everything you wanted to know about grampian heads and way m

[flozki]

hey folks.
just came accidentally across these super archives.
or did someone already discoverd? and i just didnt read the post?
wow BBC is just great. we love pedantic clercs at goverment institutions.
so i guess no more questions about grampian heads!

thanks to BBC it is all scanned and public! wow.wow.wow

for me this is maybe the most important source of historic knowledge...
hope the german reichsfunk opens his archive as well
and AES should also make public the old reports...

all about grampian
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1944_05.shtml
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1945-22.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1947_04.shtml


presto:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1947_08.shtml

fairchild:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1948_32.shtml
direct recording discs:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1945_19.shtml

they even investigated the germans TONSCHREIBER!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1945_28.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1946_14.shtml


this is just a quick view..
you have to spend days...haha what a feast.
f.

[markrob]

Hi Flo,

Great find! Thank's so much for passing that on. Now I have some reading to do.

Mark

[audadvnc]

I read the article on deficiencies of British direct recording disks of 1945.

So the pro's were dealing with static issues back in the day; I hadn't previously considered it a serious problem, but the physical stylus/medium cutting interaction apparently generates this static. Now I get it... does anybody here have a static issue when cutting? We're considering placing an ion generator over the platter when cutting, to ease the static issue.

[audadvnc]

The Tonschreiber reviews make me think of the Nagra II tape recorder of the 1960's, with its synchronous motor system. The rotating head that allows for pitch compensation on slow playback looks like the genesis for the head assemblies used in video decks. I saw one of those rotating head systems on an old tape recorder once, it kinda work-orke-rked.

[EmAtChapterV]

In digging through BBC's reorganized archives looking for the impedence/ reactance curve of a Presto 1B head, I found a bunch more articles. Dig in!

Comparison of lacquer discs: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1947-16.pdf

Petroleum versus silicone damping in non-feedback BBC (Grampian?) heads: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1947-23.pdf

A less-than-stellar review of a Fairchild 541A: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1948-32.pdf

A comparison of British versus American lacquer discs in the mid '40s: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1945-19.pdf

Investigation of causes of surface noise on discs after recording: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1945-26.pdf

The effect of various cutting stylus lengths in a BBC head: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1947-04.pdf

A small portable battery-powered disc recorder to be used by armed forces under battlefield conditions (!) : http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1944-13.pdf

Development of the BBC Type B cutterhead: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1944-05.pdf

Development of the BBC Type D lathe: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1944-01.pdf

A reconsideration of light-pattern measurements in lateral disc recording frequency response measurement: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1950-20.pdf