apollo16uvc
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Hello Orbiter Forum members,
After I have done some digging, and with some suggestions from other people, I have found a german radio station that at the time of Apollo received and recorded audio, biomedical telementry and video from the moon. The Bochum tracking station.
Someone who came there some years ago said he saw a RCA Quadruplex Video Tape Recorder (VTR) in bad shape, together with a two inch Quadruplex reel on display. The reel was labled Apollo 16. The reel was in a state of decay, as was the recorder.
I have contacted some people at the radio station, and in September I will get in contact with someone who knows more about the tape archive.
So far I know that they recorded video/audio from Apollo 16, video from the LRV and audio from Apollo 11. But I am sure other missions were recorded too, it was hinted.
I proposed a digitization effort, and have been told that the RCA VTR is indeed in a bad state and would need costly repairs. The main reason why it has not been done already, is that NASA had bigger dishes and thus a better video feed anyway. But I think every chance to digitize historically significant tapes should be taken before the tapes have decayed completely.
I will post more information about the tapes as I receive more information. I also asked for photos, but that email has not been answered so far.
Would anyone here be willing to lend their expertise, parts or perhaps an entire Quadruplex machine to a digitization effort? and possible machines for other formats, if the Apollo 11 audio was recorded on 1/4 or 1/2 inch audio reels. NASA has given third parties money for restoration efforts before, like the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project.
If you wish to contact me personally, PM me and ask me for an Email there.
UPDATE:
I have contacted several audio and video museums in Germany. deutsche-kinemathek and Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern replied so far, unfortunately the tapes at Bochum fall outside of their collection policy.
If you know any other museums at Europe that might be interested, link me their website.
I have received a message from an other Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern member, that is willing to work with the Quadruplex tapes and machines for this digitization effort. The problem is, the last 3/4 quadruplex machines at Germany were shipped to the USA a few years ago. Flo has the rotational heads and some tapes. There are two Quadruplex machines at Zwitserland. He has several tape machines and knows how to transfer old formats. He has a lab and space where machines can be repaired and tapes can be stored.
There are only 1-2 Quadruplex machines left at Zwitserland at a museum. The museum will most likely let us use them.
If the RCA Quadruplex machine is still at Bochum, it could be very usefull and may be repaired or used for parts.
If you know the location of any Quadruplex machine in Europa, please contact me.
If you know any company or museum that would be willing to help us, please contact me.
Cheers,
Niels
Netherlands
After I have done some digging, and with some suggestions from other people, I have found a german radio station that at the time of Apollo received and recorded audio, biomedical telementry and video from the moon. The Bochum tracking station.
Someone who came there some years ago said he saw a RCA Quadruplex Video Tape Recorder (VTR) in bad shape, together with a two inch Quadruplex reel on display. The reel was labled Apollo 16. The reel was in a state of decay, as was the recorder.
I have contacted some people at the radio station, and in September I will get in contact with someone who knows more about the tape archive.
So far I know that they recorded video/audio from Apollo 16, video from the LRV and audio from Apollo 11. But I am sure other missions were recorded too, it was hinted.
I proposed a digitization effort, and have been told that the RCA VTR is indeed in a bad state and would need costly repairs. The main reason why it has not been done already, is that NASA had bigger dishes and thus a better video feed anyway. But I think every chance to digitize historically significant tapes should be taken before the tapes have decayed completely.
I will post more information about the tapes as I receive more information. I also asked for photos, but that email has not been answered so far.
Would anyone here be willing to lend their expertise, parts or perhaps an entire Quadruplex machine to a digitization effort? and possible machines for other formats, if the Apollo 11 audio was recorded on 1/4 or 1/2 inch audio reels. NASA has given third parties money for restoration efforts before, like the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project.
If you wish to contact me personally, PM me and ask me for an Email there.
UPDATE:
I have contacted several audio and video museums in Germany. deutsche-kinemathek and Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern replied so far, unfortunately the tapes at Bochum fall outside of their collection policy.
If you know any other museums at Europe that might be interested, link me their website.
I have received a message from an other Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern member, that is willing to work with the Quadruplex tapes and machines for this digitization effort. The problem is, the last 3/4 quadruplex machines at Germany were shipped to the USA a few years ago. Flo has the rotational heads and some tapes. There are two Quadruplex machines at Zwitserland. He has several tape machines and knows how to transfer old formats. He has a lab and space where machines can be repaired and tapes can be stored.
There are only 1-2 Quadruplex machines left at Zwitserland at a museum. The museum will most likely let us use them.
If the RCA Quadruplex machine is still at Bochum, it could be very usefull and may be repaired or used for parts.
If you know the location of any Quadruplex machine in Europa, please contact me.
If you know any company or museum that would be willing to help us, please contact me.
Cheers,
Niels
Netherlands
