NAEB Newsletter (Apr 1958)

stress the historical and legal background of the vari- TV TECHNICAL TIPS ous offices, with the final program offering a panel discussion on the “Citizen and His Government.” — Cecil S. Bidlack PERSONNEL ^ Edwin Cohen joins the ETRC staff this month as an associate for program development in the New York area. He was formerly supervisor of National Educational Television Film Service and a Center associate for audio-visuals. Cohen’s one-year ap¬ pointment comes during the Center’s current number of projects planned in cooperation with NBC-TV and other organizations. y The Broadcasting Foundation of America recently elected Henry Morgenthau III to its board of di¬ rectors. Morgenthau is TV Projects Manager at WGBH-TV, Boston. The main purpose of the BFA is to develop conversation between different nations by means of radio and television programs. ► Lloyd S. Michael, superintendent of Evanston, (Ill.) Township High School, has joined the ETRC board of directors. In this capacity he will help de¬ cide policy of the organization. ^ Samuel T. Cooper of Hayneville, Ala. has been selected as assistant to Dr. E. L. Williams, coordinator of Alabama’s special in-school TV project. For the past eight years, Cooper has taught in the Alabama public school system. The project that he will work on is financed by a state grant from a fund for the advancement of education, but control and operation of the project is entirely in the hands of a committee of Alabama educational leaders. DIRECTORY CHANGES p. (under KANU-FM) Add: 10 kw P. 13 (under WUNC-FM) Add: John Young, Dir. Delete: Donald Knoepfler, Mgr. P. 30 Delete: George A. Pettitt Ass't to Pres. 225 Administration Bldg. Add: Dr. Paul H. Sheats Extension Division 2441 Bancroft Way P. 31 Add: Detroit Public Library Mr. Kenneth King, Coordinator Community & Group Services 5201 Woodward Avenue Detroit 2, Michigan P. 35 Delete: University of Texas Bureau of Research in Education by Radio-TV Austin, Texas GR 6-9593 The first week in March I spent at Redwood City, Calif. Here I had the opportunity to take the five- day factory training course covering the operation and maintenance of the Ampex Videotape Recorder. Three days were devoted to the study of schematics and block diagrams of the various chassis employed in recording the video and audio signals of a TV pro¬ gram on magnetic tape. For the last two days of the course, the students go through the setup procedure as outlined in the comprehensive instruction manual furnished with each recorder. The Ampex Videotape Recorder consists of two standard racks of electronic equipment and the con¬ sole, which contains the transport mechanism and other electronics. All rack and console wiring is com¬ pleted at the factory. In fact, the racks are bolted together and shipped that way. Each recorder is placed in operation and given a final test at the fac¬ tory to see that it meets operating specifications be¬ fore shipment. When the equipment arrives at its destination and is uncrated, installation consists of hooking it up to the 60-cycle AC power circuits, mak¬ ing video connections and the rack-to-console wiring. This latter wiring is a very simple job with only three interconnecting cables involved, two of which termin¬ ate in factory-mounted spade type terminal strips which connect to appropriate terminals in the end of the console. The third cable contains ten coaxial cables which require soldered connections to the proper console terminal. Once these connections are made, you are ready to begin the initial check-out pro¬ cedure which is detailed step by step in the instruc¬ tional manual. For proper set-up and maintenance, a dual trace is required on the test oscilloscope. Ampex recommends a Tektronix Model 541 with a dual input pre-ampli¬ fier and also a high gain pre-amplifier unit for certain other tests. A reference tape for initial tests is sup¬ plied with each unit as well as a micrometer depth gauge for measuring head protrusion from the rota¬ ting drum. A standard test tape is being developed which will be supplied with all machines. Degaussing is accomplished at present with the conventional bulk type unit now used for erasing audio tapes, since the recorder has no erase head. An accessory unit is now being developed which will make degaussing an auto¬ matic process for consistent erasure. The recording tape has been vastly improved over NEWSLETTER