What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"dave" wrote in message
...
D Peter Maus wrote:

$149 was 2 weeks pay in 1948.

After deductions, about $37 was a minimum wage weekly net pay in 1960 when
the minimum was something like $1.10.

Or about $149 a month, net.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

David Eduardo wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


David Eduardo wrote:

By 1959, when I started, the only place we saw disk recorders was as a
fading way of sending spots to stations.

That was when you were 13, and had moved to Mexico, right?

No, that was when I started at WJMO and WCUY. I spent most of 1963 in
Mexico, and in 64 moved to Ecuador. Learn to read.

I have read, and it seems to me that in the past you'd said you left home at age
13 and moved in with a family that spoke no English in Mexico.

But I realize that I'd blown that story right out of the water and then you
began to alter it.

Nothing new!

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

David Eduardo wrote:

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:
"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Full of ****. Present tense.

Webster-Chicago model 181, $98, 1953.

Webster-Chicago model 80, $149, 1948.

Even Henry Ford wasn't selling cars for that.

Run back the thread... my original answer to the recording issue had to
do with tape, which is a format that endured. Wire had a short life and,
in retrospect, is nearly impossible to reproduce today. Most ETs of the
pre-60's period (and I was talking of the post WW II period) were 78's...
and the life of acetates is also limited.


Read back the thread, yourself. Although wire's commercial life was
short--in fact, it was obsolete before the Armour Foundation licensed it
for release and AEG Telefunken was already experimenting with iron oxide
on paper before wire went into use--wire was one of the more enduring
formats. As I said, I have 60 year old recordings, that if cared for, play
as new.

Nitpicking 101:

One class you passed with flying colours!

I meant the life of the concept. Late 40's to very early
50's. Not life of the recording, although if you can't find machines to play
the wires on, the recording is essentially useless. I have some stuff on 8"
floppies from a System 33 IBM and I can't find anything that will play them.


Wire also was very fine (something like 2000 feet on a 3 inch reel)

And again, you're incorrect, here. There was more than a mile of wire on
a 3 inch spool. I've measured.

You make my point, which is that the wire is very fine and very hard to
handle.


and it
was next to impossible to edit.

Also incorrect. One simply tied a knot in it, and trimmed the ends with
a scissor.

Or, what one person I know did, which was weld with a cigarette. In either
case, not the same as a splice, which is the only good physical edit. Making
bow ties out of wire is not a good edit, which is my point.

and the delay while rewinding (you rembember there was no removable
pickup reel at least on all I have seen)


Actually, late model Websters had a removable pick up spool.

Yeah, you made my point. Most did not, making them bad DX machines. When
DXing, you had to be able to do a very quick reel flip. Generally, thinner
tape and slow record speeds meant a typical Monday Morning AM DX session fit
on both "sides" of a single reel. Very little lost DX due to reel flips and
changes.

makes, like the changing of an
acetate, the devices not quite appropriate for non-stop DXing.

No more cumbersome than tape. One hour and more on a spool meant less
time changing spools, and the rewind/rethread time was about 3 1/2
minutes. With a removable take up spool the down time was less than half a
minute.

3 1/2 minutes for a Monday Morning session was an eternity. Most AM DXers
who used tape to supplement the ear could flip a reel over in less than 20"
and change reels in about 40".

A Realistic 808 took more than 5 minutes to rewind 3600 feet.

DXers, mostly, used two track mono, and we flipped the left and right reels
before the tape ran out, avoiding threading.

And again: bull****. Wire was cheap. Cheaper than tape. And in many
cases far more plentiful. It was still sold at electronics shops as late
as 1972, when I bought my last 4 spools.

FUnny, I never saw it. But I had tape and was not looking.

Olson used to have it by the box. In a variety of lengths.

I visited Olson in Cleveland about once a month at least in the early 60's.
Never saw any wire.


The Meissner of which I spoke not only recorded and played discs, but it
had a receiver, a rather fine receiver built in. It was literally made for
airchecking.

You changed the subject from DXing to airchecking. An aircheck is done on
one local station. In DXing on AM tape was used as often we got cascaded
sign ons or sign offs from 2 or 3 or even 4 stations on a channel in a
matter of 60 to 90 seconds on Mondays. A vebatim transcript of the signoff
announcement often got a verie, where memory or notes would not.

And yada, yada, yada....you ignore VERY important points. You're
assuming that all of the hobby was done at retail. Not even close.

I can't recall anyone in the NRC, IRCA, NNRC that was not buying DX supplies
and receivers and recorders at retail. Of course, many DXers then did not
consider a taped verie to be "real" and insisted on paper veries... and they
did not tape. Changing to a "tape and transcribe from tape" mentality took a
decade, and arrived mostly when the cassette was available and cheap. From
that point to accepting taped "veries" was another decade.

And DXers, along with other radio hobbycraft types were highly
motivated, so the equipment they wanted, they found a way to acquire. And
the business accomodated them.

Not really. Most of the NRCers did not have pro receivers, and that has been
the premiere AM club for 70 years or so. There were the elite, who had
HQ180's almost exclusively, and then the rest. Most had Trans Oceanics and
consumer radios, in fact.

My grandfather couldn't afford mercury rectifiers in his early days. So,
he built liquid state rectifiers using pickle jars filled with solutions
of 20 Mule Team Borax. About 20 of them in series. Not elegant, but they
got the job done. He built a power supply for his receiver like this. The
receiver required batteries. He couldn't afford batteries. So, he found a
way.

AM DXers in the post War era were not builders. They were listeners almost
100%. The few who were engineers and such were the ones who helped the other
1000 members in loop and Beveradge antenna construction, etc.

