1974 A-V Buyers Guide Rewire Your Future/game plan for the electronic maze

1974 A-V Buyers Guide Rewire Your Future/game plan for the electronic maze

Getting The Sound

1877: Tom Edison invents tinfoil phonograph. The first words back from the machine are “Mary had a little lamb...”

“Mary had a little..

1887: Emile Berliner invents the flat record disc.

1888: Twelve year old concert pianist Josef Hofmann becomes the first recording artist as he records a few ditties for Edison’s phonograph.

1890: Commercial recording is being done on wax cylinders which require a performance for every cylinder. Actually mass production was accomplished, by putting twelve recording machines around the band so twelve cylinders could be made per performance. Okay Bob, play “Blowin’In The Wind” a few thousand times.

1894: Berliner has found a way of stamping records so one master can be used to make many copies. He’s using hard rubber to make the discs at this point.

1897: Berliner switches to shellac discs.

1901: The Victor Talking Machine Company started by Berliner and Eldridge Johnson.

1902: Caruso starts recording. Not only is he good, but his vocal range is within the narrow limits of the reproduction systems so you can hear what he’s singing.

1903: Victor and its competitor, Columbia, doing over a million dollars worth of business each year selling classical tunes and songs from operas on discs and cylinders at a buck a copy. Edison is turning out ‘race’ songs on cylinders for 35 cents.

1904: Columbia introduces the double sided record, it flops.

1906: Edison is backordered two and a half million cylinders, biz is good.

1908: Double sided records catching on.

1912: The cylinder is fading out, records becoming the standard.

1921: Over one hundred million records produced this year.

1924: Bell Labs comes up with electronic system of recording; up to this point it’d been all mechanical.

1925: With the help of electric motors, 78 rpm becomes 78 rpm. Before this 78’s had run anywhere from 74 to 82 rpm.

1931: RCA comes up with the long playing record, it flops.

1934: A.D. Blumlien comes up with stereo, it flops.

1940: While RCA starts pressing records on vinyl, the Germans are developing' magnetic Jtape recording.

1947: Magnetic tape recording introduced in the U.S.

1948: Columbia introduces the long playing, 33 1/3 lp.

1949: RCA introduces the 45 rpm record. Before 1948-49 nobody had any record players that played anything but 78’s. Very nice.

1950: While tape recorders start to enter the home market, RCA starts making albums.

1951: Columbia starts making singles. 1955: Stereo tape recorders introduced. 1958: Stereo albums introduced.

1969: Quadrophonic four channel sound introduced.

1973: Quad a commercial reality with two major systems, RCA and Columbia.

AUDIO

Rewire Yourself

London - We are, as Americans, a totally electric people. The manner to which we’ve become accustomed is electric. Electronics over-sees our style: it makes lights flash red at comers, lets jets land, and decides when your toast is brown enough. Survival as we’ve come to expect it: watching color tv, making phone calls, having light when the sun goes down, having cold beer when we want it. The little things.

You become extremely aware of electricity when you have to go without it. I’m writing this from London, a flower of a city, but a society that is, ah, somewhat less than electric. The telly goes off at midnight, the radio is a reflection of state of emotional constipation that is British with a rolling Brrrr, making a phone call is an adventure, and when you buy a home appliance you get a chord with no plug on the end; you’re expected to wire one on yourself. And this Orwell was afraid of, goodness.

So here I am, feeling, well, unplugged is the only word I can think of to describe it. You see, people’s politics aside, America really is the land of plenty. We think nothing of using 200 watts to read by, running 450 watts of color tv, 500 watts to thaw out some frozen waffles. And this is in a world where some people have to go to bed at sunset because they can’t even afford 25 watts. Do you understand the amount of energy that is consumed in America on Thursday night at 9 o’clock when 80 million television sets are on glowing Kung Fu? Slogans like you should finish everything on your plate cause there are. people in this world who are starving, slogans like that could be changed to: turn off a lamp for peace.

Luckily we are the land of plenty and the rest of the world just does without. England, for instance, does without the state of electric convenience by which we:live our lives. I don’t mean to sound unpatriotic to the power to the people ideals of some who may read this, but we’re the only country in the world where you can be poor and still have electricity.

Credits

This special audio/video consumer electronic supplement was written and edited by Richard Robinson. Richard would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance: Alison Karpel; Barry Kramer; P.G. Konold of Shure; Martin Clifford; Ken Irsay; Clyde Donaldson of 3M; John Lissner of Grey And David; K. Kay Inouye; Ira Morais; Bill Campeau; Dick Ziff; Frank Barth; Joe Lesly; William Cato of AR; Ron Tansky; Florence S. Towers; and, of course, Lisa Robinson.

Foreigners must be, really, perplexed when they ride through our ghettos and see this bizarre mixture of poverty and tv aerials. The two don’t go elsewhere. In the rest of the world, if you’re poor, you’re poor. You just don’t have the things we all have in America.

This supplement is about how wired in we all are. Would you go without electricity to save the world - can you even go without electricity and then be able to even talk about saving the world. Not a chance. Revolt is lying there in a plastic groove, ready to spin out the words to all, if you can get up the 150 watts (50 to run the turntable, 100 to run the amp and thus power the speakers). And we all can, 150 watts is nothing. In America.

Energy-saving campaigns will come down on us then and again, but rationing electricity would expose too many of the real problems. So we get to eat the cake, and, by being electric we get to be different from most of the rest of the world. My personal opinion is that we’re moving into a new realm where the computers will take over and things will run a little more smoothly for everybody. Who knows, a computer may read this someday and get really turned on that I wasn’t afraid.

Anyway, this supplement is a presentation of the consequences of the Japs turning Tokyo into an electric beehive and America into 2001.

Sound Systems

We’re living in an era of electronic decadence where the slightest whim can be instantly satisfied - if you can afford it. The luxury of being able to acquire a home entertainment system that is more sophisticated than most professional recording studios were eight to ten years ago does have its drawbacks, however. Not only is there a hefty price tag on every component you’ll need to build that system, there is also an inherent confusion in the number of alternatives available and the ever-present possibility of getting suckered into buying carefully merchandised electronic junk which serves no useful function. The compulsive spending mania of credit-based consumer affluence has been met and conquered by the manufacturers on their own terms. Otherwise sensible people willingly rip themselves off in an effort to have as much chrome-plating as possible. Big has become synonymous with good, dramatic with dependable; what something looks like presumes how it will work.

During 1973, the American consumer spent $6 billion on electronic equipment and $1.7 billion'on records, which means that during 1973 the American consumer got burned for several million dollars worth of crap masquerading under various brand names. An even larger number of consumer dollars went to buy items that are marginally crap; units which do functibn but which do not provide full service. No matter how hip, disclaiming any knowledge of how things work is too expensive. The time has come when there is just too much shit to wade through blindly.

There are three pieces of equipment essential to any sound system. All three of them should be chosen for their reliability rather than convenience or, as they say in the biz, cosmetic appearance. The phrase “sound system” is used intentionally, rather than “stereo” or “hi-fi” because that’s what a record player, amplifier and speakers are: a sound system. Their basic function is to retrieve the information encoded on a disc, amplify that information, and translate it into audible sound. To do this all three of these components must meet certain specifications and tolerances which, without laboring the point too much, manufacturers of these components are liable to side-step if they can sell the units by other means.

Let’s start with the machine with which you play your records. This can be either a turntable or a record changer. A turntable is a circular plate driven at certain speeds on which a disc is placed so that it revolves at those speeds. Adjacent to the turntable is the tone arm, which is just a stick of wood or metal holding a needle, encased in a cartridge held at the proper angle and weight relationships to the disc so that the needle can ride in the disc’s grooves. A record changer is the same as a turntable except that it has a mechanism for automatically changing the discs.

The tumtable/changer must turn at the proper speed with a minimum of motor-plate vibration which produces bottom end ramble; the' tone arm must track across the record at the proper angle to preserve the record for another play and must lie in the grooves without any undue weight on the needle; the mounting case for all these pieces must provide proper damping so that you’ll be able to walk around the room while a record is playing. You can’t buy a good turntable for less than $8Q, and a good changer for less than a hundred. That’s what it costs to make them right.

From the tumtable/changer the signal goes to the amplifier where it is amplified, the frequencies are adjusted to suit your ears (bass and treble controls), and then sent out to the speakers. Although the trend is towards amplifiers that incorporate AM/FM Stereo or FM Stereo receivers, if you’re into rock music you would do well to buy a good amp and get a radio receiver-tuner as a separate component. Since a good amp will cost over $200, you’re not going to get what you need if you buy some converted tin can for $87.50 that includes a radio and lots of controls and dials.

