HHB PDR-1000TC

A location DAT recorder that earned its "flight cleared" stamp by surviving machine-gun fire inside a Sea King helicopter.

Overview

The PDR-1000TC is the timecode-equipped member of HHB's PORTADAT family, a professional portable DAT recorder built for location sound work. HHB's own literature says the line came out of a two-year research and development programme, run in consultation with leading location sound recordists. The spec sheet backs up the field-first brief. The transport is a ruggedised four-head, four-motor direct-drive mechanism derived from DDS technology. That gives the machine confidence monitoring, so you can hear what's actually on tape as it records. It also gives it the mechanical beef to survive being thrown into a bag and dragged across a wet soundstage.

The "TC" suffix is the whole point of this variant. The base PDR1000 records audio and nothing more. The PDR-1000TC records, generates, and references timecode in all existing international standards. The manual lists the supported frame rates explicitly: 24, 25, 29.97NDF, 29.97DF, and 30 FPS, per EBU and SMPTE standards. It offers jam sync to external timecode, converts absolute time to timecode, and supports a range of user-bit facilities. One of them records incoming timecode into the user bits while the machine outputs its own timecode. For a recordist syncing to film or video, that's the difference between a recorder and a doorstop.

The analogue and digital I/O is fully professional. You get balanced XLR mic/line inputs with 48V phantom powering, S/PDIF and AES/EBU digital inputs and outputs, and selectable sample rates of 32, 44.1, and 48kHz. The manual confirms compatible nominal sample frequencies of 48kHz and 44.1kHz. External synchronisation is comprehensive: composite video sync (PAL, NTSC, SECAM) to within ±0.1%, field sync at 48/50/59.94/60Hz, and word sync at 48/44.1kHz. There's a built-in monitor speaker, and an optional M/S monitor matrix that selects stereo, mono left, mono right, mono sum, and M/S mid-side modes. That's handy for anyone cutting dialogue in the field.

Power was a real differentiator. HHB went with Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable battery technology rather than the nickel-cadmium packs common at the time, and the company claimed the PDR1000 ran longer than other portables as a result. The manual lists weight at 2280g without battery and 2600g with one, and dimensions of 240 × 95 × 177mm. That's a substantial brick in the hand. The accessories were built to keep it working in the field rather than on a bench: Portabrace cases (AR1000 for the base unit, AR1000TC for the timecode version), additional NiMH packs, AC/DC chargers, vehicle power cables, and multi-bay fast chargers.

Two running changes are worth knowing about. HHB introduced an internal timecode backup modification so the unit retains free-running timecode when powered down to change a battery. Before that, the timecode would stop and restart at zero. All PDR-1000TCs built after the change include the feature, and unmodified units could be brought up to spec by HHB or an authorised service centre free of charge. A second tweak sped up the end-of-tape search function so it no longer rewound the tape fully before locating, which saved battery life and time. Separately, from September 1995 HHB offered a factory upgrade path converting a standard PDR1000 into a PDR1000TC. The company stated there were no hardware or software differences between an original PDR-1000TC and an upgraded one.

Mix (February 1995, p.108) ran a field test of the PDR 1000 under George Petersen. It framed portable recorders as beasts that get "tossed, sloshed, beat up, slammed down, frozen, baked and drenched" and still are expected to deliver. Studio Sound (January 1994, p.35) noted HHB's long commitment to DAT in the UK and its move into manufacturing, with the PDR1000 and PDR-1000TC as the flagship result. The most vivid endorsement comes from HHB's own 1995 literature. The UK Defence Research Agency used a PDR1000TC inside military aircraft, including recording inside a Sea King helicopter in flight with a machine gun firing through the open doorway. Only equipment formally "Flight Cleared" was permitted on board, and the PORTADAT passed first time without modification.

Later advertising for the PDR-1000TC Plus bundled a master sync timecode module and headphone matrix, with a package deal throwing in 100 DAT tapes, a four-bay fast charger, and an aluminium carrying case. The Plus variant is a distinct configuration; collectors should check which version they're looking at before assuming the master sync module is fitted.

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