Luka's Broadcast Museum

This is perhaps the most valuable unit in my collection. The legendary Ampex VPR-3. One of the most well-known 1-inch VTRs, used in many video production houses, and unfortunately forgotten today.

I bought it on eBay from the Netherlands, and shipping was cheap considering it weighs 70 kilos! When it arrived, the three of us could not lift it. In the end, we had to tip it into the trunk of my car, and later I asked a few people to bring it into the garage.

Unfortunately, it is not working. It has power issues: when turned on, the internal cooling fans spin up and that is it. Nothing else lights up...
I heard from people that this often happens when tantalum capacitors short themselves. Because of that, the unit goes into current load protection and nothing powers up.

In the future, I plan to fully repair it if it's possible. This unit is far too valuable to remain in this condition...