SIr,
Well, I'm currently on the USS XXXX, which is in the process of being gutted out, decommissioned, possibly being sold to a foreign navy, but more than likely being sunk, in the middle of Pacific Ocean, thus becoming a steel coral reef for the life aquatic. I am an electrician/interior communication engineer, basically the audio/visual nerd of the ship, at least with it came to the interior communication part, we'd setup port briefs, award ceremonies, retirements and burials-at-sea, worked on speakers (1MC, 21MC, sound powered phones, sound powered amplifiers commonly referred to as "bitch boxes"), that's the boring part of my job, among other things, but that's another post for another forum. Most of our equipment is pretty much outdated, most ships are completely digitized, in fact, this ship has the classic distinction of being the oldest command in the Pacific Fleet, forty-two years she's been floating, the only thing the keeping her together is gray paint. The neat part of this job or rather was, were playing 8mm movies and music (which varied, at least when I played my music, though my supervisor was a dick-head and mostly played r&b and hip hop, which I'm an open-minded fan of, but to a certain extent and that's putting it mildly), plus running our T.V. satellite.
So, before they updated all equipment, a la' digital, they used an antiquated system call S.I.T.E (shipboard Information Television Entertainment), back in the early 60s, 70s and up until the mid 80s, reel-to-reel tapes were played, during the work day. These were apparently sent to all ships on a weekly basis, some reels contained music: Motown, Country, Classical, USO performances. While others had news bits, stories and of course, prerecorded speeches and supposed pep-talks by certain ranking officials. The sound quality on some of these were amazing, while others were complete shite', moisture and heat damage, I suppose.
Anyhow, the majority of the broadcasting equipment is being sent back to NAVMEDIA, the honchos in charge of all broadcasting/audio equipment for the NAVY. But, as for the reel-to-reel, I plan to keep, after I inquired, about whether or not, anyone would miss this piece of equipment, so I plan to keep it for future experiments and failures. It sits mounted in a black metal shelf which is bolted to the deck, aside from worn buttons and faded paint, it is in pretty decent condition. From a pseudo-google search, because I couldn't find the manual for it or a manufacturing tag on it, I found out that particular model came out circa mid 80s, and has some value, among some reel-to-reel enthusiasts, but not much, though I'm not planning to sell it. Any thoughts? Advice, other than the obvious?
Actually, where could I find blank audio tape? Is that still possible without spending a whole lot on a student/sailor salary?
julian.
p.s.
man, I really dig yr records/group. I heard Joanna Newsom (great album/cd) talk about you on NPR last month, all positive, all technical, of course.