As with most radio hobbycraft practitioners, even up to today, "finding
a way" is stock-in-trade. The Radio Amateur's Handbook is based on this
thinking. Build your own. Modify what you don't built, but get something
and get it working.

AM DXers for 60 years have not been builders. They are off the shelf folks
as far as equipment, and are so today.

And really budget conscious hobbyists would go through dumpsters at the
end of hamfests, Field Days, and DXpeditions...there were BC-348's in the
dumpsters for the taking. Dumped there just to get rid of them.

Never heard of one being used for MWDX.

Didn't you say you had an R-390 or 392? You buy that at SS Kresges?

I bought it new from Hammarlund; it was an overrun from a government order
and sold to the public.

So, this notion that recording hardware was only for the rich is the
purest poppycock. Recording hardware, and recording supplies, were for the
dedicated. And affordably available. If someone REALLY wanted them, they
could be acquired regardless of budget.

Very few AM DXers were recording before around 1959 to 1960, and even then
it was the young set, not the older guys. It took a long time for recording
to be an accepted part of DXing... some guys really thought it was cheating,
in fact.

What's so surprising, is that you don't know that. Having been an
engineer yourself, and having regaled us with your tales of building
transmitters, and radio studios in Ecuador, on shoestring budgets...are
you saying that you only bought from BSW, or BGS?

No, we bought all our original studio gear from Gates. I bought the first
transmitter from a local manufacturer, and then subsequent ones we built in
our own shop since we always were generating a need for more transmitters,
ATU's and other stuff we could build locally like FM antennas, consoles,
limiters, etc. In other words, I had enough stations to support a
fabrication department.

How is it you can tell us of scrounging for parts to keep your radio
stations on the air, while not being aware of the enormous resources
available in the US to hobbyists from the Military Surplus network?

We used conventional designs, and use the same parts that a Gates or RCA
did. Occasionally we found useful equivalents in surplus, but most stuff was
branded. The bulk could be obtained at Miami parts houses which supplied
radio and telecommunications in Latin America; a flight to Miami and visits
to two or three suppliers would get what we wanted.

"Scrounging" usually meant overnighting to Miami to get some tubes because
the local outlets were out or the ones ordered for shipment were stuck for a
month in customs. Fly to Miami, find the tubes, pack them among soft
cloting, fly back.

Once I had an Audimax and Volumax stuck nearly 3 months in customs because
they did not know what partida arancelaria it fell under and thus could not
determine how much the tax was; I ordered two more to be shipped to Miami,
picked them up, put them in my clothes in a suitcase, and flew through
customs at the airport under the tourist exclusion for returning citizens
and residents.

Hmmmm...once again, underscoring many questions.

None at all.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

David Eduardo wrote:

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:
"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Full of ****. Present tense.

Webster-Chicago model 181, $98, 1953.

Webster-Chicago model 80, $149, 1948.

Even Henry Ford wasn't selling cars for that.

Run back the thread... my original answer to the recording issue had to
do with tape, which is a format that endured. Wire had a short life and,
in retrospect, is nearly impossible to reproduce today. Most ETs of the
pre-60's period (and I was talking of the post WW II period) were 78's...
and the life of acetates is also limited.


Read back the thread, yourself. Although wire's commercial life was
short--in fact, it was obsolete before the Armour Foundation licensed it
for release and AEG Telefunken was already experimenting with iron oxide
on paper before wire went into use--wire was one of the more enduring
formats. As I said, I have 60 year old recordings, that if cared for, play
as new.

Nitpicking 101: I meant the life of the concept. Late 40's to very early
50's. Not life of the recording, although if you can't find machines to play
the wires on, the recording is essentially useless. I have some stuff on 8"
floppies from a System 33 IBM and I can't find anything that will play them.


Wire also was very fine (something like 2000 feet on a 3 inch reel)

And again, you're incorrect, here. There was more than a mile of wire on
a 3 inch spool. I've measured.

You make my point, which is that the wire is very fine and very hard to
handle.


and it
was next to impossible to edit.

Also incorrect. One simply tied a knot in it, and trimmed the ends with
a scissor.

Or, what one person I know did, which was weld with a cigarette. In either
case, not the same as a splice, which is the only good physical edit. Making
bow ties out of wire is not a good edit, which is my point.

and the delay while rewinding (you rembember there was no removable
pickup reel at least on all I have seen)


Actually, late model Websters had a removable pick up spool.

Yeah, you made my point. Most did not, making them bad DX machines. When
DXing, you had to be able to do a very quick reel flip. Generally, thinner
tape and slow record speeds meant a typical Monday Morning AM DX session fit
on both "sides" of a single reel. Very little lost DX due to reel flips and
changes.

makes, like the changing of an
acetate, the devices not quite appropriate for non-stop DXing.

No more cumbersome than tape. One hour and more on a spool meant less
time changing spools, and the rewind/rethread time was about 3 1/2
minutes. With a removable take up spool the down time was less than half a
minute.

3 1/2 minutes for a Monday Morning session was an eternity. Most AM DXers
who used tape to supplement the ear could flip a reel over in less than 20"
and change reels in about 40".

A Realistic 808 took more than 5 minutes to rewind 3600 feet.

DXers, mostly, used two track mono, and we flipped the left and right reels
before the tape ran out, avoiding threading.

And again: bull****. Wire was cheap. Cheaper than tape. And in many
cases far more plentiful. It was still sold at electronics shops as late
as 1972, when I bought my last 4 spools.

FUnny, I never saw it. But I had tape and was not looking.

Olson used to have it by the box. In a variety of lengths.

I visited Olson in Cleveland about once a month at least in the early 60's.
Never saw any wire.


The Meissner of which I spoke not only recorded and played discs, but it
had a receiver, a rather fine receiver built in. It was literally made for
airchecking.