Amplifiers are really two separate sections: the pre-amplifier which accepts the signal from the turntable (or FM receiver or tape recorder) and contains the bass, treble, function selector and other switches, and the amplifier which amplifies the signal before it goes to the speakers. The pre-amplifier must be sensitive in terms of allowing you to control the signal; the amplifier must be powerful yet not introduce any distortion as it amplifies. If you’ve got the money these two units can be purchased separately. Many amps, especially the lower priced models, just don’t give you good bottom when it comes to reproducing rock music. Tube amps were, in general, better for playing rock, but nobody’s making them since the advent of transistors. If you can buy a used tube amp that once sold for two or three hundred dollars you’ll probably do better than spending the same amount of money for a transistorized unit.

Turntables

Speakers

Quad

The only controls you really need on a good amp are volume, bass and treble. All the rest of that stuff is there to catch your eye more than your ear, so be wary when you buy. It’s also a good idea to take your favorite rock record along with you when you go to buy equipment as the easy listening and classical shit they’ll be playing at the store doesn’t give an amp or speakers the kind of work-out that rock does.

There are two kinds of speakers: low efficiency and high efficiency. A low efficiency speaker needs a lot more power to drive it than a high efficiency speaker and results in packed sound. In general high efficiency speakers are better buys. Get the largest speakers you can affprd - especially if you’re going to be playing your music loud -and make sure than they’ll handle, at least ten to twenty per cent more wattage than your amp puts out. That way, you won’t blow them the first week.

Very often there is a temptation to forget all this by purchasing an integrated sound system — turntable and amp built in one case with external speakers M or a package deal -amp, speakers and turntable all for one low price. You lose either way. Although there are some good integrated units, you won’t be able to replace any of the components if you decide you want to upgrade your system. As for package deals, there’s usually a catch: a good amp and turntable but speakers with some weird brand najne you never heard of - and rightly so because it’s just some shit they threw together in the back room. Or a good amp and good speakers with a cheap turntable.

Even if ,you make a mistake with one of the components you buy, you can always replace it without having to scrap the whole thing. Think simple, know what you want before you get to the store, and don’t believe in light-up dials and miracle units. Sound systems are at their best when they’re built to amplify sound.

Quod: Stotinq the State of the Aft

Tokyo — High above the pollution and the people being stuffed into the subway trains a meeting is being held in the executive offices of Sony. A young representative, just returned from America where he has studied the habits of the creatures living there, is reporting to the boss.

“You mean Americans already ail have stereo system!” says the big boss, fingering the gold plated chop sticks that his faithful employees presented him last New Year.

“Yes, they all equipped,’’ says young representative.

The big boss pauses for a second. Then he pounds his fist on the desk and; the display of energy past, sighs. “Then we must make it obsolete.”

So they did, gang. Here I am. I remember black and white television. I remember mono. And in two short years the Japanese have convinced me that without four speakers in my living room I am nothing. Of course they may not have convinced you, but just wait, you’ll begin to feel the need. The chant will go up from, anthills across our great land, “quadrasonicquadrasonicquadrasonic”.

Perhaps you’re one of the sixty million people in this country who don’t understand what the fuck quadraphonic means. It’s not your fault, the Japanese have always been inscrutable in their advertising and as for the American record companies who are producing the software, they’re so busy varnishing tjieir image of the hip and groovy Sixties that they don’t understand you gotta tell people what it is before they’ll buy it. I mean, you can sell six ounce cans of shit, but you’ve got to tell the people “Hey, this can contains pure shit.” Be descriptive. '•

Well have no fear, as a CREEM reader you’re entitled to know what quad is. Not only that, I’m going to tell you about the quad systems, what they are, and how to buy a quad amplifier.

Quad is this: the original recording of a musical event is divided into four segments, each segment being reproduced on one of four speakers to give the listener, who’s sitting in the middle of all this, the feeling of being part of a dynamic musical mass. Stereo only divided the original recording into two segments.

Reel-to-Reel

There are any number of ways of encoding these four signals on a record so they can be sent into a four part amplifier and go out to the four speakers. Since a record has but one groove, spiralling around from outer edge to the label, the four signals must go in this groove. With stereo one signal goes on the left wall of the groove, one on the right. With quad the methods differ, some put the two extra signals on an ujtra-high frequency carrier signal and then mix it with the two other signals, some mix all four signals and reconstruct the parts later. Whichever way quad on records works, it is necessary to have an amplifier that has four power amps and the necessary decoding circuitry to get the four channels back out of the record.

Until recently there was a major division among amp manufacturers. Some had aligned themselves with one quad system, some with another. And they produced amps that only decoded that.quad system. The confusion was incredible and it certainly hurt the introduction of quad as a viable consumer item. More recently the systems battle has gotten down to two quad systems: Columbia SQ and RCA CD-4 (also being used by Warners, Elektra, and Atlantic). With only two major systems, the amp manufacturers have hedged on their earlier bets and started making amps that have both SQ and CD-4 decoders 4 even some amps that switch between the two automatically. So the consumer can officially stop worrying that a piece of equipment designed for quad will become immediately obsolete. Those of you with EV quad and Sansui QS quad should take your amps and toss them through the window of the nearest hi-fi store. (Actually, you might just buy adaptor decoder boxes for SQ and CD-4).

There are drawbacks to both quad systems mentioned above. CD-4 requires a cartridge which has a frequency response to 40,000 Hz (most cartridges cut off at around 20KHz). SQ can have less than total separation between speakers at times. But both problems are resolvable and it is even conceivable that eventually the two systems will become totally interchangeable as one borrows from the other’s techhology.

To play quad, you’ll need the following: A turntable with a quad-capable cartridge; a quad amplifier with both SQ and CD-4 decoding; four identical speakers. Please, don’t try to play quad with two good speakers up front left over from your stereo system and two $5.95 specials for the back. All speakers are equal in quad. You’ll be cheating yourseit ot tne potential ot tne quad experience if you cut comers. Better you should wait until you can make the investment in a totally new system than trying to re-rig your stereo for quad.

When quad first became available, I thought who needs it? Since then I’ve modified my opinion. Quad will happen, slowly. Unfortunately it isn’t the shocker that it could have been, but that’s because any episode of Mary Tyler Moore is more exciting that 97% of the albums being released. No fault of the system.

The interesting thing about switching to quad is that most of us will also be making the switch from American to Japanese hi-fi hardware in the process. We’ll be listening to rock through Japanese amps and Japanese speakers. This is a major techno-cultural shift with important media implications as well as aesthetic subtleties. Gone are the days of American electric rock and roll. We’re in for Ah, Sino-American electric rock. Could that be right? Probably not, but it sounds like what I mean.

There was a time when I wouldn’t have trusted anyone but Fisher to make my amp, AR to make my speakers, Garrard (for exotic quality, it being a British import) to make my turntable and Shure to make my cartridge. Those days, alas, are gone. Red blooded American music machines must face the challenge from the East. Not that AR, Garrard, and Shure aren’t still making quality products, but that the manufacturers and the market place have expanded to encompass a greater number of products produced in two different traditions. Everybody’s going to have a run for your money and trying to decide what’s best becomes a much more difficult decision.

Anyway, there’s lots of quad albums out now. More on the way since record companies can get an extra buck for the quad version of an lp. There’s quad equipment in the electronic stores which will play almost all the records being released. The rest is up to you and how much money you’ve got to spend.

Tope Recorders

If you’re a perfectionist when it comes to reproducing sound then you’ll definitely need a tape recorder to complement your other stereo equipment. The most versatile and sophisticated of all tape configurations, reel to reel tape recorders have reached a point in their development where 600 dollars will buy a machine that meets recording studio specifications. Unfortunately, less expensive machines, especially those in the under two hundred dollar category, have few of the advantages of the higher priced models, so if that’s all you’ve got to spend it’s advisable to get a cassette machine instead.

A good reel to reel tape recorder will provide you with the facilities to make excellent recordings and, if you’ve got a good amplifier and speakers, to play-back those recordings with no loss of quality. In addition, many recorders include professional features such as editing, cueing, mixing and sound-on-sound in case you. want to record live music or produce your own audio programs.

