(Dear reader and visitor, Paul Kirby, as you may remember, was introduced to me via Vicki Worthington through her book "San Antonio Radio Memories" and I have read the book several times, enjoying it every time. Paul was a large contributor to the book and he and I have e-mailed each other several times since then. Paul is a very enjoyable and knowledgeable gentleman to know and I respect him very much for his wit and knowledge. Since many of his memories also encompass the same technology as that of KAAY and other stations of the 1962-1985 era, I am more than pleased to include his comments for the blog- he, Dave Montgomery, Hollis Duncan, Felix McDonald and others are the unsung heros who kept our beloved stations alive, for us to listen to and enjoy...and who'd've ever thunk it that these wonderful, magical marvels of the airwaves ever needed maintenance? We never knew it, or thought of it, did we? So, herewith, is Paul's post! bs)
"Bud,
Thanks for forwarding and posting my comments about endless loop tape cartridges.
Here are further comments as verified by a couple of 50s broadcast engineer types who were "there when it happened."
Paul
The endless loop tape cartridge was first designed in 1952 by Bernard Cousino.
George Eash produced an endless loop tape cartridge design in the mid 50s, which he called Fidelipac.
Collins was the first company to make the endless loop tape cartridge technology available to broadcasters via a licensing agreement with Eash.
Bill Lear did attempt to make a usable endless loop tape cartridges in the 1940s, but failed.
Earl Muntz sold endless loop tape cartridges using a four-track design in the early 60s.
What Bill Lear did (also in the early 60s) was to modify the Fidelipac and 4-track technologies so the capstan roller was embedded into the tape cartridge and to double the number of audio tracks on the tape from 4 to 8."
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