You changed the subject from DXing to airchecking. An aircheck is done on
one local station. In DXing on AM tape was used as often we got cascaded
sign ons or sign offs from 2 or 3 or even 4 stations on a channel in a
matter of 60 to 90 seconds on Mondays. A vebatim transcript of the signoff
announcement often got a verie, where memory or notes would not.

And yada, yada, yada....you ignore VERY important points. You're
assuming that all of the hobby was done at retail. Not even close.

I can't recall anyone in the NRC, IRCA, NNRC that was not buying DX supplies
and receivers and recorders at retail. Of course, many DXers then did not
consider a taped verie to be "real" and insisted on paper veries... and they
did not tape. Changing to a "tape and transcribe from tape" mentality took a
decade, and arrived mostly when the cassette was available and cheap. From
that point to accepting taped "veries" was another decade.

And DXers, along with other radio hobbycraft types were highly
motivated, so the equipment they wanted, they found a way to acquire. And
the business accomodated them.

Not really. Most of the NRCers did not have pro receivers, and that has been
the premiere AM club for 70 years or so. There were the elite, who had
HQ180's almost exclusively, and then the rest. Most had Trans Oceanics and
consumer radios, in fact.

My grandfather couldn't afford mercury rectifiers in his early days. So,
he built liquid state rectifiers using pickle jars filled with solutions
of 20 Mule Team Borax. About 20 of them in series. Not elegant, but they
got the job done. He built a power supply for his receiver like this. The
receiver required batteries. He couldn't afford batteries. So, he found a
way.

AM DXers in the post War era were not builders. They were listeners almost
100%. The few who were engineers and such were the ones who helped the other
1000 members in loop and Beveradge antenna construction, etc.

As with most radio hobbycraft practitioners, even up to today, "finding
a way" is stock-in-trade. The Radio Amateur's Handbook is based on this
thinking. Build your own. Modify what you don't built, but get something
and get it working.

AM DXers for 60 years have not been builders. They are off the shelf folks
as far as equipment, and are so today.

And really budget conscious hobbyists would go through dumpsters at the
end of hamfests, Field Days, and DXpeditions...there were BC-348's in the
dumpsters for the taking. Dumped there just to get rid of them.

Never heard of one being used for MWDX.

Didn't you say you had an R-390 or 392? You buy that at SS Kresges?

I bought it new from Hammarlund; it was an overrun from a government order
and sold to the public.

So, this notion that recording hardware was only for the rich is the
purest poppycock. Recording hardware, and recording supplies, were for the
dedicated. And affordably available. If someone REALLY wanted them, they
could be acquired regardless of budget.

Very few AM DXers were recording before around 1959 to 1960, and even then
it was the young set, not the older guys. It took a long time for recording
to be an accepted part of DXing... some guys really thought it was cheating,
in fact.

What's so surprising, is that you don't know that. Having been an
engineer yourself, and having regaled us with your tales of building
transmitters, and radio studios in Ecuador, on shoestring budgets...are
you saying that you only bought from BSW, or BGS?

No, we bought all our original studio gear from Gates. I bought the first
transmitter from a local manufacturer, and then subsequent ones we built in
our own shop since we always were generating a need for more transmitters,
ATU's and other stuff we could build locally like FM antennas, consoles,
limiters, etc. In other words, I had enough stations to support a
fabrication department.

You had what? You've never had ANY stations, 'Eduardo'.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

David "Queen of 'It Can't Be Done'" Eduardo wrote:
"dave" wrote in message
...
D Peter Maus wrote:
$149 was 2 weeks pay in 1948.

After deductions, about $37 was a minimum wage weekly net pay in 1960 when
the minimum was something like $1.10.

Or about $149 a month, net.




Irrelevant. Affordability is not price. Nearly everything in the home
was 2 weeks pay. You simply saved up, and you bought it. Or you put it
on layaway.

If a DXer was buying at retail, purchase was based on commitment more
than price. If he/she wanted it bad enough, price was only a factor in
the speed of the purchase. Not the ultimate acquisition.

And if he/she was not buying at retail, cost wasn't a factor.

The hardware was there. It was available. It was manufactured by the
thousands. It was sold by the thousands. It was purchased by the thousands.

How much it cost in relation to the prevailing wage, was of academic
interest only.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:


The pride and joy of Charlie Stanley, and the poster station for FCC
attention. Yes, WEW. The station with more dial positions than a 40's
Zenith FM. The station with more shared frequencies than Heidi Fleiss's
cell phone. WEW. The station that had to monitor it's program line,
because WABC came over the top of the air monitor in late afternoon.
Yes, THAT WEW.

So the WABC stories are true.


I"m sorry...you didn't know that? Hmmmm....well....that IS a revealing
confession.


I did not know WEW was that bad, but it was mentioned many times in DX
publications.

Here is an anecdote from a friend....

"When I was asst CE of 560 KLVI Beaumont, TX (5KW ND day, DA-N), we would
get calls from WQAM at night if we hadn't switched....the hot line would
ring, the jock would answer (we were Top40 back then) and the voice on the
other end asked: "IS this LVI?? Im hearing YOU in my headphones!!!" The jock
would dial up channel 1 on the remote control, press LOWER, and the voice
would say "THANK YOU!!!" and hang up! Not bad for a 66degree tall tower
either! but the tower site for KLVI is WET most of the time....it was always
wet/muddy between towers 2 and 3 even during a drought (must have been an
underground spring popping thru there!"

This is a common problem with low power stations being hit by much higher
power ones. In this case, KLVI was 5 kw on-d and WQAM was 1 kw non d with a
footwet tower.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...

How much it cost in relation to the prevailing wage, was of academic
interest only.

