Radio annual and television yearbook (1940)

DEVELOPMENT OF CONTINUOUS UNINTERRUPTED RECORDING By JAY C. FONDA Vice-President and Director of Engineering Fonda Corporation GREAT strides have been accomplished in the art of disc recording. Lateral as well as hill and dale wax recordings have attained a great degree of perfection in quality. Development in this art has reduced surface noises, increased the frequency range and by the perfection of the pressed material has enhanced quality. Chemistry in its ceaseless search, particularly in the field of resinous materials, perfected a lacquer, which when coated on an aluminum disc, produced a medium that obtained a quality comparable to wax recordings. These coated discs have permitted recording to enter fields heretofore prohibited by the wax method, namely, education, broadcasting, commercial and the home. Large Disk With the advent of the talking pictures, necessity again becoming the mother of invention, a 16-inch disc rotating at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute, having a playing time of 15 minutes capable of synchronization with 1,000 feet of film was developed. Simultaneously with the development of the synchronized 16-inch disc came the photographic method of reproducing sound on film and the 16-inch disc was then relegated t<~ the field of radio electrical transcriptions. With the years there has been a tremendous demand for many applications for a longer recording time — this field of research has been sadly neglected. Tape It can be readily understood that to accomplish longer playing time a material such as film or tape had to be used. To date we have film or other like material which we shall designate as tape. It may be advisable at this time to mention that with the use of tape to give continuous uninterrupted recording the following advantages are essential; namely, permanency, intelligibility of sound, instantaneous playback and minimum cost of operation. Since the invention of motion picture film and the phonograph many have experimented to record and reproduce sounds on film or tape by the means of a stylus. The experiments conducted have never been wholly satisfactory In 1930, I discovered a method whereby with the use of the "yieldable bed" I found it possible to accomplish the important requirements for sound recording on tape; indefinite life, minimum surface noise, permanency and intelligibility of sound. Research In the course of this film research a magazine containing an endless loop was developed for uninterrupted recording for any period of time desired. Recently by tests and research it was found that with the use of a new material in this continuous loop greater periods of continuous recording could be accomplished giving a greater reduction in cost per hour for permanent recording. Briefly, the Fonda Continuous Recorder is an apparatus approximately 13x13x8 inches in size, weighing approximately 25 pounds, that will continuously and uninterruptedly record and reproduce from a microphone, a radio or any other means desired. To sum up the foregoing, the advantages we have accomplished are these: shavings and needle changing are eliminated, oil, dirt and scratches will not affect the sound groove and the tape used is a safety material. This material prepared in an endless loop is furnished on a magazine to facilitate the ease of loading and comes in any recording time required, 683