Re: WCAP's Top Of The Hour Tone

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

>Saw an ad in today's(8/20)Lowell Sun stating that WCAP's top of the hour
>tone is now back.I wasn't aware it went away.Was it broken?Maybe our lists'
>resident WCAP expert Bill O'Neill is lurking in the background,and can
>provide us with an update at the tone<g>
>
>                                   Mark Watson

The station used precious trade-print-space for _that_?? <cough>.  I had
always been a fan of "the tone" which had been dead for about six months.
Few even noticed it was gone, but it did generate some main/email from
listeners who missed setting their clocks by it.  There used to be a big
studio clock with a magnet on the second hand that, when all hands pointed
north, you guessed it, the tone would air.  The tone gen. always on, but the
circuit would open for the amount of time it took the second hand to swing
from approx. 1.5 sec. before and 1.5 after.  It would tone into the audio
chain heading for the STLs.  Very "Heathkit" in its design, although all
created by the late Ike Cohen many yrs. ago.  For the past decade(+) the old
clock was replaced as the trigger by the top of the hour "00" sat. code from
ABC Radio (which actually opens the ABC Info. network cast).  The switch
remains open for however long it is set to cycle.  I had recently received a
call from the eng. curious if I happened to take any Cliff Notes on "the
tone" and how it was configured (as there are not many left who would be
able to help on that one...)  The good thing about the tone is it can keep
hosts honest with the top hour, but when in pre-delay, the tone is not heard
since it is fed outside of the board.  The IDs need to be punched seven
seconds early to accomodate the delay in order to sync the ID with the beep
(if you're a perfectionist and there are many in radio).  But, thankfully,
perfectionists are not wired to be perfect (or insert your humbling aside in
this space).  Wait, did I just steal from Barnacle?

Bill O'Neill

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