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Schafer 903 Radio Automation System (circa
1974)
This typical system consisted of three 19" rack cabinets. In the left cabinet was the "system brain." At the top is a "clock" with pins that can be set to trigger events at different times throughout the hour. The two black rows were thumbwheel switches numbered 0-9 which corresponded to the various playback units. Thus the decks could be programmed to play in a specified order with the clock resetting the switches every hour, quarter hour etc. In the middle of this first rack is the time clock with even minutes on one tape cartridge and odd minutes on the other. Thus even if one deck was advancing forward by one minute the other one would be ready to play the correct time on the air. Below the time clock decks is a single play cartridge deck that was used for station IDs, promos, jingles, weather etc.
The center rack could be filled with one or more reel-to-reel playback decks. Four decks were used by most syndicators to execute their formats. Pictured are some Ampex 440 units which were the workhorse of broadcast stations. Below each unit is the usually stereo playback electronics. Triggering was by 25 Hz tones on the left channel which could be quite audible on some good stereo playback systems!
The rack on the right has two twenty-four slot tape cartridge "Carousels." Commercials and other announcements were recorded on these continuous loop cartridges. The brain could be programmed to call up a specific slot at the correct time.
This was the last model made. Before then there was the very popular 800 series which consisted first of a tube version and later the 800T transistor version. Of course, today all of this will fit on to a computer hard drive. But back then, the Schafer automation systems made for impressive displays.
There are many great stories of what happened when things got out of sync or the tapes were not loaded correctly.
Here are some details on Paul Schafer who pioneered these machines:
Quoting from National Association of Broadcasters Press Release...
2002 NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award Winner -- Paul C. Schafer
Schafer is president of Schafer International, Bonita, California. A pioneer in early development of automation systems for radio stations, he founded Schafer Electronics in 1953, Schafer International in 1969 and the Schafer Digital Project in 1986.
Involved in broadcasting for over 50 years, Schafer has been called the "father of automation" for radio broadcasting. Schafer designed and installed the first "automation system" at KGEE, Bakersfield CA in the mid-1950s. Subsequently, more than 1,000 Schafer Automation systems were installed in AM and FM radio stations all over the world.
The Schafer Automation System was included in field tests conducted by NAB in 1955 designed to show the viability of unattended remote control for radio transmitters. As a result of the considerable data from these tests filed by the NAB in 1956, the FCC amended the rules in 1957 to permit the remote control of all radio transmitters.
Schafer’s innovations and products have played an important role in keeping radio broadcasting a competitive and viable medium.