Audible sounds come within a certain frequency or sound range - from very low frequencies (bass) to very high frequencies (treble). To store these frequencies on tape they are electronically pulsed onto the surface of the recording tape as that tape is run from reel to reel past the heads of the tape recorder.. Without getting into electronic theory, the faster the tape passes the head the more “room” there is for each impulse to be stored on the tape and thus the more true the impulse is when stored. A tape running at 1 7/8ths ips (inches per second) will not hold as much bass and treble as a tape running at 3 3/4ths ips, the quality rising again as you record at IVi ips. Professional recordings are made at 15 ips, guaranteeing that whatever is being played will be stored on the tape. Unfortunately the faster the tape speed you use, the more tape it takes — you’ll use twice as much tape recording at 15 ips as you will at 7Vi ips. But if you’re interested in quality recording, you should record at 7Vi or 15 ips.

The majority of higher priced tape machines being made have both IVi and 15 ips speeds. (By higher priced we mean a machine that costs $400 to $600.)

Other important aspects of good tape recorders are the motors and the way they drive the reels. Again, higher priced machines have the electronics to provide stability in terms of motor functioning and at least two motors, one for each reel.

The quality and number of heads included in a tape recorder are also worth your attention. Cheap tape recorders have two heads, one to erase the head (clean it) before you record on it, the other to either record or play-back depending on which mode you’re in. A head that serves the dual function of both record and play-back will not perform either function as well if there were two heads, one for record, the other for play-back. In addition a third head for play-back (making one erase, two play-back, one record) will allow you to monitor the recording on the tape as it is being made, to do echo and sound-with-sound. Again, the more expensive machines will have these features.

Finally if you’re going to spend the money on a good recorder you should get one that takes a lOVi inch reel. These will give you an hour of recording time at IVi ips, half an hour at 15 ips, plus you can store your tape in boxes on hubs (rather than on reels) which makes buying tape less expensive since you can get a reel of tape on a hub for about $5. The same amount of tape on reels would cost between $8 and $11. Also, if you want to do editing it is much easier to manipulate lOVi inch reels than the standard home size of 7 inches.

There are a few other conveniences that you’ll find on expensive machines which, while not crucial, are nice. These include solenoid operation (solenoids are devices which allow for push button operation of controls rather than lever operation and which also allow for the fast-forward, play, record and rewind controls to be located some distance from the actual recorder by means of a cable with a control box), and mic-line mixing (you can mix two signals together onto the tape through the internal electronics of the machine rather than having to go out a buy a mixer).

There are a number of tape recorders on the market that feature automatic reverse, meaning once one side is played a second set of heads' comes into play to reproduce the reverse side/tracks. These are very nice but they make it very difficult to get at the tape head mechanism for cleaning and if they fuck up they’ll eat your tape, small children, and anything else in the vicinity. If you’re too lazy to get up and turn over the tape yourself, get one of these, but don’t expect too much consolation from your repair man if it stops functioning.

Speaking of automatic reverse, it ifc a common practice among home audio buffs to record on both sides of their tapes (you record on one side and flip the tape over and record on the other side. Although you’re still recording on the same side of the tape, the tape heads cover l/8th of the tape width per channel and thus you record on half the tape going one way and the other half on the way back). Doing this means that it is unlikely that you’ll be able to play the tape on any machine but the one you own, as tape heads have a habit of not exactly lining up from machine to machine. If you’re going to investthe time and money in recording tapes, record only on one side, using new tape.

Cassettes and Cartridges

Introduced in the mid-sixties, audio cassettes are the ultimate extension of audio tape as an information storage and retrieval device. Using a one-eighth inch wide reel of tape up to two hours in length, the outer dimensions of the cassette in which this tape is enclosed measure no more than4 ” by 2Vi' by V4”.

Despite the obvious advantages of a tape configuration where an entire record collection could be kept in a shoe-box, cassettes have had a rough time establishing themselves as a consumer item. This has been due in the most part to several American corporations who had tooled up to make eight-track cartridges in the sixties and weren’t about to scrap their investment just because something better was available. But during the last two years the consumer has chosen cassettes over cartridges despite the hype.

Cartridges are almost four times as large as cassettes, they are more expensive and they won’t hold as much recording time/tape as cassettes. In addition there are four points during the playing cycle of cartridges when the program material is interrupted while the play-back mechanism switches channels. This can lead to songs breaking off in the middle or being unmercifully edited to fit on the cartridge, since the design of the cartridge system demands there be four program segments of exactly equal tape lenths - which means that if you have a recording which is going to be reproduced on cartridge it must be divisible into four equal parts or else you’re going to lose some of it. Like records, cassettes have two program sides and in the case of pre-recorded cassettes the length of the cassette is determined by the longer of the two program sides - thus whatever material is being put on the cassette gets there unaltered. The advantage of the cartridge is that the program can be played continuously since the tape inside is a continuous loop and that the fidelity is very good since cartridges run at 3 3/4 ips using lA inch wide tape while cassettes run at 1 7/8 ips using l/8th inch wide tape. (The wider the tape and the faster its running speed, the better the sound reproduction.)

But these are false advantages. The continuous nature of cartridges fucks up the programming potential as mentioned above while the higher running speed only means better sound until the electronics of the cassette machine are improved - and that is already happening. Once the electronics companies decided that cassettes really were the best in terms of size and consumer appeal, it became a question of improving the machines on which the cassettes are played to the point where the sound was as good as on the records. European and Japanese companies have done this, forcing the big American companies to swallow their pride and follow suit.

Anyway, cassettes are now a total reality. If you’ve never used a cassette, you probably aren’t aware how simple they are to manipulate. You just drop the cassette into the slot and push the record or play button.

The machines on which you play the cassettes have been miniaturized as well smallest machine available having the dimensions of two packs of cigarettes put together. Many cassette machines have microphones built right into them and it is moving towards the day when you’ll have an entire sound system that fits in the palm of your hand.

There are two varieties of cassette machine on the market - the compact, battery operated portable units and the highly sophisticated home deck units. The portable machines have advantages in terms of size, weight and general utility while the home deck units have internal electronics — such as Dolby noise suppression units — which allow recording and play-back with the fidelity of reel to reel tape recorders or records.

It is also possible to buy a cassette machine with AM/FM Stereo Tuners built-in. You have to be careful when buying one of these machines that you get stereo as there are a number of units on the market with AM/FM but no stereo.

In general the following price guides are applicable to portable cassette machines: mono, battery operated portables should cost you at least $100; stereo battery operated portables should cost about $150; stereo with AM/FM radio should be $150 to $200. If you pay less, you’ll be using the machine as a flower pot before long.

If you’re planning to purchase a cassette deck for home use it is advisable to get a model that includes a Dolby noise reduction system. The biggest problem with the fidelity of cassettes at the moment is the treble hiss when you play a cassette through a good stereo system. The Dolby units go a long way toward removing this hiss through the use of electronic circuits. Even though it makes for a more expensive cassette deck the extra cost is more than worth it.

Audio Topes

Unless you’re a recording engineer, buying audio tape for your tape recorder can be a very annoying pain in the ass. There are any number of brands to choose from, with prices for what appears to be the same type of tape varying by as much as a dollar or two depending on the brand. And if you ask that guy in the store who’s supposed to be the salesman you’ll quickly realize that he knows less about it than you do, mainly because he doesn’t make much commission on recording tape.

There are no quick solutions to the problem of deciding what tape to buy, but there are a few general guidelines to follow which will at least put you in ihe right area. From there, it’s a question of personal taste.

Recording tape consists of a ribbon of backing material coated with oxide particles which can be magnetized to hold electronic impulses. These impulses are read on and off the tape as they pass the record and playback heads of the tape recorder. The majority have an iron oxide coating, although during the past two years a new coating of chromium dioxide has been introduced which is more efficient in terms of storing magnetic impulses.

When buying reel to reel tape the first thing you have to consider is what backing material you want. There are two categories of backing: acetate and plastic. Acetate is not as strong as plastic but it has advantages in that as strong as plastic but it has advtages in that if the tape is accidentally stretched it will break clean and you can splice it back together without any loss of program material. Plastic tape is made of either mylar or polyester and even though many plastic backed tapes are tensilized (pre-stretched) if you do pull or stretch them by accident they won’t break but stretch instead which means that the program material will become distorted.

The thickness of backing materials is measured in mils. The standard thicknesses are .5, 1 and 1.5 mils. The thicker the tape the more sturdy it is and the more it will resist stretching or breaking. But the thicker the tape the less you1' can get on a reel, thus the less recording time you can get on the tape, tape. For instance, 1.5 mils results in 1,200 feet of tape on a standard seven inch reel while 1 mil polyester results in 1,800 feet on a seven inch reel - about ten minutes more recording time if you’re running your machine at IVi ips. .5 mil polyester tape will give you 3,600 feet of tape on a seven inch reel with that much more recording time.