The wage indicates how much money you get. Then a person does a mental cost
/ benefit analysis to determine what to do with the money if they have any
to spare at the end of the month.

I go through the same sort of process for anything I buy. Even little items
are lumped together mentally so I know how I am doing at any time in the
expenses vs. income department.

That never changes; some people just are more able to balance things, the
others get overextended on credit cards.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"Dave" wrote in message
m...
On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:58:09 -0700, David Eduardo wrote:

"dave" wrote in message
...
D Peter Maus wrote:

$149 was 2 weeks pay in 1948.

After deductions, about $37 was a minimum wage weekly net pay in 1960
when the minimum was something like $1.10.

Or about $149 a month, net.

So your handy-dandy recorder cost ~$2,000 in 2008 dollars?

The ratio 1946 to 2008 is about 12 to 1. $129 in 1946 is $1500 in today's
dollars.

If you think about a communications receiver, the $150 receiver of '46 is
the $1500 receiver today. (Or was if they still made the R8B)

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

dxAce wrote:

David Eduardo wrote:

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:
"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Full of ****. Present tense.

Webster-Chicago model 181, $98, 1953.

Webster-Chicago model 80, $149, 1948.

Even Henry Ford wasn't selling cars for that.

Run back the thread... my original answer to the recording issue had to
do with tape, which is a format that endured. Wire had a short life and,
in retrospect, is nearly impossible to reproduce today. Most ETs of the
pre-60's period (and I was talking of the post WW II period) were 78's...
and the life of acetates is also limited.


Read back the thread, yourself. Although wire's commercial life was
short--in fact, it was obsolete before the Armour Foundation licensed it
for release and AEG Telefunken was already experimenting with iron oxide
on paper before wire went into use--wire was one of the more enduring
formats. As I said, I have 60 year old recordings, that if cared for, play
as new.

Nitpicking 101: I meant the life of the concept. Late 40's to very early
50's. Not life of the recording, although if you can't find machines to play
the wires on, the recording is essentially useless. I have some stuff on 8"
floppies from a System 33 IBM and I can't find anything that will play them.


Wire also was very fine (something like 2000 feet on a 3 inch reel)

And again, you're incorrect, here. There was more than a mile of wire on
a 3 inch spool. I've measured.

You make my point, which is that the wire is very fine and very hard to
handle.


and it
was next to impossible to edit.

Also incorrect. One simply tied a knot in it, and trimmed the ends with
a scissor.

Or, what one person I know did, which was weld with a cigarette. In either
case, not the same as a splice, which is the only good physical edit. Making
bow ties out of wire is not a good edit, which is my point.

and the delay while rewinding (you rembember there was no removable
pickup reel at least on all I have seen)


Actually, late model Websters had a removable pick up spool.

Yeah, you made my point. Most did not, making them bad DX machines. When
DXing, you had to be able to do a very quick reel flip. Generally, thinner
tape and slow record speeds meant a typical Monday Morning AM DX session fit
on both "sides" of a single reel. Very little lost DX due to reel flips and
changes.

makes, like the changing of an
acetate, the devices not quite appropriate for non-stop DXing.

No more cumbersome than tape. One hour and more on a spool meant less
time changing spools, and the rewind/rethread time was about 3 1/2
minutes. With a removable take up spool the down time was less than half a
minute.

3 1/2 minutes for a Monday Morning session was an eternity. Most AM DXers
who used tape to supplement the ear could flip a reel over in less than 20"
and change reels in about 40".

A Realistic 808 took more than 5 minutes to rewind 3600 feet.

DXers, mostly, used two track mono, and we flipped the left and right reels
before the tape ran out, avoiding threading.

And again: bull****. Wire was cheap. Cheaper than tape. And in many
cases far more plentiful. It was still sold at electronics shops as late
as 1972, when I bought my last 4 spools.

FUnny, I never saw it. But I had tape and was not looking.

Olson used to have it by the box. In a variety of lengths.

I visited Olson in Cleveland about once a month at least in the early 60's.
Never saw any wire.


The Meissner of which I spoke not only recorded and played discs, but it
had a receiver, a rather fine receiver built in. It was literally made for
airchecking.

You changed the subject from DXing to airchecking. An aircheck is done on
one local station. In DXing on AM tape was used as often we got cascaded
sign ons or sign offs from 2 or 3 or even 4 stations on a channel in a
matter of 60 to 90 seconds on Mondays. A vebatim transcript of the signoff
announcement often got a verie, where memory or notes would not.

And yada, yada, yada....you ignore VERY important points. You're
assuming that all of the hobby was done at retail. Not even close.

I can't recall anyone in the NRC, IRCA, NNRC that was not buying DX supplies
and receivers and recorders at retail. Of course, many DXers then did not
consider a taped verie to be "real" and insisted on paper veries... and they
did not tape. Changing to a "tape and transcribe from tape" mentality took a
decade, and arrived mostly when the cassette was available and cheap. From
that point to accepting taped "veries" was another decade.

And DXers, along with other radio hobbycraft types were highly
motivated, so the equipment they wanted, they found a way to acquire. And
the business accomodated them.

Not really. Most of the NRCers did not have pro receivers, and that has been
the premiere AM club for 70 years or so. There were the elite, who had
HQ180's almost exclusively, and then the rest. Most had Trans Oceanics and
consumer radios, in fact.

My grandfather couldn't afford mercury rectifiers in his early days. So,
he built liquid state rectifiers using pickle jars filled with solutions
of 20 Mule Team Borax. About 20 of them in series. Not elegant, but they
got the job done. He built a power supply for his receiver like this. The
receiver required batteries. He couldn't afford batteries. So, he found a
way.

