|
Sony made this machine for several years in combination with a camera. I believe it’s a model AV 3400 and was probably the most popular of the portable machines. In addition to the camera the outfit came with a battery pack and AC power supply/ charger, microphone and other accessories. I think they called it the Video Rover. It certainly is more plentiful than the Panasonic version of which I have two and will hopefully be able to make one complete and working outfit.
I have a sizeable collection of half inch open reel VTR’s from the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s including most of the Sony models and a number of Panasonic models as well in both B&W and color. I picked up a Sony AV 3600 at a school surplus sale in the late 80’s and having worked in broadcast television with an interest in odd audio and video tape formats I was intrigued by the machine. With no tape or other information it sat for a while before I found about 50 reels of tape at a local flea market. Everything was fine until tape was threaded and the play control was thrown. The transport came to a halt and every metal surface was coated with sticky black gunk. Odd thing was the tape was dry to the touch. The machine eventually got traded away and forgotten.
A few years ago I ran across a web article about “sticky shed” syndrome that affects recording tape. It explained the problem with the old tapes as well as the process of tape baking which got me interested in finding another machine to experiment with. Within a month of reading these articles a local estate sale mentioned old video equipment and to make a long story short I brought home 4 machines and a van load of tapes. Instant collection. Now, nearly 3 years later I have 15-16 different machines. Many have been restored and I’ve also done some tape transfers for a couple people. These beasts are temperamental to say the least but I enjoy a challenge especially when the end result is something many folks have never seen before which is what I get the most enjoyment from.
I’m always on the lookout for machines and tapes and always interested in what might be on them. Haven’t found anything like the Bob Crane stuff though….
Rick
|