One other confusing encounter you’ll have at the tape counter will be what is called “high input” or “high energy” tape. This type of tape will give you more of a signal (i.e.: it puts a stronger signal on the tape) and if you’re recording at slow speeds such as 3% ips or 17/8 ips you won’t lose as much of the dynamic frequency range as you would with regular tape. But make sure your tape recorder will handle this type of tape before you go out and buy a carton of it.

Okay, now that you’re thoroughly confused, there’s a simple guide. If you’re recording music such as a live band or any other program where you eventually want to have copies made or want to play it for lots of people on different machines, buy either 1.5 mil acetate or 1.5 mil polyester tape. The acetate is 50 cents to $1 cheaper than the polyester. If you just want to mess around with your tape recorder buy some of the el cheapo lines that you can find in most electronics stores and don’t worry about any of this! If you want to record hours and hours of music on a single reel of tape (off the radio or off records), then go ahead and buy thin polyester tape, but be very careful threading it onto your tape recorder and be even more careful when you’re rewinding so that it doesn’t stretch.

Always keep tapes in their boxes when not in use, away from excess heat and humidity, and stored on end, not on top of each other.

As for cassettes, the game is pretty much the same, although it’s even more difficult to tell what’s going on inside the little sealed container. Cassettes come in a variety of lengths from C-30 to C-180. Each of these numbers refers to the total length of recording time on the cassette. C-60 means 30 minutes on each side, C-90 means 45 minutes on each side, and so forth.

Because the size of the cassette remains the same no matter how much tape is inside the most dependable cassettes are C-30, C-60 and C-90. Lengths over that mean that the tape inside is very, very thin and the slightest problem will lead to broken or jammed or stretched tape.

The internal mechanics of the cassette are also a factor when you’re on the buying end. Those cheap cassettes you see advertised, C-60’s for 89 cents for example, mean that the tape is cheap and that they’re skimping on rollers, pressure pads and all the other things more expensive cassettes have inside to get the tape from one mini-reel to another.

A good C-60 cassette should cost between $1.50 and $2.00 and it’s a good idea to stick with brand names.

As for blank cartridges, there aren’t many brands to choose from so you’ll pretty much take what you can get. Both Lafayette and Scotch make blank cartridges with prices ranging from $2 to $3 depending on length of recording time.

The only real bargains you can get on recording tape are by purchasing tapes in quantities of a dozen or more. Otherwise, stick to brand names. If you value the recordings you’re going to make keep in mind that tape is the cheapest part of the time and energy spent recording, so use good tape.

Kits

We have become a nation where doing it yourself is considered an indulgent pastime to wile away non-working hours. If you’ve got the money you can build anything from a vacation cabin to a light plane. In most cases it’s just busy work since ill the parts come numbered and the instructions can be understood by the average idiot. But even faced with these obstacles people still manage to extract a certain joy from putting things together with their own hands, even if friends and relations consider them on the odd side.

The prevalent attitude seems to be “Why should I bother?” followed-up by a mumble about having better things to do. Well sure, watch televison, scratch and visit the refrigerator. Maybe go to a rock concert, listen to the radio and between naps talk about getting Nixon out of the White House.

Since this is an electronics supplement and not a platform to get you off your ass, the campaigning will be left at this: there are lots of electronics kits around that you can build yourself and when you finish you’ll feel like you’ve done something even if what you’ve built doesn’t work. None of these kits will really teach you about electronics and few of them will save you much money, but they do remove the fear you feel when you look inside a tv set or radio and see all those little things sitting there wired together with gobs of silver solder. And, especially with electronics, the more familiar you are with the components involved, the less frustrated you'll feel when they don’t live up to their as-advertised performance.

There are a number of companies who specialize in manufacturing electronic kits. Prices for these kits start at about $5 and run into the thousands. You can build anything from a crystal set (that’s a radio that doesn’t need batteries or electricity) to a color tv. At home. In your spare time. With a soldering gun and a screw driver.

One of the largest of these companies is Heathkit (Heath Company, Benton Harbor, Michigan, 49022). They manufacture a diverse line of do-it-yourself stuff that includes color televisions you can build in twelve evenings, guitar amplifiers, and huge two keyboard organs. They’ll send you an eightpage catalog free.

If you’re looking for a stereo amplifier or FM tuner in the $100 to $200 price range you should consider building some of the Heathkits. They use quality components in their units and although their instruction booklets are sometimes so explicit they’re confusing, they generally give you everything you need to build your units in record time.

Check out, their Kit AA-1214 a 50 watt amp kit for $89.95; their Kit AA-15 a 150 watt amp kit for $189.95; and their Kit AA-29 a 100 watt amp kit for $159.95. All three are good, functional units that you won’t be able to buy ready-made for less than twice those prices.

Heath also has a cassette deck kit for $129.95, their AD-110, which you might enjoy building, but with this unit it’s a case of the building kicks since you can buy a cassette machine for this price that will be just as* good as what they’re giving you in terms of style, features and all those little extras the Japanese are so good at.

In the $100 to $200 price range Heath sells both JBL and AR speakers in kit form. These are real good speakers when purchased from their respective manufacturers and since they’re really simple to put together, you might very well want to have the company freight a pair to you instead of paying up to $30 more for the privilege of having them instantly from the store downtown.

Another big-time kit manufacturer is Eico (Eico Electronic Instrument Co., 283 Malta Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11207). They too have an illustrated catalog they’ll send you and while a lot of it is taken up with various electronic testing equipment, they do have a line of stereo amplifiers and AM-FM receivers that go under the brand name Cortina and range from $69.95 to $189.95 in kit form.

Eico also has a line of low priced kits that are fun to build even if they don’t work particularly well in every instance. (We built one of their amplifiers and had to replace two parts before it worked.) Among them are their EC-500 Tremolo at $9.95 for all you guitar players; EC-1400 FM radio for $9.95; EC-2400 Bullhorn for $8.95; and EC-102 Electronic Burglar Alarm for $6.95.

' RCA also manufactures a series of these cheap kits as IC Project Kits. Included in their line is their KC40001 Two Channel Mixer for $6.84 and their KC4000 Microphone Preamplifier for $6.34. RCA also has a line of Experimenter’s Kits that are fun to play with.

The Dynaco Company is another kit manufacturer and their kits are sold in most electronics stores. If you’re looking to build an amplifier or a tuner, Dynaco will give you a great piece of equipment for your money. Even if you don’t want to build their kits, you can buy them pre-wired. Especially for rock music the Dynaco amp can’t be beat by anything in a comparable price range. We’d especially recommend the Dynaco SCA-80Q, an 80 watt stereo amp that will cost you $169.95 in kit form or $249.95 pre-wired and ready to go. This is the kind of amp that will drive rock through walls and it will sound like rock music - all the highs, mediums, and lows will be there from guitar solo to bass guitar pattern. If you want to get a little more classy, Dynaco has a four hundred (oh my god!) watt amp that is their Stereo-400, $399.95 in kit form, $499.95 wired.

If after you’ve built a couple ot these kits you begin to get hot flashes from holding a soldering gun there are two companies who manufacture some bizarre kits. They are SWTP (Southwest Technical Products Corp., 219 West Rhapsody, San Antonio, Texas 78216) and PAIA (PAIA Electronics Inc., P.O. Box 14359, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73114),

Headphones

SWTP. has made their reputation on their line of “Tiger” amplifiers which are reputed not to blow out even when you turn them up full blast and let them roar for hours. Their kits are very reasonably priced, although they aren’t for rank beginners; you should have a little prior knowledge of kit building before you tackle them. Their “Lil Tiger” amp will give you ll watts per channel for only $37.00 plus postage. They also have a “Universal Tiger Mk II” which puts out up to 100 watts per channel with a negligible amount of distortion. Two channels in kit form costs $115.00. With either of these amps you’ll need a pre-amplifier (that’s the section with the controls) which they also manufacture — their FET Stereo Preamp at $44.50 plus postage. Among the other kits sold by SWTP are a Theremin for under thirty dollars, a programmable melody synthesizer for around fifty dollars, and a digital read-out electric clock for about sixty dollars. They have a real fun catalog full of all sorts of stuff at very reasonable prices.

PAIA has a line of kits similar to the things manufacutred by SWTP although they accent novelty items such as their “Chatter Jammer” (a pink noise generator for $4.75) and a number of items for the do-it-yourself guitarist such as their WAA-WAA kit ($18.75; Foot Switch, in the shape of a foot no less ($9.95); Attach Delay Unit ($19.25); and Rotating Speaker Simulator ($22.50).