AM DXers in the post War era were not builders. They were listeners almost
100%. The few who were engineers and such were the ones who helped the other
1000 members in loop and Beveradge antenna construction, etc.

As with most radio hobbycraft practitioners, even up to today, "finding
a way" is stock-in-trade. The Radio Amateur's Handbook is based on this
thinking. Build your own. Modify what you don't built, but get something
and get it working.

AM DXers for 60 years have not been builders. They are off the shelf folks
as far as equipment, and are so today.

And really budget conscious hobbyists would go through dumpsters at the
end of hamfests, Field Days, and DXpeditions...there were BC-348's in the
dumpsters for the taking. Dumped there just to get rid of them.

Never heard of one being used for MWDX.

Didn't you say you had an R-390 or 392? You buy that at SS Kresges?

I bought it new from Hammarlund; it was an overrun from a government order
and sold to the public.

So, this notion that recording hardware was only for the rich is the
purest poppycock. Recording hardware, and recording supplies, were for the
dedicated. And affordably available. If someone REALLY wanted them, they
could be acquired regardless of budget.

Very few AM DXers were recording before around 1959 to 1960, and even then
it was the young set, not the older guys. It took a long time for recording
to be an accepted part of DXing... some guys really thought it was cheating,
in fact.

What's so surprising, is that you don't know that. Having been an
engineer yourself, and having regaled us with your tales of building
transmitters, and radio studios in Ecuador, on shoestring budgets...are
you saying that you only bought from BSW, or BGS?

No, we bought all our original studio gear from Gates. I bought the first
transmitter from a local manufacturer, and then subsequent ones we built in
our own shop since we always were generating a need for more transmitters,
ATU's and other stuff we could build locally like FM antennas, consoles,
limiters, etc. In other words, I had enough stations to support a
fabrication department.

You had what? You've never had ANY stations, 'Eduardo'.

Upon reflection, I realize that 'Eduardo' is a 'fabrication department' all on his
own.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
news:telamon_spamshield-
My point is that the average DXer in the era could not afford a wire
recorder. Or a disk recorder. Keyword: average.

SNIP

Nothing special about me. I'm average and I could afford one.


You have a $4000 receiver and you think you are average?

Get real.

Yes, just not in your special world.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
dave wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
D Peter Maus wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"dave" wrote in message
...
Why not just record the station as proof you received it?
EKKO stamps ended after The War, and until the 60's, recording was
impractical. In fact, even in the 60's it was not a good idea... most
tapes
made in that era deteriorated rapidly. Most of my prized audio IDs did
not
make it into a more advanced media as the tape flaked... some nice ones
like
HCRE1 855 and CX28 were lost that way, although verified by letter or
card.
There were wire recorders. Very durable. You could also record on vinyl
records.

I have a pair of Webster wire recorders. One, I bought at a local
junk shop and spent a year restoring. The other, I got from my
grandfather. Along with a rack of wire spools. Some dating as far back
as the Truman inauguration with some very cool recordings of shows like
the Sealtest Variety Theatre, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Have Gun Will
Travel, and the Stan Freberg Show. I still find spools of wire at
antique shows, flea markets and junk shops. Always a bit of an adventure
to hear the audio.

Print-through is less of an issue, and the wire definitely doesn't
slough off magnetic material. But they are susceptible to elevated noise
from stray magnetic fields. So, storage environment is as important as
it is with tape.

I've also got a couple of disc recorders. And an armload of home-made
records. As well as some made in drug store recording kiosks. They're
not quite as archivally stable as they may seem. Many are not vinyl, but
acetate on an aluminum substrate. The acetate breaks down, becomes
brittle, often lifts from the substrate, or shrinks. And the low quality
vinyl used also tends to be less stable over time than that used more
recently.

I've spent a lot of hours recovering audio from wire and disc
recordings, for friends and colleagues. Sometimes, all you get is one
pass before there is too much damage to continue with the discs. And
magnetically contaminated wire will often develop a whining noise mixed
with the audio as it passes through the head. So a very great deal of
care is required when handling these recordings.

By far, the wire recordings are a lot easier to handle without damage.

Both may be more durable than tape, but they're not for casual
listening after long spans of time.

One careless pass, and the recording may be irretrievably lost.

Before the vinyl disk there were the cylinder recorders and players. I
had a neighbor with one of those.

There were very inexpensive tape players in the 60's. They were just
fine for voice. They were little reel to reel type. The reels were only
a few inches in diameter and the tape was thick. The head was offset so
you could record on the other side by turning the reel over. I had one
as a kid. Other kids in the neighborhood had them. Then the high
performance audiophile units were developed with the big reels. The
main problem with tape was the high end audio was weak and the
amplifiers had to be biased for more gain at the high end.

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.

And then to make matters more complicated there was dolby noise
reduction for tape hiss so you equalized for the tape formulation and
noise reduction. That's were I first learned to hate hiss. Now I can
listen to hiss from IBOC to get ****ed off or just read an Eduardo post
as it has the same effect.

The 7" Akais started appearing in the early '60s; before that there
were the consumer Webcors and the semipro Wollensaks. Norelco made a 3"
portable which evolved into the cassette around the end of 1964. I had
a 5" Aiwa TP-104 that I bought in the summer of 1965 to use for
airchecks. The really cheap decks had no capstan and were unsuitable
for anything but note taking.

The cheep inexpensive one I had did have a capstan. I never saw one that
did not have that type of drive.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article 63Q5k.1883$sg6.1303@edtnps91, m II wrote:

Telamon wrote:

And then to make matters more complicated there was dolby noise
reduction for tape hiss so you equalized for the tape formulation and
noise reduction. That's were I first learned to hate hiss. Now I can
listen to hiss from IBOC to get ****ed off or just read an Eduardo post
as it has the same effect.


