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Old 16th Jan 2018, 1:29 am   #1
1100 man
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Default CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Good evening,
As there rarely seems to be anything posted about open reel video recorders on this forum, I thought I'd share this machine which is rather special to me!

I was at secondary school in the late '70's, early '80's and the 'AV' department consisted of one of these machines and a large Thorn 1400 dual standard TV on a big wheeled stand.
Suitable programs were recorded and then the whole lot was wheeled into the school hall or a classroom for replay.
The teacher in charge of all this was my Chemistry master and it wasn't long before I was involved. Recordings had to be started manually, so one or other of us had to be in attendance to to this.
These machines, dating from the late '60's, early 70's, looked pretty old fashioned when the new- fangled VHS system appeared which was timer controlled and could record in colour!!
Schools started to change to VHS (at huge cost) and so the Sony's became available second hand.

Somehow or other, I persuaded my father that we had to have one and one Wednesday afternoon, having written a letter to get me out of games, (yea!) he drove me over to Hemel Hempstead in our Austin 1100 estate car to collect it. It cost him £50!!
These machines don't have tuners or RF modulators (and are black & white only) and so have to be fed with baseband video and audio. Our school 1400 had a video/ audio in/ out PCB modification and a thumping great isolation transformer. During several lunch hours, I traced out the circuit of this and then made my own PCB using mum's nail varnish as etch resist. This was then fitted to my own 1400 TV, without of course the isolation transformer

I'd never heard of RCD's, so connecting the neutral connected chassis to the earthed chassis of the Sony video worked fine! I was, even at 14, slightly safety aware, and realised that if live & neutral were reversed on the TV, a big bang would result!! I therefore had a relay connected between chassis and earth, so that in the event of the chassis becoming live, the relay disconnected the mains and illuminated a neon warning lamp!
This lot (amongst many other bits of junk) lived in my bedroom and I used to record programs for mum & dad and relay them via a long length of co-ax to the G11 downstairs in the lounge.
A couple of years later, I was getting into Philips 1700's and had several machines. Tape and head problems were common, so I ended up using a 1700 with dead heads, coupled to the Sony via the duplication socket. I could then record on the Sony in colour!! The results were remarkably good and I still have a tape of 'the young ones' (Rik mayall et all) recorded on my own unique format!!

So, some 36 years on, this morning I dug the Sony CV2100 ACE out of the barn where it has sat for far too long. Hopefully, later this year, I will revive it: it is sure to need some TLC and the tapes look none too well.
I can't believe I've never taken this machine apart but in all the years I used it it always worked fine- it really is a superb bit of Japanese kit, filled with many (I think) Germanium transistors.
All I need now is a 1400 to go with it: I think I still have the in/out circuitry I traced out all those years ago complete with PCB layout!
All the best
Nick

PS
I've just dug out the manual and looked at the spec.
It's designed for 405, 625 or 819 line recording, recording time is 20 mins, or 40 mins on the 2370ft tape. Horizontal resolution is 240 lines (at 625 line). Bearing in mind it has no tuner, RF stages or modulator, it has 62 transistors & 34 diodes, consumes 110W and weighs 25Kg. Tape speed is 11.5 inches per second!!
Cutting edge tech at the time and must have cost a small fortune!
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Last edited by 1100 man; 16th Jan 2018 at 1:47 am. Reason: extra text
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 1:46 am   #2
Refugee
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

There was a later model that would work with "gutted" VHS tapes.
That one will use tape with a softer formulation.
The later formulation was called high density and will wear the heads out quickly.
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 2:03 am   #3
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

My sixth form college (opened in 1970} had one of those during my time there (1971-4). It was mainly used with a couple of cameras rather than to record off air TV programmes.

I think the transistors will be silicon.
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 2:06 am   #4
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

I often wondered if it would work with VHS tape. I can't remember if I ever tried. The Sony tapes are a typical 'rust' colour so I guess are a pretty basic formulation. It uses a huge 5.5 inch diameter head drum, so the writing speed is colossal. I assume it needs to be to get sufficient frequency response from the poor tape. It doesn't use azimuthed heads, so has to leave a guard band between tracks. I guess this makes servo control simpler with a single eddy current braked motor, but is very wasteful of tape at 11.5 ips!
I have a couple of ultra thin tapes which will do an hour. If VHS tape would work, it would take quite a few spliced together to get over 2300 ft of tape!!
Cheers
Nick

Last edited by 1100 man; 16th Jan 2018 at 2:12 am.
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 2:22 am   #5
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Hi Paul,
You are indeed correct! The transistors are all silicon types- I've just looked them up!
We did have a camera at school which was used in some lessons. I recall it was pretty low res and needed a lot of light to get non grainy pictures. I assume it would have been a Vidicon tube?
I do have a camera to go with this unit but only acquired more recently so I've never actually powered it up.
Cheers
Nick
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 8:55 am   #6
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

I used to look after a few of these for an education authority.
While it might not do the heads much good, they'll run on pretty much any tape in practice. As an experiment, I tried some surplus computer stuff, which worked perfectly well.
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 9:34 am   #7
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Lovely story, Nick!
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 10:35 am   #8
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

I had a similar Sony machine back in the mid 80's that came with a 9" mono TV/monitor, it was possible to record TV using the tuner in the monitor.
I can not remember, but think the monitor was dual standard.
It did produce a reasonable picture, one of the things i regret parting with now!