Before This kit section ends there is one more item that should be mentioned. For those of you who really want to get into the big time you can build your own tv camera which will work through any normal television for under $200.00 It’s manufactured by ATV Research (ATV Reserach, 1301 Broadway, Dakota City, Nebraska, 68731). The camera kit, their XT-1A Series D, comes complete with vidicon tube for $149.50 postpaid. It isn’t much harder to build than a hi-fi amplifier and folks will be impressed.

Earphones

Headphones have an unknown quality that makes them attractive at times and repulsive at others. You know, like you go out and buy a really good pair of headphones thinking that, boy, now I’m really-gonna get into the SQund. And then you don’t use them for three months. Part of that problem has to do with the way people relate to headphones. They see the umbilical chord trailing off to tie them to the amplifier, they feel the phone cups pressing into their brains, and they wonder, is this comfortable, do I need this?

Well, the early model headphones were like that, but in the last two years headphone manufacture has caught up with the times. You can now buy them in feather-weight configurations with enough patch chord to run around the block three times before you strangle yourself. But even at that, headphones are for special occasions. When you want to really hear something, when what’s left of your brain is getting a chemical blowing out, when you want to escape, and when you’re trying riot to disturb others with your new Carpenters album.

Buying headphones requires forty dollars, at least, and the determination to do some in-field testing. What brand should you buy? Go and listen. Feel. Take on and put back on. That’s the only way to decide. Some helpful hints: don’t buy cheapo headphones. Not only will they not give you the full sound potential of more expensive models, but you’re lucky if they’re still working when you get them home and unpack them.

For forty bucks, maybe forty-five or fifty, you can get really nice headphones. Like Pioneer’s SE-L40’s ($39.95) that are all leather and brass plating and have both an open air sound, but also a distinct look. Or Sennheiser’s HD-414, the first of the lightweight earphones, five ounces of powerful, full bodied sound for $39.95. Koss’s line is a bit more expensive, but more heavy duty and capable of more resonant sound because of their more sturdy construction. Like the Koss Pro-411 for $60, Superex also makes some nice phones, some at extremely reasonable prices, in the $30 and $40 category. If you want to relax while listening, you should try on some Hearmuffs, headphones that slip around the back of your head like a little pillow. Great if you like to lean your head against the wall while you’re listening.

There are also four-channel headphones out these days. These give you a sound experience that can’t -be readily described. You are there. They range in price from Lafayette’s F-4400 for $44.95 to KossvK2+2 for $85.

Styli

The big problem with phonograph needles is that you can’t see them. If they were cased in wood and chrome, had dials and knobs, then maybe you’d pay attention. But for all the time you use your record player, how often does it occur to you that the needle in the groove is the place where it all happens, the spot where contact is made and the information retrieved. Probably don’t think of it at all, until the needle falls out one afternoon and you’re stuck with a lot of sophisticated electronics waiting around for you to get a new needle.

You don’t have to worry about your needle, but you should buy a good one and replace it regularly. It’s the most important item in terms of caring for your records.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 97.

Getting The Picture

1908: In London, Alan Archebald Camp bell Swinton writes a paper proposing an all electric tv system.

1925: The first "moving" picture tr~ins mitted in the U.S., a revolving windmill.

1929: The first dramatic tv prograni broadcast over WGM in Schenectady, New York. John Baird transmits from London to New York. Philo Fransworth develops the first electronic tv camera tube.

1929: The BBC starts limited commercial broadcasting using Baird's mechanical tv system. Vladimir Zworykin develops an electronic tv camera tube which will even tually be combined with Farnsworth's.

1932: Over ten thousand tv sets have been sold in England.

1935: Baird demonstrated large screen color tv.

1936: The BBC abandons Baird's system in favor of an all electronic tv system de veloped by EMI and Marconi corpora tions. The basis of present day tv.

1940: RCA invents the color camera.

1947: The transistor invented.

1949: RCA invents the color tv tube.

1950: RCA invents the vidicon tube, which will eventually allow cameras to be made smaller and more portable.

1951: Biñg Crosby Enterprises demon strates a tape recorder that can record pic ture as well as sound.

1953: The FCC decides on a color tv broadcast system for the U.S.

1956: Ampex introduces the first com mercially viable video tape recorder.

1962: Teistar is used for the first iv trans mission via satellite from New York to London.

1964: Sony develops a light-weight, bat tery operated portable video tape record er for home use. Toshiba introduces a mini color tv camera.

1965: NBC and CBS announce that they will soon have full color programming.

1968: Portable video tape recorders avail able in the U.S. as a semi-consumer item.

1969: All video tape recorders from Japan standardized.

1973: RCA announces a home video tape system for sale by early.1974.

VIDEO

Video in Revolt

There are two facets to the video revolution. One is that portable, battery-operated, light weight video tape recorders and cameras are available to replace home movies, tape recorders, and other ways of making records of our lives. The other is that video tape recorders in open reel, cassette, and cartridge configurations are on the market so we can record our favorite shows off tv for replay and eventually buy specially created video programs to play on our tv’s.

Within the next ten years, video discs will also be available. They’ll resemble the conventional audio record except that they’ll need a special player and will display through your tv screen.

That’s the state of the ‘revolution’ at the moment. The problems are that most of the video manufacturers would rather sell the equipment they’re presently manufacturing to schools, unions, libraries, and other educational and industrial institutions than to the public; that the video disc, which would be the cheapest form of home video as entertainment is still in the prototype stages; and that video tape is expensive compared to audio taoe and records.

The Japanese are responsible for a great deal of the standardized video equipment now on the market and their policies are ruling the young video industry. They don’t believe that at the present time they’re a market for home video. They’re convinced that software in the form of video programs will have to be available before home video is a reality. They’d rather sell a college a hundred video tape recorders in one lot than sell a hundred individual recorders to a hundred consumers. And they just haven’t planned to get into home video during the early Seventies.

Despite all of this, and despite what they say in their press releases, a healthy percentage of the video equipment supposedly being sold to schools and industry is actually in private hands. A lot of people just don’t want to wait around for home video until the Japanese are ready to let them have it, so they’re going out and buying the inexpensive, portable equipment presently available and just ignoring the dictum s from Tokyo.

It’s true that there isn’t a great deal of programming available to show on your video tape machine, but the manufacturers are slowly discovering that folks aren’t all that interested in that. They’re happy to have a video deck so they can record their favorite movies off tv, can record themselves fucking, can record their-summer vacation, and so on.

Eventually it’s all going to happen, complete with full color spreads in the big magazines, listings in Sears and Roebuck, and ads on tv. But for the moment, if you want to get into video, you’re going to have to do it on your own. By next fall, however, the situation may change drastically, since RCA is planning to come out with a home video cassette system sometime this year. It will include a small library of 100 programs you can buy to play on your RCA SelectaVision MagTape machine as well as blank tape and a camera (an extra) to tape whatever you want.

The TV Wall

A five by six foot tv screen right there in the middle of your living room. That’s the latest show of video technology and it’s now available to anyone with the $3,045 bucks to shell out to Sony. If you think three thousanddollars is expensive for a tv wall, let me just say that two years ago the same unit would have cost you over fifteen thousand. So, in two years it’ll probably be only $1,500 or $1,800. Not bad for full color tv spreading out before you like your own little movie theater.

The. Sony video'projector comes complete with wall or floor mount screen, stereo sound, and the projection unit which sits about five feet in front of the screen. You can watch regular commercial tv or play video tapes through the system (the stereo comes in when you’re playing video cassettes which have stereo sound tracks). The projector is positively amazing and no amount of writing will convince you as much as seeing it just once.

Oddly enough, Sony’s major competition for the home video projector market seems to be coming from the Advent (mainly hi-fi) Corporation up in Cambridge, Mass, who are now test marketing their own version of the video wall projector. Advent’s model has a slightly larger screen than Sony’s, is reported to be of better picture quality, and costs only $2,500. The implications of an American firm undercutting the Japanese by $500 on an item like this is fantastic. If you’re in the market for a projector see both the Sony and Advent models before buying.

Video Equipment

When it comes to buying video equipment, Sony and Panasonic are the two heavies in the field with JVC, Riker, Shibaden, Sanyo, AKAI, Craig, Toshiba and Concord as the runners-up. Both Sony and Panasonic are more or less organized in terms of producing, delivering, servicing and advertising their equipment lines. Even so, neither of them have yet realized the full potential of video as media, so don’t be surprised if you run into a lot of ham and eggs operations when you’re looking around for one of their franchised dealers.