Perhaps it's your bias. Check the settings.

Ha, ha.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,

There were very inexpensive tape players in the 60's. They were just
fine for voice. They were little reel to reel type. The reels were only
a few inches in diameter and the tape was thick. The head was offset so
you could record on the other side by turning the reel over. I had one
as a kid.

The Norelco / Philips was one of those. 3" reels, two track mono.

Other kids in the neighborhood had them. Then the high
performance audiophile units were developed with the big reels. The
main problem with tape was the high end audio was weak and the
amplifiers had to be biased for more gain at the high end.

There were plenty of decks usable for DXers with 7" reels and 3 3/4 ips
speed that could record an hour per track, mono, in two track configuration.
As mentioned, many had lots of RF emissions that interfered with the BCB
(MW) and were not good for DX use, but others could be shielded or used out
of the box and were less than $200.

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.

I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

Nope. Before my time.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,

There were very inexpensive tape players in the 60's. They were just
fine for voice. They were little reel to reel type. The reels were only
a few inches in diameter and the tape was thick. The head was offset so
you could record on the other side by turning the reel over. I had one
as a kid.

The Norelco / Philips was one of those. 3" reels, two track mono.

Other kids in the neighborhood had them. Then the high
performance audiophile units were developed with the big reels. The
main problem with tape was the high end audio was weak and the
amplifiers had to be biased for more gain at the high end.

There were plenty of decks usable for DXers with 7" reels and 3 3/4 ips
speed that could record an hour per track, mono, in two track configuration.
As mentioned, many had lots of RF emissions that interfered with the BCB
(MW) and were not good for DX use, but others could be shielded or used out
of the box and were less than $200.

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.

I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

I don't know why you would not have "experienced that" as the tape
formulations changed as long as they were in popular use through the
60's, 70's. and 80's.

Here are examples of recorders from the 60's.

http://www.radiophile.com/recorder.htm

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward
and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

I don't know why you would not have "experienced that" as the tape
formulations changed as long as they were in popular use through the
60's, 70's. and 80's.

Broadcast tape equipment, like Ampigs and MCI's and ITC's and semi-pros like
the ubiquitous Otari 5050 and the Teac semi-pros as well as earlier
,machines like the Magnecorder and the Scully and even the Sony 777
(broadcast version was two track) did not have different head standards and
used widely compatible tape because spots could come in from hundreds of
agencies and production houses. While bias could be optimized to the
preferred in house tape for recording, playback was as close to a universal
standard as you could come. Today, it is very very rare to see a tape deck
in a radio station. They began disappearing in the early to mid 90's as
digital recording and storage became common.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward
and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

I don't know why you would not have "experienced that" as the tape
formulations changed as long as they were in popular use through the
60's, 70's. and 80's.

Broadcast tape equipment, like Ampigs and MCI's and ITC's and semi-pros like
the ubiquitous Otari 5050 and the Teac semi-pros as well as earlier
,machines like the Magnecorder and the Scully and even the Sony 777
(broadcast version was two track) did not have different head standards and
used widely compatible tape because spots could come in from hundreds of
agencies and production houses. While bias could be optimized to the
preferred in house tape for recording, playback was as close to a universal
standard as you could come. Today, it is very very rare to see a tape deck
in a radio station. They began disappearing in the early to mid 90's as
digital recording and storage became common.

You get the last two sentences right but that's about it. You are full
of crap as usual.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono
(forward
and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer
and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late
50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

I don't know why you would not have "experienced that" as the tape
formulations changed as long as they were in popular use through the
60's, 70's. and 80's.

Broadcast tape equipment, like Ampigs and MCI's and ITC's and semi-pros
like
the ubiquitous Otari 5050 and the Teac semi-pros as well as earlier
,machines like the Magnecorder and the Scully and even the Sony 777
(broadcast version was two track) did not have different head standards
and
used widely compatible tape because spots could come in from hundreds of
agencies and production houses. While bias could be optimized to the
preferred in house tape for recording, playback was as close to a
universal
standard as you could come. Today, it is very very rare to see a tape
deck
in a radio station. They began disappearing in the early to mid 90's as
digital recording and storage became common.

You get the last two sentences right but that's about it. You are full
of crap as usual.

No, in this case and as usual you are. Broadcast tape decks had to play
equally well material that came from hundreds of different studios, maybe
thousands. They also had to play syndicated shows that came on tape, or even
syndicated formats. As proof, the NAB and STL (Standard Tape Library) had
only one stereo and one mono test tape, available in different speeds, for
all tape decks made. Those standard tapes were used at just about every
location with a semipro or pro tape deck of any brand.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono
(forward and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the
same in consumer and boradcast applications. You are likely
thinking of the mid to late 50's stuff, which was not as
standardized.

I don't know why you would not have "experienced that" as the
tape formulations changed as long as they were in popular use
through the 60's, 70's. and 80's.

Broadcast tape equipment, like Ampigs and MCI's and ITC's and
semi-pros like the ubiquitous Otari 5050 and the Teac semi-pros as
well as earlier ,machines like the Magnecorder and the Scully and
even the Sony 777 (broadcast version was two track) did not have
different head standards and used widely compatible tape because
spots could come in from hundreds of agencies and production
houses. While bias could be optimized to the preferred in house
tape for recording, playback was as close to a universal standard
as you could come. Today, it is very very rare to see a tape deck
in a radio station. They began disappearing in the early to mid
90's as digital recording and storage became common.

You get the last two sentences right but that's about it. You are
full of crap as usual.

