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Scotchcarts...

Does anybody still use carts? I miss those days but hey I didn't have to maintain them. I think most stations took the carts and cart machines to the landfill a long time ago. Now days it's just as easy to cue up a CD track or an audio file on a PC.
 
There are a few diehards still out there, but not very many. Most have live shows with lots of SFX and the talent likes the convenience of using the carts. I saw a photo in one of the trade magazines, just last week, of a newly renovated studio that had a cart machine in view.

Cart machines were already on their way out in 1991 when Radio Systems introduced the last newly designed machine to be produced. Within a few years, RS and most others had stopped production having sold almost no more of them. The last cart machine I bought for any station was in 1988, I think. I have about 10 or 20 blue Capitol carts in storage along with an antique Gates Criterion (stereo) cart machine and a Teac 10" reel-to-reel and a couple of Panasonic direct drive turntables. None of it has been powered up in well over a decade.
 
Not sure if there are any carts left, but KSL Radio has about 15 cart machines sitting in the Engineering Shop, waiting for someone to come get them.
 
I can't understand why anyone would do so. The upkeep of the machine, reduced audio quality, etc... Every good automation system has a simple Quickstart/Hot Key function.
 
Evidently, 99.99% of the industry agrees. I speculate that those with carts are drawn by the nostalgia (some people also play records, too) or they got used to using carts and don't want to change. Eventually, they'll have to since it's almost impossible to find lubricated tape for them anymore.
 
We actually have a cart machine in our "Q-Mobile" mobile broadcast trailer. We don't really use it, although it works. Since our station is all about being "retro" the carts and turntable are more for eyewash than anything else. There is a computer hidden under the counter. The carts are good conversation starters though. A lot of the public remembers 8-Tracks and even some remember the Muntz 4 tracks that used broadcast style carts.
 
We bought the last triple-deck ITC made at KOMA back in about 1995. Management didn't want to jump into the overall expense of going with computer automation, so they chose to buy a brand new triple deck. ITC scraped up enough parts out of their supplies to build one last one for us.
 
In my workshop I have several cart carousels, cartons of used carts, a couple of boxes of brand new 3M carts and an Otari CTM-10 complete with record electronics.
I'd really like to get my hands on a Tomcat. They were cool. Lots of work though keeping them running right.
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
We bought the last triple-deck ITC made at KOMA back in about 1995. Management didn't want to jump into the overall expense of going with computer automation, so they chose to buy a brand new triple deck. ITC scraped up enough parts out of their supplies to build one last one for us.
Click to expand...

Are their multiple stations? Good automation isn't nearly as expensive as it used to be, especially for a single station. I just think itself many times over...
 
Studio1 said:
I'd really like to get my hands on a Tomcat. They were cool. Lots of work though keeping them running right.
Click to expand...

I took care of a bakers' dozen Tomcats for several years, and did not find them "lots of work." A major key to keeping any complex piece of equipment running right is a proper PM schedule, along with the knowledge of what to check when, and what to replace when. Maintaining a detailed repair log for each machine helps. Each of those Tomcats got benched once a month, checked thoroughly, and repaired as needed. I very seldom had any of them break down.
 
Speaking of maintenance, what maintenance do you guys have to do on the computer automation systems or 360 system type boxes to keep them operating at peak efficiency?

When I exited thee biz as talent in 1994 (for an IT career) we were still using carts and had just got the Denon CD players for on air. The CD players were a pain to use. It was very easy to cue up to the wrong track and sometimes they took a long time to cue up or didn't cue at all.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
what maintenance do you guys have to do on the computer automation systems ... to keep them operating at peak efficiency?
Click to expand...

It depends on the automation system. Some, such as Simian, are subject to database bloat, and need to have the database deleted and rebuilt periodically. Most accumulate daily logs, as-run logs or other logs and need to have those deleted periodically. Defragging of the system drive and audio drives also needs to be done periodically. Some accumulate hidden files so those need to be examined with Windows Explorer set to show hidden files. All systems need a plan to eliminate out-of-date audio files. As with any broadcast equipment you need to develop a PM plan and stick to it.
 
I use SSD's for OS on the AudioVault, so we don't have to worry with any defrag, etc... With modern hardware, there is virtually nothing that can't be taken care of via a weekly scheduled task (which is how I do things).

My audio servers boot from SSD and use a RAID 5 populated with WD raptors for the AudioVault audio volume. No defrag on that either.
 
We bought the last triple-deck ITC made at KOMA back in about 1995. Management didn't want to jump into the overall expense of going with computer automation, so they chose to buy a brand new triple deck. ITC scraped up enough parts out of their supplies to build one last one for us.
Click to expand...

OKC, too bad William B. Tanner was gone in '95. You could have traded for a butt load of Spotmasters and Tomcats. ;)
 
Dale H. Cook said:
Studio1 said:
I'd really like to get my hands on a Tomcat. They were cool. Lots of work though keeping them running right.
Click to expand...

I took care of a bakers' dozen Tomcats for several years, and did not find them "lots of work."
Click to expand...

We had quite a few of them to keep running as well. Between re-capping the various boards, doing head swaps and replacing lamps in the buttons, they were always needing 'something'.
I guess that's just the nature of the beast.
 
SFM-Ptgal said:
Did the Tomcats had the "classical" mechanical scheme (solenoid/plunger/roller) or were different?
Click to expand...

In the Tomcats a cart-in-place sensor detected when a cart was inserted, and brought the pinch roller up to just short of engaging the tape. IIRC the capstan motor did not begin to turn until the "start" button was pressed. The motor had a tachometer disk, and upon the "start" command the microprocessor (a COSMAC 1802, IIRC) caused a massive application of power to the capstan motor, quickly bringing it up to speed, at which time the pinch roller was engaged the rest of the way. The high-torque nature of the motor, along with the tacho, meant that a Tomcat could play a cart that would drag in other brands of deck.

SFM-Ptgal said:
Their heads were the same as the Otari cart machines, weren't they?
Click to expand...

I don't know - I never worked on the Otaris. The Tomcat fixed precision MaxTrax heads had audio tracks nearly as wide as 1/4" stereo reel-to-reel heads. That, along with Audiopak AA-4 carts (the brand and type the Tomcats were designed for) running at 15 IPS gave them remarkable fidelity and stereo tracking. At K92 our entire music library was on cart until we switched to Denon DN950 series CD decks. Even then some library items remained on cart (dubbed from vinyl in a high-end dubbing room) when we did not have the original recordings on CD.

The cue track on the Tomcats was very narrow, but the sophisticated cue channel electronics made cueing reliable.
 
I have a few Dynamax CTR100 machines that I re-capped and they're still running great. I also have the Dynamax cart eraser. This is going to age me, but I go way back to the mid sixties when the Spotmaster machines were popular.

We did use Scotchcarts back in the 80s at an FM station where I worked.

Dennis
 
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