For the time being it is a good idea to stick with Sony or Panasonic when buying video equipment. They’ve already sold enough equipment to have gotten the bugs out of their most popular models and service and repair shops are familiar with the units and their problems, so you won’t have to ship your recorder off to east New Jersey for a month while they try to figure out what’s wrong.

The following list of eqiupment has been compiled from units available that comply to the EIAJ-Type One Standard. This means that any tape made on any one of these machines can be played back on any other of these machines.

Portapaks

Personal video revolves around the portable video units known as ‘portapaks’. They consist of a video camera weighing about five pounds connected to a battery-powered video recording deck weighing about twenty pounds. With these two pieces of equipment it’s possible to record and playback video tapes anywhere, anytime. Most portapaks, like the great majority of video equipment now available for personal use, use half inch wide video tape and conform to the EIAJType No. 1 Standard which makes tapes made on one machine interchangeable with tapes made on any other machine.

The portapak is a mini-tv studio which you can carry over your shoulder. It records both sound and picture (a mike is built-in to the camera) and can playback the resulting recording through a tv monitor or, with the addition of what is known as an RF adaptor module, through any home tv set.

These units costs between $1,400 and $2,000 depending on the brand and the extras included. Sony’s VideoRover II is the most popular portapak on the market. It lists for $1745, records a half hour reel of tape, and weighs 24 pounds. This includes deck, camera, zoom lens, reel of tape, empty reel, ac adaptor/battery recharger, and carrying cases. Sony has just begun to market their Videorover III which is color adaptable (meaning you can play and record color tapes, but as yet there is no portable color camera, so it is; still basically a black and white unit.)

Panasonic’s answer to the Sony Videorover is their model NV-3082 portapak. This lists for $1795 and is color adaptable with the addition of a color adaptor unit which will cost you an extra $500 or so. It is similar to the Sony, weighing two pounds less, and having, to my mind, some advantages: the deck is longer and thinner, the camera is lighter. I’ve owned both units and find that, with care, the Panasonic is more effective as a portable recording studio.

Other manufacturers making portapaks include JVC (their portapak is included in the 1974 Lafayette catalog), Concord, Shibaden, and Sanyo - Sanyo’s unit uses a cartridge and is much smaller than any other portapak. The camera, however, is heavier than either Sony or Panasonic’s.

Non-standardized portapaks are on the market, mainly that sold by AKAI. The AKAI unit uses %” rather than Vi” tape, is smaller and lighter, and is available in a full color record model with a color camera - all battery operated. I owned an AKAI for a while and found it, by and large, a toy that would break down if you looked at it sideways. My suggestion is that you stick to either Sony or Panasonic if you want to get a portapak.

Video Tape Recorders

All of these decks will record and playback video tape. None of them come with cameras; that’s an extra you have to buy. The standard' half-inch video deck runs on house current and the cameras you can get are combination picture and microphone units. You’ll need a camera for picture and a mike for sound. They have inputs on the back for both.

Sony AV-3600 is a simple, easy to use video tape recorder you’ll see a lot of. Weighing only 33 pounds, it has fully automatic gain controls (age) for both picture and sound, plus a vu meter and level control for sound in case you want to skip the age and do it yourself. There is a Single control lever for all the functions from fast-forward to rewind, plus a button you push if you want to record. List price is $795.

Panasonic NV-3020 is their bottom of the line record and play-back deck and it is similar to Sony right down to the price. Panasonicmakes one cheaper deck, their NV-3010 but it is a play-back only machine.

It won’t record, and is probably designed for things like classroom use where tapes are made one place and shown another. It lists for $575.

Sony AV-3650 is their record and playback deck which also features electronic editing. Video editing is done electronically. You need two decks, one a play-back deck like the Sony AV-3600 and the other an editing deck like the 3650. To edit you put a blank reel of tape on the 3650 editing deck and the reel of tape containing the material you want to edit from onto the play-back deck. The two decks are connected by a cable and the material is edited off one tape and transferred onto the other, each section transferred one by one onto the master reel. This is known as an “assembly” edit — you’re assembling a master tape from portions of other tapes. This works well; the only problem is about a two second lag between the time the picture comes in and the sound comes on. Electronic editing means that there is no picture roll when the picture changes from one scene on one tape to the next scene on the other tape. The AV-3650 also features vu meters for both sound and video plus lots of levers and dials to play with if you want to. It is easy to use and editing is very simple, much simpler than it sounds. List price on this unit is $1,150.

Panasonic NV-3020 SD is their editing machine and some people prefer it to the Sony. It sells from $1,050 and that hundred dollar saving can mean a lot to any video budget.

There are other more sophisticated decks on the market at, of course, higher prices. Panasonics’s NV-8020 will allow you to do time lapse video recording for $1,750. Javelin, one of the few American companies in the video business, also makes a dandy time lapse recorder, their X-400 which lists for $1995. Shibaden makes a video tape recorder at a lower price than either Sony or Panasonic -their SV-510U lists for $695.

Color Video Recording

One of the most amazing things about video, at least for the uninitated, is that you use the same tape to record either black and white or color. The reason for this is that the tape is simply storing an electronic signal -that signal can contain color coded information or just black and white information. Color depends on whether you’re using a color recording deck and color camera or not.

Even if you don’t want to invest in a color camera, you can still get a color video on the level of being able to record programs off the tv in color. For this you’ll need a color monitor/receiver (to tune in the program) and a color video tape recorder. Color vtr’s are as easy to operate as b/w units and are about the same price. If you’re planning to buy a video tape recorder for home, use, get a color capable unit such as Panasonic’s NV-3120 for $1,250 or Sony’s AY-8600 for $1,150.

Video Cameras

If you buy a portapak you’ll get a camera along with the portable deck. If, however, you decide to buy an ac powered video tape recorder for recording and playing back through the tv, and you want to get a camera, you’ll have to invest in a small studio camera. Black and white cameras run from about three hundred,dollars (Panasonic’s WV-200P, Sony’s AVC-3000) to a couple of thousand. For Simple record-at-home situations, three to four hundred dollars is about right. Make sure that the camera you get has a built-in or attachable viewfinder and that it will take external sync pulses (in case you want to upgrade and use the camera in a multi-camera sitatuion).

Take a Brain to School

I was leafing through Consumer Electronics, one of the number of electronics industry publications I get each month, when I ran into an interesting little fact: the number two best selling home entertainment item last year was pocket calculators. Number one, of course, went to color tv’s. But pocket calculators beat out hi-fi amps, cassette recorders, and the rest to place. After I read that I went out and bought a pocket calculator. I’m always ready for a little entertainment. As I held it in my hand, feeling its smooth lines, punching its little buttons, and taking a trip into the nine’s table where I’d never been before, I realized that it was more than an entertainment item. Pocket calculators are a every one of us to grasp the philosophy of mathematics in all its boolean convolutions without lifting more than our little fingers and allowing our brains to worry about more important things than 9/1387 X 888 + 647/8 (= 86.635544, by the way: elapsed time in getting the answer - 20 seconds),.

I’ve never been very good at math. You know, those questions where if it takes ten guys to dig three ditches in forty-two seconds, how long does it take two men to dig seven ditches? I used to see those questions on tests and my brain would actually hurt. My eyes would fill with tears and I’d ask: why me? My resentment, after I’d skipped on to the next question, led to my not being able to multiply or divide over 5 times 7. Now, with my pocket calculator my days as a ninety pound weakling are over. My pocket calculator and I have gone through a book on the electronic engineering of television systems and I’ve come out understanding the thought process while the calculator checked the math involved. With a pocket calculator you never have to add or subtract again. You become totally dependent on this little six ounce machine that fits in the palm of your hand and costs less than $50. And for me this addiction has cleared up a long standing mental affliction.

Pocket calculators are really little computers. They are based around the development of IC’s (integrated circuits) which are about half an inch long, less than an eighth of an inch thick, and about a quarter of an inch wide. One IC performs the functions of about six thousand transistors. This IC is connected at one end to a keyboard displaying the digits zero through nine of having function keys for add, subtract, multiply, and divide. At the other end the IC is connected to LED’s (light emitting diodes) which are sectioned off so they can form any numeral from zero to nine upon command. The calculator does nothing more than the function demanded of it, enter two digits, add three more, display the total number of digits, five.

One company in Texas that has been building pocket calculators for a while and even has a pocket slide-rule calculator (no more guessing which line lines up with which line), has promised that within the next two years they will supply a memory unit and a print out terminal for their calculators. Which means you’ll be able to do your income tax on your calculator, feed it into the memory, and print it out again anytime you want - say ten years from now. From there it’s no big step to having the memory store all your telephone numbers and dial them for you, give you a running balance on your Mastercharge, and, with the addition of a bigger keyboard, store anything you can type out in words. There are already pocket calculators which will light up with the time and date when they’re not adding or subtracting. The pocket calculator is the beginning of the home computer and it is really a marvelous introduction into what electronics can do for people on a one to one level.