No, in this case and as usual you are. Broadcast tape decks had to play
equally well material that came from hundreds of different studios, maybe
thousands. They also had to play syndicated shows that came on tape, or even
syndicated formats. As proof, the NAB and STL (Standard Tape Library) had
only one stereo and one mono test tape, available in different speeds, for
all tape decks made. Those standard tapes were used at just about every
location with a semipro or pro tape deck of any brand.

I'm not talking about what's in broadcast studios Ed'tardo. This is RRS
remember?

You are full of it as usual.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

Broadcast tape equipment, like Ampigs and MCI's and ITC's and
semi-pros like the ubiquitous Otari 5050 and the Teac semi-pros as
well as earlier ,machines like the Magnecorder and the Scully and
even the Sony 777 (broadcast version was two track) did not have
different head standards and used widely compatible tape because
spots could come in from hundreds of agencies and production
houses. While bias could be optimized to the preferred in house
tape for recording, playback was as close to a universal standard
as you could come. Today, it is very very rare to see a tape deck
in a radio station. They began disappearing in the early to mid
90's as digital recording and storage became common.

You get the last two sentences right but that's about it. You are
full of crap as usual.

No, in this case and as usual you are. Broadcast tape decks had to play
equally well material that came from hundreds of different studios, maybe
thousands. They also had to play syndicated shows that came on tape, or
even
syndicated formats. As proof, the NAB and STL (Standard Tape Library) had
only one stereo and one mono test tape, available in different speeds,
for
all tape decks made. Those standard tapes were used at just about every
location with a semipro or pro tape deck of any brand.

I'm not talking about what's in broadcast studios Ed'tardo. This is RRS
remember?

Home tape gear was to the identical standard... in fact, in many cases I
have used home gear for newsrooms, to audition spots for clients recorded in
the main production rooms, and even as loggers. There is no difference.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

Broadcast tape equipment, like Ampigs and MCI's and ITC's and
semi-pros like the ubiquitous Otari 5050 and the Teac semi-pros as
well as earlier ,machines like the Magnecorder and the Scully and
even the Sony 777 (broadcast version was two track) did not have
different head standards and used widely compatible tape because
spots could come in from hundreds of agencies and production
houses. While bias could be optimized to the preferred in house
tape for recording, playback was as close to a universal standard
as you could come. Today, it is very very rare to see a tape deck
in a radio station. They began disappearing in the early to mid
90's as digital recording and storage became common.

You get the last two sentences right but that's about it. You are
full of crap as usual.

No, in this case and as usual you are. Broadcast tape decks had to play
equally well material that came from hundreds of different studios, maybe
thousands. They also had to play syndicated shows that came on tape, or
even
syndicated formats. As proof, the NAB and STL (Standard Tape Library) had
only one stereo and one mono test tape, available in different speeds,
for
all tape decks made. Those standard tapes were used at just about every
location with a semipro or pro tape deck of any brand.

I'm not talking about what's in broadcast studios Ed'tardo. This is RRS
remember?

Home tape gear was to the identical standard... in fact, in many cases I
have used home gear for newsrooms, to audition spots for clients recorded in
the main production rooms, and even as loggers. There is no difference.

Here you go Ed'tardo. This just covers the basics. There were many more
changes than this.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cassette.htm/printable

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

Telamon wrote:
..

The cheep inexpensive one I had did have a capstan. I never saw one that
did not have that type of drive.

Because you do not remember does not mean it didn't happen.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6qj83e

http://tinyurl.com/6qj83e

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,

There were very inexpensive tape players in the 60's. They were just
fine for voice. They were little reel to reel type. The reels were only
a few inches in diameter and the tape was thick. The head was offset so
you could record on the other side by turning the reel over. I had one
as a kid.
The Norelco / Philips was one of those. 3" reels, two track mono.

Other kids in the neighborhood had them. Then the high
performance audiophile units were developed with the big reels. The
main problem with tape was the high end audio was weak and the
amplifiers had to be biased for more gain at the high end.
There were plenty of decks usable for DXers with 7" reels and 3 3/4 ips
speed that could record an hour per track, mono, in two track configuration.
As mentioned, many had lots of RF emissions that interfered with the BCB
(MW) and were not good for DX use, but others could be shielded or used out
of the box and were less than $200.
The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even
required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward
and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer
and boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late
50's stuff, which was not as standardized.

Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

Not all of them. The early ones like the Wollensak were mono, one track each
way. And many consumer decks, like the Sony 777 series, came as either two
or 4 track, depending on the consumer need. The break point was around $500
with those below that cost being as you describe, and those above having
options. Even the $2000 Otari of the late 70's and 80's came with either
configuration.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

David Eduardo wrote:
"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even
required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward
and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer
and boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late
50's stuff, which was not as standardized.
Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

Not all of them. The early ones like the Wollensak were mono, one track each
way. And many consumer decks, like the Sony 777 series, came as either two
or 4 track, depending on the consumer need. The break point was around $500
with those below that cost being as you describe, and those above having
options. Even the $2000 Otari of the late 70's and 80's came with either
configuration.




The Wollensak T-1500 series, common as crabgrass, was available mono
record/Stereo reproduce. Ampex 600 series could be had with a stereo
play head, as well. Both half track.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:
"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers
with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even
required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono
(forward and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same
in consumer and boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the
mid to late 50's stuff, which was not as standardized.
Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

Not all of them. The early ones like the Wollensak were mono, one track
each way. And many consumer decks, like the Sony 777 series, came as
either two or 4 track, depending on the consumer need. The break point
was around $500 with those below that cost being as you describe, and
those above having options. Even the $2000 Otari of the late 70's and
80's came with either configuration.


The Wollensak T-1500 series, common as crabgrass, was available mono
record/Stereo reproduce. Ampex 600 series could be had with a stereo play
head, as well. Both half track.

