Obsolete Video format conversion

The following people can offer tape format conversion, i.e. they can copy from one tape (not television) standard to another. Please contact them direct; their charges are by negotiation.

• JOE PAGANO, Obsolete Tape Transfer Service, RGB Broadcast Service Co., 1234 Southampton Rd., Philadelphia, PA 19116, USA. +1 215-464 3158.
• PMF VIDEO LTD (Paul Farnsworth) in Wallington, Surrey specialises in 2" quad and tape cleaning. 020-8669 0011.
• TELEVISION ARCHIVING LTD, 10 Wivenhoe Business Centre, Wivenhoe, Colchester, CO7 9DP (01206-823526, fax 01206-826751). Specialist in transferring from 2" Quad and 1" C-format to present-day formats.
• TWENTIETH-CENTURY VIDEO in Wembley is also good for 2" quad format. 020-8904 6271.
• THE VIDEO LAB (formerly Flintdown Channel 5 Television), Back West Crescent, Lytham St Annes, Lancs., FY8 1SU, has a collection of vintage VCRs so vast it confuses even the most ardent of format spotters. These include Philips EL3400, 1500, 1700 and 2000 including slow-motion; 2" Quad in 405, PAL, SECAM and NTSC, with full tape cleaning facilities; Ampex A, B and C; EIAJ; Betacam and Betacam SP; Akai and Funai/Technicolor 1/4"; Betamax, Video 8, Hi-8; VHS and S-VHS. Timebase correction available. In all cases NTSC variants are included where appropriate. Contact Donald Blakely, Chief Engineer, on St. Anne's on Sea (Lancs.) 01253-725499 or 782827.
• SSVC at Chalfont St. Peter in Bucks (01494 874468) is said to have a variety of ancient-format machines available. "Try the multicopying department (don't be put off if you only want a single copy!)".
• THE VIDEO ARK/REEVE VIDEO SERVICES (Lucy Reeve) in west London (020-8840 6293, mobile 0956-239466) has a 2" Quad machine (and other formats).
• VIDEOINFO.NL Van Egmondstraat 35, 2024 XL Haarlem, The Netherlands. Tel: 06-54986866. Martijn Belle's comprehensive video format conversion service. The site at www.videoinfo.nl provides full details in English, Dutch and German. Martijn's service puts the emphasis on quality. Timebase correction and careful de-noising is included as appropriate. Well worth a visit.
• VIDEO INTERCHANGE, 92 George Luce Rd, Waldoboro, Maine 04572. Tel: 207-832-5064. Web site: www.videointerchange.com   Vintage, Rare, Old, Obsolete or Antique Reel to Reel Video Format Transfer, Duplication and Recovery World Standards Conversion - PAL PAL-N PAL-M SECAM SECAM-L MESECAM NTSC-M NTSC 4.43. Damaged Video Recovery - Video Archiving - Audio Restoration - Vintage 78's - Vintage Audio.

Audio & Video Transcription, etc.

• ADRIAN TUDDENHAM, 88 Mount Road, Southdown, Bath, BA2 1LH. Phone 01225-335974.
• AUDIO SERVICES (Philip Farlow) runs an audio transfer bureau specialising in achieving the best possible transfer from mainly redundant formats such as open- reel tape of all sizes, speeds, formats plus acetate discs up to 17¼" in diameter and any speed and groove format. The recovered audio can be copied to compact cassette, DAT or CD-R. Digital audio restoration and other enhancing processes can be used. Full information sheet on request. Professional service and charges. Phone 020-8942 6788, fax 020-8942 0810.
• COPYCATS MEDIA, 712 Ontario Avenue West, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403, USA. Phone: 612-371-8008 Free: 888-698-8008 Fax: 612-371-8011. Hi-Fi Media. CD/DVD manufacturing. Professional CD & DVD projects delivered on time and in budget. Web site: www.copycatsmedia.com
• EARMARK PRODUCTIONS, phone 01636-822396. Transfer to CD from wax cylinders, shellac and vinyl discs, 1/4" tape, etc. at 2p/second with additonal options of noise reduction and de-clicking at 1p/second each. Minimum charge £45+VAT post-paid.
• PRECISION AUDIO RESTORATION, 15517 Dayton Av. N., Shoreline, WA 98133, USA. Web site: www.precision-ar.com/ Restoration and conversion from virtually any audio format, however obscure, to CD. Home of the 'Derumbleizer' www.derumbleizer.com a unique device that actively cancels rumble upto 3 octaves higher than other filters.
• TED KENDALL, 1 Glan-yr-Afon, Gladestry, KINGTON, Herefs., HR5 3NX.. Phone 01544-22211. Ted specialises in getting the best recovery from old acetates, 78rpm records and 16" transcriptions. He was responsible for restoring the Goon Shows rebroadcast by the BBC.
• WARD KREMER, 5807 Papaya Drive, Ft. Pierce, FL 34982, USA. Phone/Fax: 00 1 561-468 7732. E-mail: WKremer798@aol.com Transfers of old wire recordings.
• BOB MARRIOTT, 12 Davenham Close, Malvern, Worcs., WR14 2TY (01684-561040). Expert on tape recording formats of the past, helpful with information. Has what is probably the country’s largest collection of audio tape recorders.
• NATIONAL SOUND ARCHIVE, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB. Phone the information officer on 020-7412 7430 in the first place. They are part of the British Library and are particularly well placed to handle very early formats including wax cylinders and steel wire recordings. Sony Elcasets and other tapes in cartridges and cassettes can be removed from these and replayed on an open- reel machine.
• SOUND TRANSFERS an up-to-date audio workshop, run by John L. Davies, who has many years experience in sound retrieval and conservation and a special interest in Spoken Word and Classical Music, offers a professional service for archives, libraries and private collectors. Precision transfers to CD from old 1/4 inch tapes made at any speed, reel size. From cassettes, DAT, Betamax. Also from grooved media: discs of all types, sizes and speeds. Cylinder and wire recordings. Hiss and noise reduction with Cedar. Programme editing. For more details and rates, tel: 01758-612932, or have a look at our web-site: www.soundtransfers.co.uk.
• THE VIDEO ARK/REEVE VIDEO SERVICES (Lucy Reeve) in west London (020-8840 6293, mobile 0956-239466) offers high quality disc transcription 33, 45, 78 plus continuously variable, with appropriate equalisation. CD transfer and CD digital cloning onto R-DAT. Quarter-inch reel-to-reel, full, half and quarter track, 15/16" to 15 inches per second plus variable speed. Up to 10.5" NAB spool. Compact cassette, DAT, mini-cassette, microcassette and most dictation machine formats. Tape treatment.
• VIDEO INTERCHANGE, 92 George Luce Rd, Waldoboro, Maine 04572. Tel: 207-832-5064. Web site: www.videointerchange.com   Audio Restoration - Vintage 78's - Vintage Audio.
• VIDEO99.CO.UK Video-to-DVD transfers from most formats. Tel: 01752 881652 (Devon). Web site: www.video99.co.uk

