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Fidelipac Cartridge (Carts)

Started by david@london, July 08, 2021, 12:01:12 PM

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david@london

From Columbo - Ransom for a Dead Man

....https://archive.org/details/0PrescriptionMurderAndRansomForADeadMan


< 07-09-21: topic split off from » The CRPF "Old Phones in Movies & TV" Compilation
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=312.0 >

19and41

Isn't that a CART based answering machine in the second photo?
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

david@london

Picture with different point of focus....


19and41

Yow! It looks like the whole thing the phone is on is an answering machine.  Looks like a CART recorder and and a timer That looks about as involved as Mike Hammer's 1955 unit in Kiss Me Deadly.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

david@london

19and41, could you give any info on CART answer machines?

Here's a better screenshot of the whole set up...


19and41

CARTS are an endless loop magnetic tape cassette in the manner of an 8 track tape.  They were used mainly in storing prerecorded messages for play in radio broadcasting.  The type of open face deck used on the answering machine was also the type used in the Lear and Muntz automotive tape decks.  To be honest, I've never seen a setup like that one.  It may also be a automated system to answer and provide recorded info after business hours.  The kind of message we now get before the tone to leave a message.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

HarrySmith

My first thought when I saw that set up was it looks like an 8 track tape. My first car had an 8 track in the glove box. Needed to keep a book of matches handy with that thing! That  set up may also be just what a prop master thought it should look like. Does not look very functional.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

19and41

I would've thought it was a prop kludge also, but what it has makes too much sense.  It would take less hardware to make something to "look the part".  I'm guessing it would be a device the studio had in use that would stand in for something in the story line.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

FABphones

#8
Quote from: david@london on July 08, 2021, 04:25:29 PM
...could you give any info on CART answer machines?

It may be a Fidelipac cartridge. The unit looks really nicely made (teak?), I would guess it was placed there as a prop using a device which was familiar to the industry:

The Fidelipac, commonly known as a "NAB cartridge" or simply "cart", is a magnetic tape sound recording format, used for radio broadcasting for playback of material over the air such as radio commercials, jingles, station identifications, and music. Fidelipac is the official name of this industry standard audio tape cartridge.

It was developed in 1954[1] by inventor George Eash[2][3] (although the invention of the Fidelipac cartridge has also been credited to Vern Nolte of the Automatic Tape Company[4][5]), and commercially introduced in 1959 by Collins Radio at the 1959 NAB Convention. The cartridge was often used at radio stations until the late 1990s, when such formats as MiniDisc and computerized broadcast automation predominated.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelipac

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo-Pak

I had something similar, an answering machine. It was huge, about 3ft in width and cumbersome so I moved it on. Unfortunately I never took any photos of it and have never seen another like it. All I can remember is it was a commercial device and the tapes were as rare as hens teeth when I tried to source them.

—-

Columbo, great series, and so many phones feature in it.

I have the enormous Columbo 'cigar' box set, so I'll watch that episode later.  :)
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

rdelius

FAB is correct about the cartridge ,I fork for radio stations and carts were common but now audio is on computers .Have hundereds of old carts at some old radio stations .Tape required much maintanance and I do not miss it. Carts could jam and break, The DJ could remove them before they "qued" up the start of the music and the next to use that cart would hear dead air. That machine appears to use a Viking type transport.That looks like a timer to the left.

markosjal

#10
I replied to a post on this very forum where someone posted part of a phone based remote audio feed and asked what it was. The part they posted was familiar to me because it was something I had seen in press boxes at sporting events. They were always a curiosity to me.

Although I never used them I did see them in action as I worked on TV Crews televising live sports in the 1980s in my youth. I never worked with the radio part but asked questions when I could.

I suspect this is one possible configuration for a "Studio side" of one of these systems , allowing a commercial (or commercials)  to be inserted from carts at the studio side of the feed before going to air.

I do know those systems used "two pairs" one was a transmit pair and one was a receive pair . The remote location could get audio feedback from the studio location (IFB or intercom).

The one thing that seems odd to me is that phone has an auto dialer that uses punch cards. I would guess that it is not the phone it should be, rather a "prop" that looked "High tech" at the time.
Phat Phantom's phreaking phone phettish

RB

The "cart" you are referring to, is a 4 track.
Predecessor to the 8 track.
The pinch wheel was located in the drive, not in the cart like the 8 tracks.
The pinch wheel would lift up when the cart was inserted.
Or, it needed to be lifted by a lever by the operator to engage.
And yes, problematic.
The cart needed to be aligned perfectly in the drive, or warble would be the result.
Hence the match book jammed under it.

rdelius

The broadcast cart and the 4 track had the same form factor but the broadcast cart ran at 7 1/2 ips and the 4 track at 3 3/4. The broadcast cart had 2 tracks if mono  (audio and Q track) or 3 tracks if stereo (R ch.L ch and Q track. The Q track had 1kc audio stop tones or other frequencies to fire off other cart decks  or warning lights. The 4 track used a foil strip to change tracks.
I still have some cart machines and carts but most radio stations went to computers to play music years ago.

markosjal

Quote from: rdelius on January 01, 2022, 01:00:14 PM
The broadcast cart and the 4 track had the same form factor but the broadcast cart ran at 7 1/2 ips and the 4 track at 3 3/4. The broadcast cart had 2 tracks if mono  (audio and Q track) or 3 tracks if stereo (R ch.L ch and Q track. The Q track had 1kc audio stop tones or other frequencies to fire off other cart decks  or warning lights. The 4 track used a foil strip to change tracks.
I still have some cart machines and carts but most radio stations went to computers to play music years ago.

I think as I recall the normal carts had foil at the end too.
Phat Phantom's phreaking phone phettish

rdelius

Broadcast carts had no foil but there was a predecessor  called the McKensey? repeater that did.