Prices for calculators run from $39.95 to The cheapest only add, subtract, multiply and divide. TTiey also only display six digits of vour answer. The more expensive ($59.95 to about $120) have an eight digits answer display, possibly ten or twelve. They also have a ‘constant’ function which will remember the number you’re multiplying or dividing by so you don’t have to punch it up more than once. Thus 867 X 6, 867 X 9, 867 X 3.7, etc. becomes a matter of turning on the constant function, punching up 867, X, and then punching 6, getting your answer, punching 9, getting your answer, and so forth.

The two most expensive calculators, $150 and up, have twelve digit answer displays, and other function buttons, such as buttons you can push to get the square root, and percentage, the total of a number of any power, and on and on.

There are two types of calculators - those that are portable and are truely ‘pocket’ calculators and those that are larger and are known as ‘desk top’ models and run only on house power. There is little difference between the two, just more plastic and a bigger case for the same internal components in the desk top model. The pocket calculators are run on batteries, some the rechargeable variety, some the throwaway penlight batteries. They’ll also run on ac with an adaptor (often an extra).

The one thing you have to be careful with in buying a pocket calculator is the pricing. There are second and third generation calculators on the market which are smaller and perform the same functions as the predecessors which have been out for about a year. I’ve seen prices ranging from $140 to $60 for calculators that perform identical functions. It pays to hit several stores and see all the calculators on the market before you buy. I’ve also seen the same calculator selling for $69.95 and $129.95. That’s your fault, you know. If people would believe that a calculator was just an electric toy that can be mass produced, rather than thinking ‘a machine that small that adds and subtracts, it must be expensive,’ they wouldn’t get ripped off.

Anyway, even if you only add or subtract to figure out how much an ounce costs at $500 a pound, a pocket calculator will lighten the load.

Color cameras are still very expensive. The least expensive camera is about $2,500 and if you want to get one that works you’ll have to spend from four to five thousand dollars. In other words, color still isn’t a reality in the personal video market.

Monitors

There are two kinds of monitors, just plain “monitors” and monitor/receivers, the latter having vhf-uhf tuners in them so that you can use the monitor as a regular tv and you can tape programs off the air. Monitors are nice things to have since when you show video tapes through them the tape will look better than if you get an rf unit and use a normal tv.

Just about everybody makes all kinds of monitors. Prices range from $195 to $850. Most black and white monitors will cost from $200 to $300 and this is one place you won’t have to worry about standardization; we haven’t run into a monitor yet that didn’t have the same eight pin and/or uhf connector plugs’. A good all ground monitor is the Sony CVM-192U Monitor/Receiver which lists for $300. It’s an 18” monitor with a good picture and solid, dependable internal electronics.

If you’re interested in taping color programs off the tv you will need a special color tuner (the tuning part of the tv) which will cost you $300 and a color rf unit which will cost another couple hundred plus a color tv. The easier answer is to get a color monitor/ receiver. When it comes to color Sony’s Trinitron system is the best available. It really is much, much better, much brighter color than anybody else has, and with their CVM1710 17” color monitor/receiver you’ll have the best color tv money can buy at any price, if you can afford the price tag of $850. Sony also has a smaller Trinitron monitor/receiver, their CVM-1200UA which is $595 for a 12” screen.

Special Effects

If you want to have your own tv studio you’ll need a video tape recorder, at least two cameras, plus a special effects generator. Called an “seg,” the special effects generator is a video mixer, capable of mixing together or switching back and forth from more than one video camera. You can get an Seg to handle from four to six cameras depending on what your ultimate plans are. Make sure you get an Seg with internal sync (this is the pulse that goes from camera to camera without horizontal rolling) such as the Sony SEG-1 ($595) or the Sony SEG-2 ($900) or the Panasonic line of Seg’s. A couple of words of warning: word is that the Sony SEG-1 has been having problems and if you want to mix pre-recorded video tapes with live action you’ll need what is called “gen-loc” which is not included on the Sony equipment and will cost you at least $300 to have built in but which is included in Panasonic’s VY 922’s $950 price tag.

Video Tope

Video tape is available in quarter-inch, half-inch, three-quarter inch, one-inch and two-inch widths. The width of the tape used depends on the standard of the video tape machine in question. The majority of the video equipment being used to make alternative video uses half-inch wide tape, although there are a few video people using machines that take quarter-inch tape and a few using one-inch tape. But by and large most video is being done on half-inch tape, one-quarter of the width of the two-inch tape used by professional broadcasters on their video tape machines.

There are two types of video tape on the market, one of which should be avoided at all costs. Referred to as “brown tape”, the early, video tape (manufactured until about two years ago and still being put out by a few companies) is pure shit. It is full of lines and dropout and will mess up the heads of any video tape machine necessitating constant cleaning and other problems. Very often this tape can be found as a “special sale” item in electronics catalogs. Don’t buy it.

The other type of tape is the new generation manufactured by Sony, Panasonic and a number of other companies. It is a black colored tape and you won’t have any problems with it.

If you have an Akai machine you have to use quarter-inch tape. Akai is the only company making machines on this standard and only they and Scotch manufacture tape for their machine. You can use regular recording tape (audio tape such as that manufactured by BASF) on the Akai but it is not recommended by the manufacturer since it will wear down the video heads of the machine.

If you have a half-inch machine you have a greater choice of tape brands including Sony, Panasonic and Memorex. Most video people use Sony tape since it is ultimately reliable. Sony tape is available in a number of lengths ranging from their V-30F (10 minutes of playing time) through their V-30H (30 minutes of playing time) to their V-32 (60 minutes of playing time). Although it lists for around $20 per half hour reel, $40 per hour reel, Sony tape is being discounted in New York City to as low as $10.50 for a half hour, $19.00 for an hour. This includes a neat little plastic box and plastic bag to store the tape in when it’s not in use.

One further word of warning: from time to time you may see ads for computer tape (often used) with the suggestion that it can be split into half-inch widths and used as video tape. It’s really cheap, but don’t use it since it will wreak havoc with the delicate heads on the machine. In all, Sony tape really is the standard tape for most people who are into video and you should get on the bandwagon if you want a well made, dependable tape.

Definitions

AUDIO

Acetate: A fairly brittle backing for recording tape which will snap under tension.

Amplifier: In a strict sense an amplifier is an electronic device which strengthens an audio signal before it goes to the speakers. In common slang an amplifier or amp is used to denote both the pre-amp and amplifier (tone and volume controls), this combination being in reality an integrated amplifier.

Automatic Gain Control: (Also Automatic Level Control, Automatic Volume Control, AGC, ALC, AVC.) An electronic circuit which regulates the gain on a microphone automatically to keep the strength of the input signal at a certain level - loud sounds are cut down by an age, soft sounds are boosted. Units having an age mean that the operator doesn’t have to worry about adjusting the volume when recording under most conditions.

Battery Operated: Most electronic devices in the home entertainment field are run on direct current (dc) and have a transformer built into them which convert house current (ac) to dc. Any unit operating internally on dc can be powered by batteries since the amount of current in terms of voltage needed to run the machine is low enough to be supplied by one to six storage batteries. If you have a unit which runs on batteries and want to run it one house current you can buy an ac to dc transformer, plug one end into the wall outlet and attach the other end (dc) to the battery clips.

Cartridge: A self-contained tape system using quarter-inch wide tape in a continuous loop configuration. 8-Track cartridge refers to the number of sound channels (two used at any one time) which are stored on the tape.

Cassette: A self-contained tape system using one-eighth-inch wide tape running at half the speed of a cartridge (cart: 33A ips, cassette: 1 7/8 ips) in a reel to reel configuration. In cartridge parlance, cassettes are 4-Track, since they have two different sets of tracks, each composing a stereo signal.

CE-4: The RCA quad system. It requires a phono cartridge and stylus that has a frequency response from 20 or 30 Hz to about 40,000 Hz, plus low loss coaxial cable connectors between turntable and amp, plus four channel amp with decoder circuitry. With CD-4 the signal for the rear two channels is modulated on a high frequency carrier signal above the frequency range of the two normal stereo signals.

Derived Four Channel Sound: Also known as Ambient Four Channel Sound. Derived quad is an electronic process by which the ambient (room-noise) sounds inherent in any stereo recording are recovered and used as the signal for the two back speakers of a four channel system.

