MTC/SMPTE =/= beat clock or tempo.
SMPTE is an absolute amount of time were tempo has no bearing on. Within SMPTE your tempos can change without affecting the track time. This gets further complicated by which frame count you're using (29.99,24d, etc).
I've been looking for a similar solution to Logic synchronising my DAT deck via MTC. Currently I can only get MMC commands to work
All kinds of video gear can sync with no problem (it's very simple: master/slave & type), but DAWs/sequencers have this nagging problem or gotcas!!!