Magnetic Tape Recording Publications
In 1978, SE Labs(EMI) Ltd published a Handbook of Magnetic Tape Recording, designed to showcase the technology and equipment delivering it. The handbook was distributed to clients, new and old and became a reference work for many. Aimed at the US market, it had a notional US Dollar price tag, and was published under the EMI Technology brand in the U.S.A.
The book covered the technical and use-case details of magnetic tape recorders used in instrumentation applications from radio surveillance to satellite recording.
We reproduce it here. Contact us for a full download copy.
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Contents and Chapter 1 . – The Physics of Magnetic Recording
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 2 – Recording and Reproducing, Means and Methods
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 3 – Direct Recording of Analogue Signals
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 4 – FM Recording of Analogue Signals
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 5 – Digital Recording of Analogue Signals
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 6 – Moving the Tape
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 7 – Tapes and Tape Heads
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 8 – Selecting and Specifying Instrumentation Tape Recorders
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 9 – Diagnostic Procedures for System Checkout and Maintenance
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 10 – Signal, Format and Calibration Standards
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Chapter 11 – The Instrumentation Tape Recorder at Work
Modern Instrumentation Tape Recording – Index
The handbook went through 3 editions, the final being produced in 1986 under the Thorn EMI Datatech branding. This was partly a re-branding exercise to update the instrument pictures, but almost 10 years of progress is also reflected in a greater emphasis on the Digital revolution in recording with High Density Digital Recording (HDDR) Recorders and technology coming to the fore.
The major chapter revisions are added here.
Chapter 5 – Digital Recording of Analogue Signals
Chapter 11 – The Instrumentation Tape Recorder at Work
Index to the Third Edition
THIC – The Tape Head Interface Committee
The industry body for the instrumentation tape recording community was THIC. This body hosted seminars , presentations and proposed standards for the industry, working closely with NASA, DoD and NSA security agencies.
Magnetic Tape Recording for the Eighties was a NASA publication aimed at showcasing manufacturers to the various customer communities.