[BC] Cart machines

[AV News Talk PD]

Cart machines are not foreign to the under 30 something at the Radio Brandy Radio Campus in Arizona.
We still have over 40 cart machines around the facility; all still going strong and virus free after decades of service.
Our BE 1070's have been in service since the early 70's and still going strong. We have dozen Delta's & 99a & b (which are
built like tanks and way about as much) a dozen Fidelipac cart machines are also here. I was wise enough to stock up on carts; so we still have a few thousand carts in boxes.

We want to give the students the experience of a traditional broadcast facility of years gone by; so they can appreciate the changes in
technology in the broadcast facility. We even have traditional studios with three turntables and reel to reels; that still amaze the students. One student said: It looks like a radio station; and could never confused for a dispatch center or some stock traders office.

Unlike our computer based music playout systems; our cart machines never get viruses or need the software updated.  Lets face it; a cart machine is so simple to use; a three year old can do it. In fact my seven year old has his very own cart based radio station in his bedroom; along with another studio with a computers and carts for his friends. My boy can break anything;  however he has yet to kill a cart machine.

The first three cart machines I bought while I was still in high school were BE's; do you think for one minute my cousins could have mentioned their parents who worked for BE in Quincy and could have got me the family discount? Not a chance; I had to pay the full price like everyone else.  Once I found out; I knew I had a console in my future at the family discount.

While I must admit it's nice being able to have a complete radio station on a notebook; that once took up a good size room and a power bill to match. I still like having my 100% American made cart machines in the studio, ready to go at a moments notice; when the computer freezes up!

Homeless cart machines and their parts are always welcome at the radio campus; don't toss them bro!
I will let them have the gun; long before they get my cart machines out my fingers.

Steve Webb
Founder of the Radio Brandy Broadcast Workshop