I first came across U-MATIC in 1995/96 when doing some projects with a local video group, we purchased a pair of Panasonic industrial grade machines complete with edit controller from BATH technical college.
I hadn't seen the machines before they were purchased by other members of the group, and was shocked when I saw them, suffice to say we could never get them into an operational state.
A few weeks later I was at an amateur radio rally and noticed a SONY VO5630, the asking price a mere "£ 70" the machine was in excellent condition and included a large box of tapes.
After the recent BATC Rally a friend Ian G6TVJ (BBC Employee in Bristol) noticed an old SONY VO2630 in my garage whilst returning some un-sold group aerials. He told me that he was shocked/surprised to see a fair number of good condition Sony BUV/SP machines - all going at sensible prices.
All my recent video editing projects have been completed on a simple non-linear editing system. Which is not quite the same as having half a room full of equipment!
Submitted Tue June 15 16:55 1999