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Re: [ARSCLIST] Dictabelts



I think when a dictabelt is creased, it's just going to skip. If you want to hear dictabelts a-plenty, get the audiobook version of Michael Beschloss's two excellent volumes detailing the LBJ White House recordings. I believe there is a third volume in the works that will detail when everything went south in the LBJ presidency. I would assume that great efforts were made to get as good a transfer as possible from those dictabelts, and some are just better than others.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Hodge" <rjhodge@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Dictabelts



I'm not sure that you'd want to make them any more pliable than they
already are due to the fact that the grove is an embossed one as
oppossed to being cut and it may well self erase.

My 2 bits...

Bob Hodge

Robert Hodge,
Senior Engineer
Belfer Audio Archive
Syracuse University
222 Waverly Ave .
Syracuse N.Y. 13244-2010

315-443- 7971
FAX-315-443-4866

david_breneman@xxxxxxxxx 12/5/2006 2:39 PM >>>
--- Craig Breaden <breaden@xxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm trying to find resources on grooved dictabelt recordings
(restoration
and care, playback, etc.).  I'm looking specifically for
information on
restoring pliability to grooved dictabelts.

I use an older Dictaphone machine that has larger-diameter mandrels than the newer ones. I've found that running the belt on the machine for an hour or so will help flatten out any creases from the belt having been pressed flat. The mailer sleeves that Dictaphone sold for the belts also pressed them flat, so the company didn't seem to think that flattening them would cause permanent damage. The machine I have has an Atstatic crystal pickup which has a line level output that terminates in an RCA plug. This makes it very easy to connect to an audio board. I've never tried any kind of chemical on a belt to make it more pliable as I've never (in my limited experience) encountered one that I would consider stiffer than the belts were when new.


David Breneman david_breneman@xxxxxxxxx




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