[BC] Why FM took off in the 70 s

[Sid Schweiger]

>>Did I miss something, or were there NO faders on the console?  It
looked like just switches.  Since all elements were on cart, were all
levels pre-set?<<

No, you didn't miss anything.  This was an experimental console with no
faders, and as you surmised all levels were pre-set.  Unfortunately, it
did not work as advertised, and the political solution (remember, there
were unions involved) was to gut the thing, leaving its front panel
intact (except for the installation of faders), and install the "guts"
of a normal mixing console inside.  Later WABC had Rupert Neve of
England design their consoles, which were built for speed with very few
switchable options.

>>Given the reliability (lack of) of cart machines of that era, it must
have been a maintenance nightmare.<<

Rick Sklar, in his book "Rockin' America," discussed, at great length,
WABC's technical reliability.  During the time that I worked at ABC,
WABC had *eight* cart machines in studios 8A (main air) and 8B (aux
air).  Rick and the engineering staff had determined that five were
enough to run the format under normal conditions, so the extra three
were there as backups.  The ones that were in use when I was working for
the company were ITCs, but I understand they had been using Collins and
RCA cart machines before that, and they had lots of trouble with them. 
Also, the RCAs had a problem with cue tones bleeding into the program
audio.



Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
WAAF - WEEI AM/FM - WMKK - WRKO - WVEI
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Boston MA  02135-2040
Phone: 617-779-5369
Fax: 617-779-5379
E-Mail: sid at wrko.com