all posted as the project progresses.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453303519-19102009><FONT face=Arial
size=4>Cheers,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453303519-19102009><FONT face=Arial
size=4></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=4>Doug Bingley</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=4>President</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=4>Central Ontario Broadcasting
Ltd.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=4>431 Huronia Road, Unit 10</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=4>Barrie, Ontario L4N 9B3</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><A href="http://www.rock95.com/"><FONT face=Arial
size=4>www.rock95.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=4> </FONT><A
href="http://www.1075.koolfm.com/"><FONT face=Arial
size=4>www.1075.koolfm.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=4>PHONE
705-797-8701</FONT> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial
size=2>FAX 705 - 792-7858</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<P>
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