In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
The 1950's were a very interesting time in tape recording.
I can remember a 76cms Magnetophon recorder on which the
erase head got so hot that it would burn a hole in the tape
when the transport was not moving, if you did not put a
match stick between.

Surely the EMI BTR series were around by then - to all intents and
purposes a modern tape machine?

Was the BTR1 a predecessor to the TR90 ?

Yes - although its real successor was the BTR2 which looked very
different to the BTR1. Probably the definitive 1/4" tape machine design
ever for ergonomics if you had to edit, etc. Designed regardless of cost.

The TR90 was a two part device designed for bay mounting, although many
ended up in trolleys as a transportable design - or rather more
transportable than a BTR2. ;-)

I remember well the BTR2, and also the BTR4
which came out circa 1966 (whatever happened to the BTR3?)

Never saw any of the later ones. BBC TV moved on to Levers Rich after the
TR90 then Studer. BBC Radio bought loads of Philips - don't know the model
- which weren't much loved by the operators.


IIRC, the Magnetophon dates from the
early '40s - and was the basis for the EMI BTR1.

Yes. The Magnetophon was the machine that the Allies
brought back from Germany as part of the spoils of War.
It had baffled the Allies for some time that the Germans
were able to broadcast pre-recorded speeches by
Hitler from Berlin without give-away disc noise, and put them
out as supposedly live transmissions, when it was known for
certain that he was elsewhere.

Arthur Haddy stated that the Allies brought back four
Magnetophon machines, two of which went to what became
Ampex in the USA, one to EMI at Hayes, and one to Decca.

The only BTR1 I saw looked pretty similar to the Magnetophon including the
case decoration. But of course in EMI greens.

Nothing beats a real "high tech" solution:-)

I remember a cheap tape deck in the '50s that had no capstan - so the
tape speed varied with the amount on the reels. Disaster if you broke
the tape and had to junk some.

Wonderful!

Iain

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*Warning: Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.

Dave Plowman London SW
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