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Old 16th Jan 2018, 11:34 am   #9
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1100 man View Post
We did have a camera at school which was used in some lessons. I recall it was pretty low res and needed a lot of light to get non grainy pictures. I assume it would have been a Vidicon tube?
I can't remember the details but there were 2 or 3 fairly basic industrial types on tripods - certainly not broadcast standard. I think they had optical viewfinders and didn't zoom. The college was relatively well equipped being newly built to replace grammar school sixth forms, but a broadcast standard setup would have been a big ask in the state sector.
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 6:25 pm   #10
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

These used low energy oxide tape - use of 'modern' chrome or metal tape will seriously accelerate head wear and not work particularly well as machine will not provide adequate record current - I know as I did it (computer tape etc) in the day before I knew any better
Machines themselves were line standard agnostic as long as it was 50Hz field rate so 405,625 & 819 lines were fine although peripherals were standard specific - CVM 9-90UB rx/mon for 405 & 625 and CVM 9-90UM for 625 & 819

Cameras - there were various models - were indeed vidicon and previous comments are entirely valid - generally single standard but could be adjusted for any of the three standards - viewfinders ranges from none (metal sighting frames which were useless) to 3ins CRT viewfinder which bolted on top of appropriate camera
I don't have any VTRs left from the day but I think that a few cameras and monitors survive somewhere

Rgds to all
John
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 6:31 pm   #11
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

At my school in England, in approximately 1974-5, we had a Shibaden reel-to-reel in the lecture theatre. It recorded and played back in colour and was mounted on its own trolley, which in turn was shacked with cables to a very large TV. I remember that these were not RF connections so presumably the set had some kind of direct output.

I was the volunteer in charge of taping programmes off the air, mainly documentaries, history programs and theatre. The half-inch tapes came in large gray plastic boxes. I cannot remember the standard duration but it was not very long.

From what I remember the picture quality was quite good and the equipment very reliable.
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Old 16th Jan 2018, 6:52 pm   #12
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

I can remember doing a quick repair job for somebody on one of those Sonys, in our lounge. It was the first VTR I had ever played with. I can't remember what I connected it to, perhaps a monitor was supplied.

I think the fault was the carbon brush that rides in the head-drum shaft to discharge the static had gone AWOL, I seem to remember finding an identical brush in an old Philishave.
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Old 17th Jan 2018, 12:02 am   #13
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

When those brushes got dirty the fault was lots of little white tadpoles swimming across the screen from right to left. Very fishy but easy to fix with a clean unless you bought a new brush and slip ring and sold it to the customer at a mark up. Just give the customer the old one to justify the price
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Old 18th Jan 2018, 1:07 am   #14
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Many years ago now, a friend gave me a box of camera equipment and a 9" Sony monitor which had been used at his school with CV2100 VTR's.
The monitor has an add on box on the side with video/ audio in/ out connections. It has a VHF/ UHF switch on the front, but I'm not sure its dual standard.
The tubed camera has a small CRT viewfinder and a zooming lens. It connects to a control box via a thick cable. Model Sony VCK2400ACE
Both have been waiting in the wings for a very long time for their moment of glory! The monitor has been dropped which doesn't help! It's similar to a 9-90 UB but with in/out.

I dug out the box of tapes which has been in a very dilapidated ex chicken shed along with the 2100 and a ramshackle collection of other stuff for far too long.
The tapes have a fair collection of mould on them and need a good clean and drying out. Whether they have suffered from the sticky shed problem that seems common with audio tapes, I don't know.

What is really amazing is that in the bottom of the box was a screwed up piece of paper which turned out to be the original receipt for the machine as purchased by my dad in November 1983!! Sony CV2100 plus 15 tapes £60!
Getting out of a games lesson (to go and collect it) in November would have been a real coup:- Rugby in the freezing cold- Arggh!! Thanks dad!!

All the best
Nick
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Old 18th Jan 2018, 10:43 am   #15
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Nick

If the Sony monitor is a 9" CVM-90UB, then it is dual standard 405/625.

Ron
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Old 18th Jan 2018, 3:47 pm   #16
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Quote:
Originally Posted by Refugee View Post
There was a later model that would work with "gutted" VHS tapes.
That one will use tape with a softer formulation.
The later formulation was called high density and will wear the heads out quickly.
The early K-30 and K-60 Betamax tapes might work on this unit!
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Old 18th Jan 2018, 9:57 pm   #17
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Standard maintenance equipment for these machines was a little bit of chamois leather to hold against the spinning heads to clean them every (very) few hours running.
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Old 18th Jan 2018, 10:07 pm   #18
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

I've got the lens shown in post 14.
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Old 23rd Jan 2018, 11:50 am   #19
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Hi Nick - great to read this story.

We had a Sony reel video machine at my school and I remember asking the teacher if I could have it when I was asked, with a friend, to throw it away in the bins outside! The teacher considered this for a short while and then agreed to allow me to take it home, along with a collection of reels, on the basis that my parents agreed and provided a letter in support of this. After a lot of convincing, Mum finally agreed, and the machine came home.

Unfortunately it is no longer with me, but I do still have some video reels somewhere which you can have if I manage to find them.

Our school had a Ferguson Videostar top loading machine which was the prized possession and under no circumstances could be touched by any pupils! It lived in a locked trolley along with a Ferguson Colourstar TV.

We also had a N1700 Philips machine that was used regularly, but the teachers seemed to always have difficulty stablising the pictures. We were made to watch the TV countdown clocks which preceeded schoolds programmes for the full minute whilst they fiddled with the tracking.
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Old 23rd Jan 2018, 11:56 am   #20
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Default Re: CV2100 ACE open reel VTR

Quote:
We also had a N1700 Philips machine that was used regularly, but the teachers seemed to always have difficulty stablising the pictures. We were made to watch the TV countdown clocks which preceeded schoolds programmes for the full minute whilst they fiddled with the tracking.
We had the same problem at school too with Philips N1500s, unstable pictures
which the teachers were unable to track, so their preferred method of cure was to hit the side hard of the very expensive piece of kit !!
Amazingly sometimes it actually cured it!
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