This is the Spot Tape Section of
The Broadcast Archive

Maintained by:
Barry Mishkind - The Eclectic Engineer
Last Update 4/2/08

Once upon a time, all commercials and music were broadcast live ... except when talent got "mic fright."

As records became used more and more in broadcast operations, many of the network programs that were delayed, commercials, and later, jingles were "cut" into "electrical transcriptions" and as many as six turntables might be found in a control room. Spot breaks were quite a busy time for engineers and disk jockies.

MacKenzie developed his "repeater" in 19xx. Using a silver coated tag applied to an endless tape loop (to provide a "cueing" function, the single and "five pack" machines could provide instant starting of desired spots.

Gates Radio responded with the ST-101, a box with a 13 inch tape band, and a moveable head that could read 101 different tracks. Of course, only one at a time, with necessary "rewind" before the next track could be used.

Tape cartridges went from the square metal MacKenzie boxes to plastic carts when xxxxx invented the audio tape player. Fidelipac developed this into a broadcast standard, which lasted for many years.

Collins developed the ATC (Automated Tape Control) units. The designer was Jack Jenkins from Towanda, Illinois. Moving from Collins to Gates, Jenkins designed the Criterion series. Jenkins resigned about 6 months before the company closed the Bloomington business.

Before his resignation, Jenkins was working on a new tape deck design which used the audio cassette type of cartridge. He and several backers formed a new company south of Bloomington called ITC (International Tapetronics Control). The RP and SP machines were known as workhorses that truly merited the label "Premium Series." In the late 1970s, the "99" series was born, a combination recorder, player, eraser and splice locator.

Audicord was founded by ... who was another former ATC engineer.

As more and more stations began broadcasting stereo music on carts, the manufacturers developed machines and carts to reduce stereo phase errors. Fidelipac developed a cart that used a longer tape path, so the tape was vertical sooner. ITC developed the "Scotchcart," which used no pads, but a long tape path and internal pressure to maintain constant tape speed and phase.

In the late 1970s. The folks at Pacific Recorders designed the Tomcat, and later Micromax. Using "MaxTrax" heads with extra width on the program channels to improve S/N and headroom, many stations found the stereo integrity of the Tomcat's fixed heads to be superior.

Another designed, Mike Sirkis, built machines for Fidelipac, among others. His Dynamax series, for example, used photocells to identify different carts, allowing the system to react to different emulsions, recording levels, or even contact closures.

Tape machines

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