what's this piece of equipment

[Mike]

This thing had a very nice name to it when it was new.  Nowadays, people have names that should be labeled as opinions.

My mind is drawing a blank as to the name.  All I know it was made by Sparta (before Cetec go them).

http://www.wjma.radiohistory.net/WJMA%20photos/WJMA%20places/pages/page_26.html

thanks.

[joebob]

It was a portable remote location board and turntable system made by Sparta. That's all I remember it as. I remember there being a system like this at the community college I went to school at.

[Mike]

Right.  I remember it from the community college I went to.  At that time, it was in a little studio where we read news.  That little studio looked into the main studio.

I guess I'm gonna have to look through some old Broadcasting magazines to find my answer.  I've either seen an ad for this thing, or I saw a brochure for it.  Don't know which.

thanks.

[Cincinnati Kid]

It certainly looks like a remote board with turntables made by Sparta.  I have, and still use, a remote board similar to this one although tit has only two pots, one of which can be used for an auxilary input from an audio recorder or something similar.

[OldNumber7]

This thing had a very nice name to it when it was new.  Nowadays, people have names that should be labeled as opinions.

My mind is drawing a blank as to the name.  All I know it was made by Sparta (before Cetec go them).

http://www.wjma.radiohistory.net/WJMA%20photos/WJMA%20places/pages/page_26.html

thanks.

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying this board had a commercial model name or a common industry nickname, or what? We had one at my college station (c. 1978-9) for use at remotes. We called it "the Sparta board," as in: "carry the Sparta board over to the quad for the live remote this afternoon." We never called it anything else.

[therealjm12]

We had the exact same Sparta board at WADR Remsen (Utica-Rome, NY).  We even had the Tapecaster recorder shown in another picture.  Wow, takes me back.  Wonder what happened to it.  It was a good piece of equipment for production, especially for a small station.

[Kent T]

Sparta Remote Turntable Console. Collins, and Gates Radio Company had their versions as well.

[PirateJohnny]

If I'm not mistaken, WAKQ-FM in Russellville, KY used that for a production board and a live board.  This was around 1977.  The station was automated with reel to reels but the morning show was live.  This board was used for the live show and then for production once the automation took over.  One day a production guy flipped the wrong switch and cut a few spots live on the air.

[DavidEduardo]

Right.  I remember it from the community college I went to.  At that time, it was in a little studio where we read news.  That little studio looked into the main studio.

I guess I'm gonna have to look through some old Broadcasting magazines to find my answer.  I've either seen an ad for this thing, or I saw a brochure for it.  Don't know which.

thanks.

The board was also available separately as the A-10, either mono or stereo. It had the basic features needed to run a station. I had several of those at stations in South America and they ran really well... the carbon pots had to be replaced perhaps every 6 months when they wore out, but otherwise it was perfectly adequate for a budget-dependent operation. Add some equally cheap Tapecasters, a pair of Rek-o-Kuts and you were on the air.

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/64-OCR/1964-03-30-BC-0112.pdf#search=%22sparta%20a-10%22 gives you reference to the unit from a convention listing.

[DavidEduardo]

Sparta Remote Turntable Console. Collins, and Gates Radio Company had their versions as well.

The Gates unit, all enclosed in a fiberglass shell, is on page 122 of the 1965 catalog at http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Gates-1965-Harris-No-96.pdf

I think this was the same unit Collins sold, but I don't have the right Collins catalog on hand to consult.