Re: [IRCA] Radio days

["Craig Healy" <bubba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Did the 8 track machines also run at 3 3/4 IPS also. I have one,
> but I never use it. But it seems to me it did.

Yes.  By using that adapter, a 4-track could play in an 8-track player. Same
speed.  The last 8-track I had was in a 1969 Dodge Charger.  I wish I still
had that car as well.

>    I do remember how messed up the cart machines at KVAS would get. The
> carts would break right in the middle of a spot and I had to run and
> grab another cart with the same sponcer if I could find one. The heads
> would be dirty or the capson wheel would be slick and the spot would
> sound muffled and not tracking. It is all coming back to me. There were
> headaches with those machines at times.

Tape wears out and breaks.  95% of all cart deck problems were fixed by a
good cleaning of the heads and pinch roller.  The later decks were much
better with holding alignment.  Earlier ones would drift almost immediately.
Individual carts could also sound bad, even with new tape.  I used to check
a cart by letting it feed back by doing a test recording.  A good cart would
resolve the feedback into a higher pitch.  A bad one would turn into a
rumble.

>    Yes, KVAS even had an automation system put out by IGM Bellingham
> (Music With McMaster), and later changed from the Easy Listening to BPI
> and Chris Lane and C&W. Yes, the Carousel indeed could take your finger
> off. I think I got pinched once when the thing jammed. It have 3 or four
> cart machines as I remember and two reel to reel decks that took 10 1/2
> reel to reel tapes.  There was a tech from IGM that would come around to
> fix it. But the thing, clonking and clanging at times. The sensors would
> jump around and the lights would flash and the thing would look  like a
> Christmas tree. It was something else. At times I felt like pushing it
> into the Columbia River, right out the back door. hi. But the boss would
> not have liked it. Ah, the good ol' days.....

There was a home-built unit at WHJJ-920 build by the late Pappy Philbrook.
It had what looked to be a few dozen relays of various types, and a number
of tape players of different types.  When it worked, it was great.  When it
got cranky, it was impossible.  I remember getting a call every hour on the
hour during a couple of overnights.  I finally shut it down and just let the
satellite run.  There comes a time when sleep is more productive than tried
to fix something while dead tired.

Craig Healy
Providence, RI

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