Sony AVC-3210 B&W Camera

[bandersen]

I recently picked up this Sony AVC-3210 B&W vidicon camera.


Too bad it's missing the viewfinder. Here's what it would have looked like.


After splicing on a new power cord, I was able to get a signal out that responded to varying light levels. The sync pules don't look quite right though.


I printed out a test pattern and pointed the camera at it. I couldn't get a signal in RF mode so I fed the video mode output into an RF modulator. Here's the image I got. The sensitivity and detail are good, but the vertical sync is messed up.


I tried to find service info online and came up empty. Anyone have a copy ?

[Aussie Bloke]

G'day. I personally have a Sony AVC-3200CE camera which would have a similar circuitry layout as your 3210 and I've been doing some searching for a manual for my camera. I have found someone who has a AVC-3200 manual if that might be of help to you it is listed on this site http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/man.htm .

My Sony AVC-3200CE works great though is giving a 2v DC output resulting in a bright picture with low contrast, when I record to VCR I get a picture of average brightness but with low contrast so I have to digitally adjust it on the computer, fortunately the results are good in the end. I have uploaded quite a few video feeds from this camera to my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/troysvisualarts . Here are 3 of my latest videotapings from this camera which I'm shooting a view of the Illawarra my local region and Port Kembla steel works and a couple of Magpie birds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atTg6bx-NBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWq-4C6rsUw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Plpn1pyCg
Also here's a video of me foolishly pointing this camera to the sun back in 2002 permanently burning a trail into the vidicon tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An7PJfMmjZo
The tube has since been replaced.

[old_tv_nut]

Scope trace looks like horizontal is intermittent and vertical is about twice normal frequency. Picture looks like the horizontal disturbance may be related to power supply hum. Suggest checking the power supply first, then if that doesn't fix it, look for other problems.

[bandersen]

Thanks for the info and the warning guys! I'll be sure to avoid the sun
I'll check out power supply first.

[old_tv_nut]

by the way, if the scan on the vidicon is this irregular, it could be burning a pattern into the surface, so may be best to disconnect the vidicon while you chase power supply and scan problems

[Aussie Bloke]

I've just been watching your YouTube video and noticed you selected RF output then used the RF to AV converter plug to the RCA inputs of your TV. I personally set the switch to video and I screw on a RF-RCA adapter and connect a RCA video lead from the camera to the television so I get the video signal directly. I suggest you try doing that and see how the picture turns out, if it turns out good then it's an RF issue, otherwise the problem lies elsewhere.

Secondly the sync must be set to internal unless the camera is hooked up to a CCU or and SEG which can be externally synchronized, but from what I seen in your video it's set to internal so that's not the issue.

Also some information on this camera from my knowledge of them. These cameras were made around 1970 to I think about 1974 when the AVC-3250 was introduced, so your camera is from the early 70s. The image pickup tube used for these cameras are 2/3 inch vidicon tubes which were very common in B&W cameras during the 70s. The Sony AVC-3200/10s were very popular in schools and colleges for shooting events and educational productions.

You can find more info on the similar AVC-3200 on Labguysworld site http://www.labguysworld.com/ on this page http://www.labguysworld.com/Sony_AVC-3200.htm . Send him an email too if you need some technical advice as he knows a lot about vidicon cameras and has built one from scratch.

[Aussie Bloke]

Another word of warning with these cameras, they generally output a DC voltage as well as an AC video signal voltage and the DC does exceed 1 volt and this is very harmful for any digital recording devices like a DVD recorder. I have zapped two of my AV inputs of my Panasonic DVD recorders when inputting my AVC-3200 and am left with the SCART inputs. So I advise that if you intend on recording live feeds from this camera on a digital device, hook the camera to the AV input of a VHS VCR as it will strip the DC video signal and output from the VHS to the digital device.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Aussie Bloke

I've just been watching your YouTube video and noticed you selected RF output then used the RF to AV converter plug to the RCA inputs of your TV. I personally set the switch to video and I screw on a RF-RCA adapter and connect a RCA video lead from the camera to the television so I get the video signal directly. I suggest you try doing that and see how the picture turns out, if it turns out good then it's an RF issue, otherwise the problem lies elsewhere.

Secondly the sync must be set to internal unless the camera is hooked up to a CCU or and SEG which can be externally synchronized, but from what I seen in your video it's set to internal so that's not the issue.

Also some information on this camera from my knowledge of them. These cameras were made around 1970 to I think about 1974 when the AVC-3250 was introduced, so your camera is from the early 70s. The image pickup tube used for these cameras are 2/3 inch vidicon tubes which were very common in B&W cameras during the 70s. The Sony AVC-3200/10s were very popular in schools and colleges for shooting events and educational productions.

You can find more info on the similar AVC-3200 on Labguysworld site http://www.labguysworld.com/ on this page http://www.labguysworld.com/Sony_AVC-3200.htm . Send him an email too if you need some technical advice as he knows a lot about vidicon cameras and has built one from scratch.

Thanks for the info. The 3200 Owners manual is really cool.
It's fun to see all the clips of this camera in action on YouTube. The place I got it from was using it for security. It hadn't occurred to me that it was used for actual production work.

I was actually going to the antenna input. That cheapo set doesn't even have RCA inputs. When I tried hooking it to a Sony TV's RCA video jack, I didn't get anything - just a blank screen. That set does that when it doesn't detect a valid signal. I suspect because of the sync pulse being off.

[bandersen]

I scored another 3210 in much better condition It has the viewfinder and sync cable, but no lens. So I popped on the one from the other camera. It's fully functional




I hooked up the RF output to the antenna jacks of a vintage B&W set on channel 3. I imagine it would look better if I used a proper cable rather than alligator clips.