Spares for RANK CINTEL Mk II TELECINE

See The Video Lab above.

Quadruplex Spares

QUAD ONE ELECTRONICS, located at Dubs Inc. in Hollywood, USA (+1 213-461 3726). Talk to Art Mairose for repairs to Quadruplex repairs and parts.

Tape Stock and Repairs to obsolete formats

• Tapes for the Technicolor 1/4" machines can be had from Terry Martini, 122B Cannon Street Road, Shadwell, LONDON, E1 2LH ( tel/fax 0171-251 3196) at £3 each or from Funai in Japan at £18 each.
• Philips V2000 tapes are (or at least, were) in stock at Combined Consumer Spares, Unit 9B, Avanti Business Complex, Manchester Road, Manchester, M27 2ND (0161-794 7633).
• Sony half-inch open reel tapes. Pat Hildred, 18 Well House Avenue, Leeds, LS8 4BY. Telephone 0113-240 2841.

Film

There are of course many excellent telecine services. One of the most reliable and comprehensive is Plato Video in Bournemouth. They handle standard 8, super 8, 9.5 and 16mm gauges (also 525/625 PAL/SECAM/NTSC standards conversion work). A professional multiplex and Sony broadcast camera are used, giving first- rate results at competitive prices. Twin 35mm slide facilities with dissolve is also available. Output to domestic and broadcast (Betacam SP) tape formats. Speak to Lionel Fynn on 01202-554382.

Professional 9.5mm (silent) film to video transfer to Beta SP, VHS, S-VHS and high and low-band U-Matic. East Anglian Film Archive, Norwich (01603-592664).

625 to 405 line conversion

David Looser, Maristow, Holbrook Road, Harkstead, IPSWICH, Suffolk, IP9 1BP. Phone 01473-328649. Uses self-designed and built broadcast-standard converter, incorporating BBC interpolation algorithms. Input tapes can be accepted on Philips 1700, EIAJ, Video2000, Beta or VHS. Note that he will require a letter indemnifying him of any potential copyright theft.

TAPE RESTORATION SERVICES

• Adrian COSENTINI, 3422 214th Place, Bayside, NY 11361, USA.
• Steve SMOLIAN, Smolian Sound Studios, 1 Wormans Mill Court #4, Frederick, MD 21701, USA.
• Scott TAYLOR, Audio Restoration Services, 13308 Enterprise Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44135-5106, USA (00 1 216-433 1220; fax 00 1 216-433 1223) Web site: www.cedar-restoration.com.
• Seth B. WINNER, Sound Studios, Inc., 1296 East 48th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234-2102, USA.
• Jim WHEELER, Tape Archival & Restoration Service, 1763 Valley View, Belmont, CA 94002, USA (00 1 415-595 4090; fax 00 1 415-594 0951, e-mail: jimwheeler@aol.com).

Video tape restoration

• Peter BROTHERS, Specs Bros., L.L.C., P.O. Box 5, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660, USA (00 1 800-852 7732; fax 00 1 201- 440 6588).
• Grace LAN, Bay Area Video Coalition, 1111 17th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.
• Jim LINDNER, VidiPax, 920 Broadway, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10010, USA (+1 800-653 8434).

ANY MORE FOR ANY MORE?

If you can offer similar services or whatever and would like your name mentioned, please drop us a line. Same applies if you need help with anything else related to old television - we may be able to assist.

FINAL PLEA!

Don't throw away any broadcast standard studio equipment of the monochrome 625 or 405 era! We can find you buyers for I.O. cameras, tripods, small monitors, vision mixers, even manuals for scrapped equipment, etc. etc. Contact the Dicky Howett on 01371-820155 - thanks!

This list is compiled by Andrew Emmerson as a service to the broadcast and film industries. The list became the quickest way of handling the increasing number of referrals I was getting! If the list is wrong, it's probably because I haven't been told...