Discreet Four Channel Sound: Four channels of, sound are supplied by either record or tape to an amplifier that has four separate channels. This is real four channel sound.

Dolby Noise Reduction Unit: An electronic unit invented by boy-wonder Ray Dolby (a Californian now living in England) which lowers the signal to noise ratio of a tape recording in the sense that the signal is made louder than the hiss noise of the tape by use of a Dolby unit. Dolby units work on the principle of accentuating the higher frequencies when you record and de-accentuating them in the same proportion when you play back. Especially helpful in taking the hiss out of cassettes.

Edit: The removing of a section of a signal and joining the remaining signal back together at that point. This is done mechanically with audio tape by cutting the tape to remove the unwanted portion and joining the remaining tape back together with gummed splicing tape.

Heads: The units by which the tape passes on a tape recorder. Heads can be erase, record or playback in function. They all work on the same principle: little electro-magnets with gaps across which a signal passes. These gaps face the tape and the signal is pulsed onto or off the tape.

IPS: Inches per second. The measurement of tape speed. The number of inches to tape per second that pass the tape head. The higher the tape speed (7% ips or 15 ips) the better the frequency response that can be stored on the tape (bass, mid-range, treble).

Mono: A single sound source. A mono amplifier is an amplifier that will only amplify one signal. A mono speaker system would be one speaker. A stereo sound can be played mono by combining the signals of the two stereo channels into one, prior to running those signals into a speaker.

Oxide: The magnetizable coating on a tape. Usually iron oxide, but more recently chromium dioxide (or Crl) tape, which is more sensitive in terms of storing electronic signals.

Polyester: Along with mylar, polyester has become the standard backing for home audio tape.

Pre-Amp: The portion of the amplifier which accepts the signal from the record player, tape recorder or other sound source and allows the listener to vary the frequencies (bass, treble) prior to the signal being amplified.

QS: A quad system also known as RM (for regular matrix). Used in Japan and by Sansui in this country. It is a variation on the basic matrix system where the four signals are mixed together and then separated.

Quad: A contraction of quadraphonic (also quadrasonic), denoting four channel sound.

Reel-to-Reel: (Also Open Reel) Any tape configuration in which there is a reel of tape and an empty take-up reel and which the user has to thread him/her self.

RM: RM or regular matrix is the standardized (although not totally accepted) quad system in Japan.

Stereo: Two channels of sound, the composite of which is a total signal.

SQ: Columbia Records’ variation on the Japanese matrix system. Not, at present, compatible with RCA’s CD-4, thus creating two major quad systems in this country: Columbia SQ and RCA-Warner-ElektraAtlantic CD-4.

Tape Deck: No matter what the tape configuration, a tape deck is a tape recorder without internal amplifiers or speakers. Just the play and record mechanisms. A tape deck must be used with an external amplifier and speakers.

Tape Recorder: By strict definition, a selfcontained unit for recording and playing back tape including all amps, controls and speakers. Often used; to describe a tape deck. Make sure you understand what they’re talking about when you buy either.

Track: On a tape, a track is the space allotted for one channel of signal/sound. A stereo tape is a two-track-quarter-track. This means that the signal is divided between two channels or tracks and thafl the width of the track is a quarter of the tape. Professional machines are usually two-track half-track machines when they use quarter inch tape, meaning that there are two signals on the tape, each taking up half the width of the tape.

Turntable: A device on which records are played. A turntable differs from a record player or record changer in the sense that it will play only one record at a time and that the records have to be changed manually.

VIDEO

AC Adaptor: A unit which will power portable machines from house current and recharge the batteries of portable 'machines. (Also frequently used with audio cassette machines.)

Audio Dub: A facility incorporated into the vast majority of video tape recorders which allows the user to erase and re-record the audio portion of the tape without disturbing the video portion.

CCTV: Closed circuit television, non-broadcast television. A camera attached to a tv set on which you can watch what the camera is pointed at is the simplest form of closedcircuit television. Cable television is the most sophisticated form of closed-circuit.

Color: Color video is not yet a reality in alternative video, since the cost of color cameras is still in the $2,500 to $5000 price range. Color recording decks are available, however, at about the same price as black and white recording decks. You use the same tape for black and white as for color and a color tape can be played on a b&w recorder in b&w.

EIAJ-Type One: The standard established by the Japanese electronics industry so that tapes made on any EIAJ-Type One video tape recorder can be played on any other EIAJType One recorder. Almost every video manufacturer conforms to this standard.

Recently an EIAJ color standard has been introduced. If you are buying a color capable video tape recorder, make sure it complies to this standard.

Editing: Since editing is done electronically in video you must get an editing machine, a video tape recorder that has facilities for editing. At the moment the most advanced form of alternative video is the capstan-servo system in which the signal of the master tape is locked in terms of synchronization to the incoming signal from the tape segment being assembled onto the master tape.

Gen-Lock: A device which allows a prerecorded tape and a live camera signal to be mixed together to form one composite signal. In alternative video, it is not yet possible to mix two pre-recorded signals together.

Half-Inch: The width of the video tape used on certain video tape machines. A description of alternative video. A slang phrase to describe video equipment that conforms to the EIAJ-Type One standard.

Helical Scan: The process by which video heads function. All half-inch, EIAJ machines are helical scan video tape recorders.

Looping: The linking together of a number of tvs to show the same picture.

Monitor: A special television set with input and output plugs on it so that it can be connected directly to the video tape machine by means of a cable. A monitor/receiver is used to record programs off the air.

Portapak: A video slang term used to describe a battery operated video unit consisting of a camera and video tape recorder such as the Sony VideoRover II.

Projector: Video projectors allow a large, wall size tv display. They’ve been around for years but have alwasy been very expensive, in the tens of thousands of dollars. Recently low priced video projectors have been introduced by Sony, Advent, and others. They work with a very bright, very small picture tube and a set of mirrors and lens to focus the picture at a special screen.

RF Generator: An electronic module which converts the video and audio signals from the video tape recorder into a composite broadcast signal which can then be run by means of a cable into a normal television set through the antenna leads.

SEG: (special effects generator) A device which allows the user to employ more than one camera. An seg will switch from camera to camera, mix, fade, insert, and do other special effects as well as supply sync signals to the cameras (except for lower priced segs). The seg is attached between the cameras and the video tape recorder the same way an audio mixer is attached between the microphones and the audio tape recorder.

Standard: (New standard/old standard). The video standard is the EIAJ standard. Often the phrases old standard and new standard are used to describe machines that conform to the EIAJ requirements (new standard) and machines that were manufactured before any standard (old standard).

Still: A function included on most video decks which allows the user to stop or freeze the action at any particular segment of the tape.

Sync Generator: Included in most segs, a sync generator supplies a pulse signal to all the video cameras being used which make sure that they are all functioning at the same rate of scan.

VTR: An abbreviation for video tape recorder.

Video: Used to describe the picture on a tv screen, the picture portion of a video tape and the signal that is the picture. Also used as a slang expression to denote half-inch video tape recording and the processes involved.

Vidicon Tube: An inexpensive TV camera tube used in portable “portapak” cameras. ^

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The terminology of the needle business is easy to understand. There’s the phono cartridge and there’s the stylus. The cartridge is the unit which holds the stylus (needle) and which is mounted to the end of the tone arm on the phonograph. When you originally buy a needle you buy both cartridge and stylus as a unit. To replace the needle you replace only the stylus by removing it from the cartridge and inserting a new one into the cartridge.

Cartridge/stylus combinations run from $12.95 to $80 or so, the difference being their weight - they get lighter as they get more expensive - and the quality of reproduction. You can get along perfectly well with a $12.95 cartridge, such as the Shure Model M7/N21D, but I’d recommend that you spend at least $25 for your first cartridge. The reason for this is that the weight of a cartridge does matter. Your tone arm should track at about 2 grams — any more and you’re pressing into the record grooves — any less and you’re a true audiophile who’s into the aesthetics of technique. My all time favorite cartridge is the Shure M44E often used by radio stations and costing $24.95. Now these prices are for both the cartridge and stylus. To replace the stylus once you have the unit it will cost you anywhere from five to thirty dollars, depending on the quality. The M44E replacement stylus, for instance, is $9.75 list.

Stick with name brands when you buy cartridges as well as replacement styli. Among those I’d recommend are Audio Technica, Empire, Pickering, Shure, and Stanton. One find thing, if you want to play CE4 quad records, you’ll need a special cartridge. Among those presently availbable for the job are Pickering’s UV-15/2000Q ($69.95) and Audio Technical AT 125 ($49.95).