Re: [ARSCLIST] formats: Racal Wordsafe, RSC Tracker

[Brandon Burke <burke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tom,

The reason behind my line of questioning here is to help figure out  
exactly what
i want to ask the donor of the collection when i visit them next month.

The tapes - the Racal tapes - will likely contain several streams of  
content originally
broadcast in several languages at the same time. In this sense, each  
track - in the
multi-track sense - will contain material different that that heard  
on tracks 2,3,4,5,etc
in as much as it will be a different translation.

More than anything i want to know what my options are as regards  
professional-level
playback. Prioritization is another decision altogether; and a  
decision that the information
i'm learning here will help inform.

As i mentioned earlier, re-furb Racal machines are available from at  
least one vendor;
though who's to say when they will stop selling them, go out of  
business, etc.

Also of note here, among the many issues, is how reasonable it is (or  
reasonably fast i can
expect) to turn around reference copies should a recording from one  
of these tapes be
requested by a researcher. If every tape has the same track  
configuration - something i am
expecting to find - AND we can find a good player, then it might not  
be too bad actually...


thanks all,
Brandon.

On Sep 12, 2007, at 3:41 PM, Tom Fine wrote:

> Hi Brandon:
>
> If you can say, what is on these tapes? As far as I can tell, they  
> typical application was stuff like telemarketer "this call may be  
> recorded" stuff and emergency-911 dispatchers. Unless it's the  
> September 11 E911 tapes or something similar, I'd question whether  
> what's on the tape is worth a lot of extraction work. Richard and  
> others would know better but I wonder if there's anything beyond  
> barely-audible fidelity in this format. Again, though, if it  
> centers around some important time/place/event, it's of course  
> worth all efforts.
>
> One man's opinions, etc.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brandon Burke"  
> <burke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 5:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] formats: Racal Wordsafe, RSC Tracker
>
>
> > With Richard's permission i'm forwarding his off-list response to  
> > my  RCS/Racal post.
> >
> > Some good information here that - if not of interest to others now  
> > -  should at least
> > be available to folks searching the archives sometime down the road..
> >
> > best,
> > Brandon.
> >
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > > From: "Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > Date: September 11, 2007 4:51:57 PM PDT
> > > To: Brandon Burke <burke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > Subject: Re: [OFFLIST  -- ARSCLIST] formats: Racal Wordsafe, RSC   
> > > Tracker
> > >
> > > Hello, Brandon,
> > >
> > > Aren't you folks the lucky ones.
> > >
> > > I would be most worried about the DOS version of the RCS program  
> > > as  you've got to get the proprietary codec in order to play the  
> > > files.  Presumably once you have that, then you can archive the  
> > > codec and  hope it will work under VISTA 2100...or write an  
> > > emulator...or...
> > >
> > > As to the Racal stuff, perhaps the most difficult stumbling  
> > > block  will be reading the timecode. I believe these are linear  
> > > analog  tracks on the VHS tape, but there was also a system that  
> > > recorded  digitally using the spinning head of the VHS system.  
> > > I'm not sure  which is which.
> > >
> > > If these are the analog tapes, worst comes to worst, I'm sure  
> > > you  could get someone to make a custom play head for you for  
> > > $20K or  less. Since it's VHS, it is 1/2-inch. I have a  
> > > Dictaphone 20-track  (plus timecode) head for a reel-to-reel  
> > > player and also a 16-track  audio head (no separate timecode  
> > > track as was common with loggers).
> > >
> > > One of the challenges in using dedicated audio reel transports  
> > > will  be slowing down the capstans to real time. For example,  
> > > most reel  loggers ran at 15/32 in/s (ips) while the slowest I  
> > > can get my Sony  APR-5000s to is 1-7/8 in/s, or 4X. However, if I  
> > > can make 8 kHz  flat playback at 1-7/8 that still leaves 2 kHz  
> > > flat when slowed  down in the computer.
> > >
> > > I would start writing the grant proposals to get all the stuff  
> > > off  these carriers, as I'm sure you're doing. YIKES! What were  
> > > these  people thinking...especially when machines got trashed,  
> > > which they  almost always do.
> > >
> > > Please keep me informed. I had another inquiry about a Racal   
> > > proprietary analog format on video cassettes.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > Richard
> > >
> > > At 06:20 PM 2007-09-11, Brandon Burke wrote:
> > > > My institution is about to receive 4,000 recordings, of which  
> > > > nearly
> > > > half are in one proprietary media i know to be long out of  
> > > > production
> > > > (Racal Wordsafe) while the other is at least created by company  
> > > > that
> > > > is still in business (RCS Tracker).
> > > >
> > > > I am writing in hopes that someone on the List has some experience
> > > > either or both of these formats. If so, please feel welcome to
> > > > contact me
> > > > off-list if you prefer.
> > > >
> > > > What i know so far:
> > > >
> > > > * Racal Wordsafe is a VHS-based multi-track technology that  
> > > > requires
> > > > a proprietary Racal Wordsafe recorder in order to play back a   
> > > > recording.
> > > > I know of at least one company that sells refurbished models...
> > > > [http://www.simko-usa.com/Racal/Wordsafe/index.html]
> > > > ...otherwise this technology seems to be nearly unaccounted for.
> > > >
> > > > * The windows-based RCS Tracker system commits recordings either to
> > > > MPEG-2 or WMA, but the DOS-based version creates purely proprietary
> > > > files. This i gleaned from talking to one of their support techs on
> > > > the phone.
> > > > Here's the URL for their product: http://www.rcsworks.com/  
> > > > products/ tracker/
> > > >
> > > > I am visiting the donor next month to look over their hardware,
> > > > specs, etc
> > > > but i wanted to know if anyone had experience archiving such files
> > > > before
> > > > i leave to try and answer some questions first-hand.
> > > >
> > > > Of particular interest to me is any information about the Racal
> > > > Wordsafe system,
> > > > as i'm unclear whether or not the donor will even have any of their
> > > > old manuals.
> > > > (We are getting two machines with the tapes; however one is a
> > > > condition unfit for
> > > > professional-level playback and the other was cannibalized to feed
> > > > the first.)
> > > >
> > > > thanks,
> > > > Brandon Burke.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ____________________________________
> > > > Brandon Burke
> > > > Archivist for Audio Collections
> > > > Hoover Institution Archives
> > > > Stanford University
> > > > Stanford, CA 94305-6010
> > > > vox: 650.724.9711
> > > > fax: 650.725.3445
> > > > email: burke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > ____________________________________
> > Brandon Burke
> > Archivist for Audio Collections
> > Hoover Institution Archives
> > Stanford University
> > Stanford, CA 94305-6010
> > vox: 650.724.9711
> > fax: 650.725.3445
> > email: burke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

____________________________________
Brandon Burke
Archivist for Audio Collections
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6010
vox: 650.724.9711
fax: 650.725.3445
email: burke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx