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Mr Michael Willett was kind enought to email me with some of his own experiences developing the
VPR-5, and I am very pleased to include his contribution here.
Hi!
For no real reason I decided to do a search on my baby, the VPR-5. I expected to go to an Ampex Library
of some type, and found your fine site. Although the text did not display well on my computer, I was taken back in time when I was a design engineer in charge of VPR-5. Your site has excellent pictures and the detail brings back memories clearer than I remember myself, and I owe my near-sited vision to that little box.
I was involved with the VPR-5 shortly after its inception. Being electro-mechanically inclined, I did not
see the prototype as an un-achievable reach for technology revolution, but instead I sat in front of that first prototype as an art lover would view a Rembrant or Picasso. I was immediately captured by the precise mill work, the appearance of the grain within the metal itself; the fine finish on the drum and the self- aligning tape guides. Kudelski had produced a machine that did not work at all; but it was so beautiful in craftsmanship I had to help make it breathe.
My boss at the time was Jerry Engbretson. Jerry obviously saw my interest, and moments later he said
"Go see what you can do with it..." Well over a dozen hours later, I was still tweaking and playing and opening the machine, finding out what made it tick. Some few days later, I was named as the Project Engineer for the VPR-5, and Liaizon to Kudelski, and this first sample was pulling tape and making pictures using the video electronics of another system, (probably a VPR-2).
The effort became almost hobby-like for several engineers at Ampex. I was quite green at the time, and
seasoned engineers like Steve Fox, Paul Maush, Joe Barkley (maybe others! It has been 20 years you know!!) conceded to my begging for their expertise and perhaps some of them helped due to my enthusiasm with this wonderful machine.
Soon after this effort (like within a week) Jerry had my plans targeting a trip to Switzerland to meet the
Kudelski team. Several other engineers were with me, Richard from Tech Support being one of them, I remember
Richard's easy going style and attention to detail being second to none, like many Ampex engineers of the
time.
In Switzerland, we were in "training". Reality was what today would be called a Preliminary Design
Review and Technology Exchange. Being a joint venture of a sort, we supplied the video circuit technology, scanner technology, video head technology and the market presence that Kudelski needed in the worst way. Kudelski on the other hand, had the mechanical design capabilities that were astounding, along with being a company that had always pushed the envelope in small circuity design. Kudelski made several of the micro-recorders used by the FBI, CIA and or course the Cold-War counterparts, the KGB. This project was a match made in Heaven.
Several members of their team and I became good friends and fellow team engineers, including Stephan
Kudelski (owner of Kudelski-Nagra), Sean Claude Schloupe (Lead Systems Engineer), Goetz Stoerig (Electronic and Audio Specialist Engineer), and many others.
As a Project Engineer on the VPR-5, there was not a day that went by that I was not appreciative and
amazed at my involvement with such a fine group of people and project. I remember thinking about how Ampex was a group of top-notch people (a "think-tank" of engineering talent) and how my interaction with Kudelski-Nagra would be such a great once-in-a-lifetime experience. How fortunate and blessed I was, and what excellent influences my life had, to guide this young 22 year-old engineer to a great future.
During the development of the VPR-5, I was also acting as Product Manager until Tom Hasty became
involved. Tom was really was a God-send with his experience and creativity for the marketing and user needs aspects. Tom took on the Product Manager role with a very aggressive attitude toward success with a passion for team-work. I liked working and traveling with Tom, I still remember a story he told me about driving through a panel of sheet-rock one day... :) Tom brought me some of the best news ever: Fairly quietly (from my perspective) he had applied for an Emmy on behalf of the VPR-5 project. I remember working with Tom a bit on this, but really, at the time had no idea what this meant. We were awarded an Emmy for "Advanced Achievement in Television Technology" and that award was one of the best moments of my life.
The VPR-5 was a success just about anyplace it went, and I went with it on most of the first introductions
to the networks and private video studios. One in particular I remember was the delivery of a VPR-5 to "Dallas Pictures International" which is a story onto itself.
By the way, yes, you can stand on a VPR-5 without breaking it. I did just this at an NAB show. I was
demonstrating the VPR-5, when overheard a few television engineers claim the system would never hold up in the field, it was "Too Light". Having also worked on the 45 pound VPR-20, I knew where they were coming from, so without missing a beat, I made a loud comment that I was sure no one in the back of the 50+ audience in our booth could hear me, so I placed a VPR-5 on the floor, stood on it, and completed my demo. I might as well have been named Moses, as the sea of on-lookers parted before me as described in the bible so the people in the back could see. I finished the demo atop of the system that was playing pictures, and on the other monitor was the pictures from the system I held in my hands. It was an impressive show of engineering and confidence.
Your web site looks promising and the content excellent. I hope you will add some of my memories to
your site.
Michael Willett
Ampex Senior Design and Project Engineer
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