Radio Memories Vol. 15

This chapter is about some radio gear that was commonly used in the 60s but is rarely seen in radio control rooms today. These machines were the bridge between reel-to-reel tape machines and vinyl records and the computer-based audio files we use today. We’ll take them in chronological order. 

The Gates Radio Company introduced the Gates ST-101 Spot Tape a 101-track tape player introduced in 1959. For the first time, DJs no longer had to rely on reel-to-reel recorders or vinyl transcriptions to play commercials and other pre-recorded announcements on the air. 

This mechanical and photocell-driven monster used an 11“wide that could hold recordings up to 90 seconds long. Across the battleship gray face of this 18” wide oddity was an 11” by 5/8” slot with a steel half circle handle with a pointer connected to an audio head assembly next to the face of the tape at the point where it leaves the supply roller. When started, the tape unrolls from the supply roller towards the take-up roller. If not stopped by the operator, the tape will continue to roll until a photocell senses a gap in the edge of the tape. At that point, it will rewind until another photocell senses a gap on the other edge of the tape and stops, cued up to the beginning of the audio track. 

On the top edge of the slot on the face of the machine is a label divided into 10 sections numbered 1 through 10. The first 9 sections are divided into 10 tracks; A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, and K. The 10th section has an 11th track, labeled “L”, giving us 101 tracks of monaural audio. At WCOS the DJ knew if a commercial was on the Spot Master if it carried a track designator, I. E. 6-D or 10-J. Simply select the track by sliding the indented handle to the corresponding track identifier and press play on the black panel in the upper right corner of the machine. There were three controls on this panel, a black button for play, a red button for record, and between them protected by a pair of steel semicircular loops, a white lever switch that could be pushed up for rewind and down to stop the tape where it is.  Above each control was a corresponding indicator lamp to indicate in what mode the machine was operating; green for play, red for record, and white for rewind. At the end of a long cable was a remote control that was a duplicate of this panel which sat on the audio console desk within easy reach of the DJ. 

One of the audio tracks contained the production elements for the “Instant 60 Request.” It consisted of two parts. The first ran for about 40 seconds announcing the request line was open and asking the audience to call it. It was followed by 1 second of silence then a short stinger announcing “Here it comes!” When executing the “Instant 60”, the DJ played the first part of the track and then pressed the white switch down stopping the tape in position while talking to the caller on the air and finding out what song they wanted to hear. When the caller told us on the air, the DJ would return the white switch to the neutral position letting the stinger play then start the record, immediately with no further announcement. The ST 101 was the perfect platform to use for this feature.

The “prime time” for the Spot Master was short. In 1953, George Eash invented a design, called the Fidelipac cartridge, also called the “NAB cartridge” or just “Cart.” used the Endless tape cartridge technology. This technology used a reel of tape mounted on an open circular platform pulling tape from the edge of the reel past ports in the front of a plastic cartridge about the size of an 8 Track tape with which most of us are familiar that worked similarly. There were two major differences between the two. 

The Fidelipac cartridge did not contain a pinch roller but relied on one in the player that popped up through a hole in the bottom of the plastic cartridge pack, while the 8-Track cartridge contained its pinch roller internally.  

The other difference was the positioning of the tape heads in the machine. The Fidelipac had fixed heads with tracks for audio (mono or stereo) and a cue track that contained cue tones. The primary tone was used to stop the tape when the beginning of the audio track was reached. The other tones (secondary and tertiary) were used for other purposes such as a five-second warning before the end of the commercial or used to automatically another cart or some other device in the studio. 

In the case of the 8-Track, the stereo audio head could be shifted up or down to select which of the four stereo programs the listener wanted to hear. At the splice of the continuous loop of tape, there was a metal strip that switched the heads to the next program. The user could also select which program they wanted to hear from a button on the front of the machine. All four programs were of equal length, the length of the tape. As far as I know, the consumer-oriented 8-Track tape was never used in broadcasting. 

Shortly after the introduction of the Fidelipac cartridge to broadcasting Gates stopped manufacturing ST 101 which were continued to be used by some stations like WCOS until the early 70s. By the end of the 60s, many stations were recording their music to carts and discontinuing the use of turntables.  

Interesting note: even today some stations and automation manufacturers refer to files in their automation systems as “Carts.”