♦	SERVICE RECORD:
	Service in general electronics since before 1960 Repairing exclusively Beta VCRs since 1975
♦	TEST AND REPAIR EQUIPMENT:
	Tektronix dual trace scope, Sencore VCR NT64, VA62, VC63, VC93 analyzers, Sony SL-5151 video head tester, vector scope, Sony BMCJ-888U signal converter plus various secondary support apparatus such as capacitor checker, transistor checkers, VOM meters, digital flow meter, signal tracer, signal generator, alignments tapes, performance tapes, torque meters, specialty tools, etc.
♦	REFERENCE MATERIALS:
	Service manuals with updates for most all of the Beta VCR manufacturers Service manuals with updates for most all of the Beta related accessories

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     The service person, developer and designer of this Web site, represented under the specialized name of MisterBetamax has been active and involved in electronics service work since before he entered high school. This is his brief autobiography.
     I was very lucky. My father in addition to being an electricial supervisor for The Chysler Corporation, also owned, in partnership with another individual, one of the first television repair shops in our city (of 150,000). This was back in the early fifties and television was in it's infancy. And so was I, being around ten years old. The nearest transmitter (TV station) we could receive was over a hundred and fifty miles away. Anyone in our not too small city that wanted to see Uncle Milty (Milton Berle) or The Ed Sullivan Show had to have a big directional antenna sitting on top of a tall tower. You aimed the antenna a the station you wanted to pick up using an electric motor, called a rotor. Television shows back then were only in black and white and the stations only broadcasted for just part of the day. The signed on in the morning (usually 6:00 AM) and signed off at night (some as late as midnight). The TV sets back then had tubes in them and everything got very hot inside. Ah, those were the good old days. (I remember them best as being addicted to Howdy Doody and Bozo, then later Superman and Science Fiction Theater.)
      My dad would let me go on service calls with him. I liked to go along because he would let me operate the tube checker. (It seemed to amaze his customers, I was only about ten.) I was never allowed to touch anything inside the TV set, dad didn't want to risk frying his son. Doing so would not have made mom very happy. (My dad's way of driving home the point of why I didn't want to reach for anything inside was by using a high voltage probe to show off the 50,000 volts being created in the TV's high voltage section. Once you saw one of these things crackle you instinctively knew to keep you fingers out of harms way.) I had a great time and this is why I developed an interest in all things electronic, and in taking things apart and putting them back together.
     My Dad let me build his test equipment. This came about from an add he saw in an electronics magazine, for a company called Heathkit. They made electronics kits that contained all the parts used to assemble a particular piece of equipment along with instructions on how to put it together. Simple really, since the instructions told you where everything went and did it in a particular order. He saw this as way to cultivate his sons interest in the technical side of life. Some kits didn't require a lot of skill to get them running, but others could be a challenge. Buying the test equipment in kits worked out well, not only did you end up with a technical tool, but you got to make it yourself, set it up, test it and adjusted it to meet specs. The instructions also had information on how to use your new equipment. Heathkit later on expanded their lineup of kits and began to offer some really exceptional color televisions. I eventually built one of those and had the pleasure of setting it up perfectly to produce a great picture for it's day. Perfect adjustment paid off for the test equipment too. Since they were being used to test and check consumer electronic products, they had to be perfect. It gave you a special understanding about what it means to have your electronics "on the money".
     Dad eventually abandoned the repair business when he found out he couldn't handle having two jobs, especially one where you had to keep an eye on your partner at all times. But he did keep most his customers and he still repaired all things electronic, in his new spacious garage and office. This became his second pastime. We still went on a lot of service calls but between high school for me and a promotion to plant super for him, we almost stopped doing repair work. We both played around with electronics and even built a few TVs and test pieces, but for me electronics had to take the back seat. After all, I had being a teenager to go through.
     My passon for everything electronic never went away. When Beta came along it was love at first sight. For that story and how I came to be "MisterBetamax" you will have to read my autobiography that is being authored elsewhere by installments. You can find it in the "About MisterBetamax" section or you can just click here.