Page Five
WCEH Hawkinsville, Ga
My buddy Jay Braswell sent me some classic photo's I have to share with you..they are too good.
Those were the days.
WCEH had a "B" model Gatesway console (squared corner Simpon VU meter) an early Gates FM with Audimax and McMartin monitor, a GE limiter and Gates Mod monitor for the AM and the big beautiful Gates AM 1 F transmitter. What a view.
But notice where the cart machines are...mounted below the console desk top. Now that is cool!
A 'wall of sound"
5 Criterions, 3 carosels, time announce and all the "goodies" plus two 55's. I have to tell you about the workings of these Quincy marvels someday. Or better yet, get Jim Gilmore in Nashville to do that. Jim is a respected authority on automation and has laid hands on the one here in the picture, in fact he updated this unit to a Harris 9000 micro computer controller in 1977.
A GATESWAY 8 channel mono console
Here's the AM before that new fangled FM came along. Probably an SA 40 console, a pair of Collins P 190 cart machines to the right of a good old Ampex 600. Up on top some Gates CB 100's with Gray Research 106 and REL Para Flux lateral groove arms in back. The Gray arms no doubt had GE Variable Reluctance cartridges in them.
WBNQ's GATES SP-10 Automation w/ RA-5 Sub Programmer
Since we are on the subject of cart machines, here is an effort by Gates to thwart the move to carts with a revolutionary machine -- the 101. It had a 12" piece of recording tape inside, that would play for 90 seconds at 5 ips, on the average (The speed would actually change as the cylinder wound). The user selected which of the 101 tracks would air. The other side of the coin was the sound of the tape turning loose after rewind, and no spots would play till a repair was done.
Notorious collector Bob VanProoyen in Grand Rapids has this item, and it's earlier buddy a SPOT O MATIC that look basically the same.
GATES SPOT TAPE 101
For the younger members out there, ATC (Automatic Tape Control) evolved into ITC - International Tapetronics Corporation.
This is a Gates Dualux I restored in 2001.
Everything is original, except it secretley has stereo pots in it now, and I added a headphone volume control where the high pass filter was. Don't tell anyone.
WPTR Transmitter studio
The DUALUX
We owe a lot to Alex P and his staff at Ampex in Redwood City, we also owe a lot to ol' blue eyes Bing Crosby for putting up the cash for the research to make tape recording possible and affordable.
Early American Processing
Before Orban, Omnia, CRL, Innovonics, Knatt-Hinds and before DAP even...there was the TUBE CBS Audimax.
Before that there were SA-39's, Sta levels, and Collins boxes, all of which I will gladly accept as donations.