There were a fair number of those mono record, stereo play. A couple, and I
don't remember which, used a combined record/play head for mono, and had a
separate stereo head. Others did two track mono, in both play directions, or
one direction stereo... in both cases, there were only two tracks.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

David Eduardo wrote:
"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:
"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:
The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers
with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even
required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono
(forward and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same
in consumer and boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the
mid to late 50's stuff, which was not as standardized.
Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.
Not all of them. The early ones like the Wollensak were mono, one track
each way. And many consumer decks, like the Sony 777 series, came as
either two or 4 track, depending on the consumer need. The break point
was around $500 with those below that cost being as you describe, and
those above having options. Even the $2000 Otari of the late 70's and
80's came with either configuration.

The Wollensak T-1500 series, common as crabgrass, was available mono
record/Stereo reproduce. Ampex 600 series could be had with a stereo play
head, as well. Both half track.

There were a fair number of those mono record, stereo play. A couple, and I
don't remember which, used a combined record/play head for mono, and had a
separate stereo head. Others did two track mono, in both play directions, or
one direction stereo... in both cases, there were only two tracks.


Yes, I beleive I said that.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

D Peter Maus wrote:
David Eduardo wrote:
"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers
with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even
required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono
(forward and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the
same in consumer and boradcast applications. You are likely
thinking of the mid to late 50's stuff, which was not as standardized.
Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

Not all of them. The early ones like the Wollensak were mono, one
track each way. And many consumer decks, like the Sony 777 series,
came as either two or 4 track, depending on the consumer need. The
break point was around $500 with those below that cost being as you
describe, and those above having options. Even the $2000 Otari of the
late 70's and 80's came with either configuration.



The Wollensak T-1500 series, common as crabgrass, was available mono
record/Stereo reproduce. Ampex 600 series could be had with a stereo
play head, as well. Both half track.

I think the MX-505BII came with a 4th head, for quarter track stereo
playback.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

dave wrote:
D Peter Maus wrote:
David Eduardo wrote:
"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers
with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even
required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono
(forward and reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the
same in consumer and boradcast applications. You are likely
thinking of the mid to late 50's stuff, which was not as
standardized.
Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

Not all of them. The early ones like the Wollensak were mono, one
track each way. And many consumer decks, like the Sony 777 series,
came as either two or 4 track, depending on the consumer need. The
break point was around $500 with those below that cost being as you
describe, and those above having options. Even the $2000 Otari of the
late 70's and 80's came with either configuration.



The Wollensak T-1500 series, common as crabgrass, was available mono
record/Stereo reproduce. Ampex 600 series could be had with a stereo
play head, as well. Both half track.

I think the MX-505BII came with a 4th head, for quarter track stereo
playback.

As did RS-1500. But this is not a discussion about reality...it's an
exercise so David can show off. Please pay attention.

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article ,
none ""dave\"@(none)" wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,

There were very inexpensive tape players in the 60's. They were just
fine for voice. They were little reel to reel type. The reels were only
a few inches in diameter and the tape was thick. The head was offset so
you could record on the other side by turning the reel over. I had one
as a kid.
The Norelco / Philips was one of those. 3" reels, two track mono.

Other kids in the neighborhood had them. Then the high
performance audiophile units were developed with the big reels. The
main problem with tape was the high end audio was weak and the
amplifiers had to be biased for more gain at the high end.
There were plenty of decks usable for DXers with 7" reels and 3 3/4 ips
speed that could record an hour per track, mono, in two track
configuration.
As mentioned, many had lots of RF emissions that interfered with the BCB
(MW) and were not good for DX use, but others could be shielded or used
out
of the box and were less than $200.
The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward
and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.

Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

The inexpensive units that were around for kids or dictation were
monaural. The stereo units were for the audiophiles.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

In article Nb06k.2025$sg6.1773@edtnps91, m II wrote:

Telamon wrote:

Here you go Ed'tardo.



Ever notice that 'Telamon' also spells out 'Not Male'?

What are you hiding?

I can see you have had to many Labatt's.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

What's an EKKO Stamp ? - AM/MW Radio Reception Verification Reports
 

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
none ""dave\"@(none)" wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,

There were very inexpensive tape players in the 60's. They were just
fine for voice. They were little reel to reel type. The reels were only
a few inches in diameter and the tape was thick. The head was offset so
you could record on the other side by turning the reel over. I had one
as a kid.
The Norelco / Philips was one of those. 3" reels, two track mono.

Other kids in the neighborhood had them. Then the high
performance audiophile units were developed with the big reels. The
main problem with tape was the high end audio was weak and the
amplifiers had to be biased for more gain at the high end.
There were plenty of decks usable for DXers with 7" reels and 3 3/4 ips
speed that could record an hour per track, mono, in two track
configuration.
As mentioned, many had lots of RF emissions that interfered with the BCB
(MW) and were not good for DX use, but others could be shielded or used
out
of the box and were less than $200.
The problem with these over many years is the tape formulation kept
changing to improve the high end so you needed to have amplifiers with
selection switches depending on the tape formulation. Some even required
different heads (gap) depending on the ferro grain size in the tape.
I never experienced that. By 1960, the format for 2 track mono (forward
and
reverse) and, later, for two track stereo were the same in consumer and
boradcast applications. You are likely thinking of the mid to late 50's
stuff, which was not as standardized.
Nope. Before my time.

Consumer decks used 4 tr stereo, 2 tracks in each direction.

The inexpensive units that were around for kids or dictation were
monaural. The stereo units were for the audiophiles.

Quarter Track Stereo was the release format used by the record
companies. Most were 3.75 ips. some were 7.5 ips.