Previously property of:
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
HISTORY:
I am cleaning up ALL of my old equipment, components (many salvaged from the 1950's ~ 1980's) and weird bits and pieces .... the test tape would have to fall into the latter category!
Only used originally in the broadcast industry, actually Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the source program on the tape is simply three different test patterns - nothing more. This was used as a source when testing other equipment or the VTR into which this tape had been inserted. The current program is just the test patterns (remember them, the public got to see a test pattern in the old days when television was not broadcast 24 hours. Not very interesting for the public (usually associated with a test tone or two) but very handy for the technician out repairing some dometic equipment, anyway I digress ...
Of course you could erase the current material on the tape (Good God! history lost!) and use the tape in your DIGITAL BETACAM machine. Not a lot of these machines around today, Digital Betacam has largely been wiped out by non-tape recording systems so there are not a lot of suitable machines around. Don't confuse these with domestic BETA format, totally different format technically and this tape will not play in those machines.
Perhaps useful as a "museum piece" the way broadcasting used to be in the 1990's (Digital Betacam came into existence in 1993)
SONY BCT-D40 - Digital BETACAM tape with program material
Material: three test patterns
16:19 ABC TEST PATTERN
10 Step GREY SCALE
4:3 ABC TEST PATTERN (at approximately 20 minute run time - there is no running sheet with the tape)
TESTING:
I obtained this tape and used it with an M2000 I had at the time, all was fine. The M2000 (DVW M2000P) machine went to a new owner/studio so I was left with this test tape and nothing to play it on. I decided to keep it "just in case", like so many of the R2R audio recordings I had of "internal" tapes used in broadcasting, which often made for very interesting listening - stuff that never went to air.
So, way back around 18 years ago (I think it was 2005 when we got the machine), the tape played fine. It has always been stored in a sealed packet in our previous business stores so it should still be fine.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Tape cartridge and case are in very good condition
CLEAN
Since I have now taken the photographs for this advertisement, the tape is now back in a sealed clear plastic packet waiting for "someone" to appreciate it!
