A New Concept in Low Flutter High Environmental Recorders

Abstract

To improve the performance of tape recorders operating under severe vibration, acceleration, and shock environments, two new flutter reduction design concepts have been developed: 1. Capstan servoing during the recording process to servo out flutter before it is recorded. 2. A new reel drive system in which the reels are coupled together to minimize tape tension variations and eliminate the possibility of throwing a tape loop. Test data on a prototype spaceborne recorder has proven the validity of the concept. The prototype has shown a capability to reduce flutter by factors ranging from 3 to 10 over conventional high-environrnent recorders. Typical flutter performance figures on the prototype (which accommodates 600 feet of 0.25" wide tape and operates at 30 ips) are: 0.36% p/p to 5000 Hz - on the bench 1.8% p/p to 5000 Hz - under environment (20 g rms random vibration) Time displacement errors (TDE) are ± 3 microseconds - on the bench ± 6 microseconds - under environment (20 g rms random vibration)