Audioclinic (dec. 1984)

[…] do its damage. Merely turning things off, even en masse, obviously was not enough protection.

My solution was to "single up" all of my equipment's a.c. power connections to a group of four, heavy-duty sockets and a 3-foot heavy-duty cord to a single plug, from which another heavy-duty wire and plug went to the wall outlet. Now I can, and invariably do, unplug all the vulnerable instruments at once by pulling out one plug.

I call it my "lightning plug." When it is pulled, gravity takes it more than 20 inches away from its wall outlet, a substantial "airbreak" for any high-voltage spike.

That one entry of wild thunderstorm voltage cost me $80 for repairs, and I was lucky to get away with so little.

Since the "lightning plug" installation, I have had no further damage.

-Will Hoskins, Jacksonville, Fla.

More on Broadcast Tape Cartridges

The following material is drawn from three letters which were sent to me in response to the May 1984 "Audioclinic" item on broadcast cartridges. I thank these people, who took time from their busy schedules in broadcasting and advertising to shed more light on this interesting subject.

The primary tone which precedes the beginning of program material is rarely, if ever, used for anything except stopping and appropriately "cueing" the cartridge.

This stop/cue (or re-cueing) tone is not added manually, but is automatically inserted at the time a tape "cart" is started in the record mode, which eliminates any concern about its placement.

If it is desired to start another source, near or at the end of the cur rent program, a secondary tone, of different frequency, is recorded on the cue track. This permits the next source to begin, say, during the fade of a song to create an overlap, or "segue." The cartridge continues to run until it encounters the primary (stop) tone.

Using this system, the cartridge need not be the exact length of the program, as you said. Indeed, cartridges are commonly sold in increments of 30 S and thus exceed the program length by (usually) 10 S or more. "Recue time" (the time between the program's end and its beginning) is minimized by selecting a cartridge length which exceeds the program time by the mini mum amount.

A tertiary tone, also different in frequency, may also be used for special purposes, such as starting a tape to "voice-over" the intro of a song.

Broadcast cartridges are similar in design to the largely extinct four-track type, but the broadcast version does not have a built-in pinch roller.

-Dennis J. Martin, Banning, Cal.

You're quite right that broadcast tape cartridges are used primarily for convenience, but there is a significant sonic benefit from transferring music from vinyl disc to tape cartridge for on-air playback. The radio-station control room environment is hostile to a vinyl disc's surface. With the frequent play back encountered in most radio for mats, normal wear and careless handling reduce an LP to tattered vinyl in very short order. Transferring the mu sic to tape cart preserves the integrity of the disc and allows repeatable, high-quality playback under these operating conditions.

The quality of many broadcast tape cartridge machines is very high, and companding noise reduction is often used with high-output tape for excel lent sonic performance. Although transferring the music to cart does introduce another generation of tape, the net result is improved long-term audio quality for radio listeners.

-Christopher B. Downing, Merriam, Kans.

Broadcasters do not use tapes containing multiple selections but, rather, play each song on its own, separate cartridge. To most consumers, this would be no different from playing 45s on a single-play turntable.

The cartridges are not interchange able with the eight-track format.

In terms of the application of this equipment by consumers, the cost is virtually prohibitive in every area. As in most professional situations, the customer pays for the specialized engineering of a product sold to a limited market. Even though prices vary, de pending on models and features, play-only cart machines sell from about $600 up to $2,000. A unit which can also record will cost about twice that much.

-Walt Pinto, Woodbridge, Conn.

(adapted from Audio magazine, 1984; JOSEPH GIOVANELLI)

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