HISTORY:
My previous business for 25+ years was audio post production but there was a time when I considered moving into the world of video. I collected together a lot of interesting (but retro) equipment and thought that one day we might press them into service but in the end, the video side of things never happened because we were far too busy dealing with audio.
Since those days I have had this equipment sitting in my storage units and finally I have had the chance to dig them out, fire them up and get an idea of their condition.
The following description details brief info about what the equipment is designed to do, what the cosmetic condition is like and some limited testing...read on
PANASONIC AV Mixer
Made in Japan
Model: WJ-MX10
Released to market 1993
Prosumer product (not Pro but more advanced than consumer products of the time)
In a nutshell this is a dual video source mixer/wiper plus the ability to superimpose an additional camera source - monochrome camera!!! (I said this was retro)
There is no need for the two video sources to be synchronised.
I strongly suspect this is an NTSC Composite video mixer with stereo analog audio on each channel (see my testing description below)
Built in video effects are operator selectable - ONLY on the source 1 video signal.
Effects such as Mosiac, Paint, Strobe and Still (all have user selectable parameters)
Fades
Superimposing image on image - controlled by a sub-section on the front panel giving controls over key level etc
Wipes (17 user selectable patterns)
Joystick control of wipe positioning
Hard background colour selection
Title creation but you MUST have the optional WV-KB12 Character generator which is NOT supplied
4 channel audio mixer
Preview monitor output
Record outputs (2) with video and left/right analog audio
All video inputs/outputs are BNC sockets
All analog audio inputs/outputs are RCA sockets
Power source requirement is 110V AC - this must be run using an isolated step-down transformer (earthed) if use is intended here in Australia
I can see no way of changing the AC input voltage - it is fixed at 110V ~
I do also have a suitable 240V to 110V fully isolated step-down transformer available for purchase, this transformer is NOT offered along with this WJ-MX10 but would be an additional cost.
Panasonic original user manual will be supplied (offline copy of reasonable quality 18 pages monochrome print) - this is a manual I downloaded online and it refers to PAL composite signals but I really think this machine is intended for NTSC Composite video (USA power source is evidence of this)
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Clean and in pretty good condition.
No controls are damaged (knobs/buttons/displays) EXCEPT the joystick top cap (like a large mushroom on top!) - this part (plastic) broke off some time ago. The joystick though is still perfectly useable.
All slide controls move freely
Two large, obvious labels have been placed on the console top and side to try and ensure no-one attempts to power this from our 240V AC source - to do so would be disastrous.
TESTING:
First up, my world revolves around audio not video - so my technical prowess is not good in the video world but I could still undertake some basic testing of the video facilities.
My big limitation was having suitable composite video sources, I have plenty of audio sources but not video - especially old analog video so I have undertaken my tests as best I could (modern Blu Ray DVD players with PAL composite video outputs)
The primary photograph with this advertisement is of this unit, powered up and with video/audio running through it - I have not shown the preview screen as I felt there wasn't much point (monochrome is so unspectacular!)
Powers up, all good so far ...
Doesn't seem to have a "splash screen" on the preview monitor, it immediately shows what is being fed into the source inputs.
I checked that it was seeing "sync pulses" from my crude signal source - a DVD player (composite video output) - all good and I had a Green sync lamp on the front panel.
Audio on both channels is clean, clear and the audio mixer controls all functioned fine - without "pot noises"
Audio VU meter is working fine on both channels
Now I will mention here that although I had a colour video signal coming out of the DVD player, the output video from the WJ-MX10 was monochrome. I strongly suspect that my source composite video was not correct and actually I think this MX-10 is looking for NTSC composite video.
I do have colour output but only on the locally generated signals such as the background colours etc
I checked the video source inputs, 1 & 2 and both are working correctly although it would have been nice to see the effects in colour!
I am unable to check the camera input, having nothing suitable here at all.
I was unable to check video titling as I also do not have the optional character generator.
I did use the various effects such as mosaic and still - they definitely work fine.
The WJ-MX10 is silent running with no fans to help keep everything cool but a large heatsink on the rear panel.
In summary, the audio is fine and I believe the video is also fine but due to my lack of correct video sources, only displayed the source video in black/white (incorrect chroma signals I suspect)
If you are into retro analog video, have a couple of video sources such as old Beta or VHS recorders, this could be quite a fun thing to play around with - a character generator would also be great but I suspect they may be hard to come by!
