Re: [ARSCLIST] "Aircheck" history

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for all the research Rod! And others too. This is fascinating. I wondered why so many big 
band performances were captured in air-checks, but I think I now know -- the transcriptions were 
made by and/or for the sponsors, who would generally sponsor an entire program. Studios in NYC that 
did a lot of commercial work often offered air-check service, which was recording from a tuner in 
the control room to a professional quality tape or disk. This must have been proof-of-performance or 
proof-of-broadcast for ad agencies and sponsors. And your posting below explains why most radio 
stations had a tuner in the station manager's office instead of or along with a direct feed from the 
line to the transmitter.

Now here's a followup question. If an affiliate recorded a program off the network feed line for 
delayed broadcast, is that an air-check or something else?

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rod Stephens" <savecal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] "Aircheck" history


> Hi Tom,
>
> Here's an even more possible explanation from this web site by an amateur ham:
> http://www.amwindow.org/tech/htm/aircheck.htm
>
> "The term "aircheck" is borrowed from broadcasting, where disc jockeys and newspeople can hear 
> their on-air performance with a sense of realism not possible by simply recording from the studio 
> microphone.
>   The realism comes from how someone's voice is changed by the audible characteristics of the 
> station's transmitter, audio chain and processing equipment. For broadcasting, it's an absolute 
> way to judge "loudness" against a competitor."
>
> I've always understood it also was used by engineers to check the quality of radio broadcasts and 
> transmitters "over the air".
>
>
> Rod Stephens
>
> Tom Fine wrote:
>
> > What is the genesis of the term "aircheck" and how did it come to mean "off-air recording", or 
> > did it mean something different at another time?
> >
> > -- Tom Fine