Відео

How cool! Do any of these still exist?

Just imagining how a very big money invested for this whole equipment.

I remember a Schafer “Fred” system at KWAM in West Memphis, Arkansas. It was a very elaborate automated playback system, at the time. The reel-to-reel tape decks would operate in fast forward then reverse trying to find a particular cut or spot. Occasionally, it would screw up and play the wrong commercial spot. Personally, I don’t think it was worth it’s extremely high cost. By today’s digital standards, it was an extremely crude monster.

Nos anos 70, era moda colocar tudo gravado nessas engenhocas, principalmente nas FMs. Quando o formato DJ chegou, esses sistemas foram abandonados.

This was the same system I worked with at then Keener 14 WKNR AM [1400] in Battle Creek Michigan in the mid 1970s. This and then WKFR -FM 103.3 Battle Creek were programmed by Drake-Chenault. WKFR-FM Stereo 103.3 in Battle Creek still exists to this day.

That background music 🤣

Ioo

"And the first thing... it's not a computer." He looked majorly cheesed that the interviewer suggested it was. lol.

Yes, I did the same thing in 1981...our Schaffer unit was named "IVAN"!

wolf man jack used this kind of set up in the usa in the 70's funny thing radio heart still use a computer file lay out well all know there's no dj's in the day any more it's all recorded dj's record what they say for the day

We still have one of these in place, however we use a pc these days. I remember setting it up years ago, it would hold 24 hours at a time. It could switch between studios or multiple sources, up to 19. In some ways it was more versatile than a pc.

I was Eight years old when that, radio station went on the air.

I've heard automated radio - it is the worst idea ever... A massive BRAIN-FART from whomever thought of it. A set of songs will play through and the automated back-announce will list what songs they were(or were supposed to be) but the songs you heard, and the back-announce often-times did not match up. The back-announced songs could be the next set, or from two or even three previous sets. A total stuff-up!

the interface was horrendous...

a local station had one of these in the 70s..and you could recognize the 'filler' cart...

I worked at 2 stations back in the late 70's and early 80's that used Shafer automation. The one station called theirs "Max"... the other station called theirs "Otto"... which was short for Otto-Mation. (Yeah, just a bad joke). Max was way more advanced than Otto. Both eventually got scrapped, and both stations went back to being LIVE. Now, if they'd just try LIVE again. Randy McDaniels, TLC.

I started to get into the radio in Cincinnati around the year 2000. Yeah, it was pretty much over by then. And now, gone.

This is "FRED" bought by Radio 6KY Perth, Western Australia in 1976. FRED wasn't all that reliable for Live on-air work but when I bought him from the radio station in 1981, I was able to use him for many years to produce Pre-recorded Hosted Programmes for clients such as the Bali Hyatt and Sheraton Hotel Bali. Worked well for some 13 years but now it's possible to do everything FRED did, on a P.C.

One of the US tabloids back around that time actually mentioned 2KA, because they had a 5-year-old DJ. I wonder if any audio of him from that era has survived---or was *he* replaced by the Fred? ;)

You forgot Fred Botica who currently does Breakfast and is about to move to Drive next year on 6KY's Successor - Mix 94.5

Hi Earl. We brought you in to KDES, Palm Springs when I first got there to teach me the system. That was in 1980.

I had the same system at KDES, Palm Springs. Only difference was the tape decks were Scully 270's.

At 3:10 there is a mis-labeled cart tape of an Elton John hit...

I worked with one of these Schafer Automation Systems in the late 80's, but the station I was working for was using it for the sister AM station & used a Satellite Music Format with the Shafer System, only thing different, we had Carousels to load up the spots on. The Keyboard Display Terminal with it's fancy digital clock of the day, had tubes in it! It was not solid state! I used a Sono-Mag Automation, simular to this until 1998, when I first learned & installed a DOS based Automation System.

Syndication and automation sure killed my job as one of the last live DJ's in the Cincinnati Ohio area. No computer or sequencer can compete with a live request program.

Fantastic I remember this arriving in Australia and putting Aussies out of a job. But dear "Fred" did have his problems, miscued carts and many a tape ended up on the floor. Poor "Fred" now there are more automated gadgets that continue to put announcers out of work.Today in Australia in the major markets Talk Radio rules 24/7 yes live steam radio and not one of the big name announcers has "Fred" as a Christian name.

KGIL 1260 AM San Fernando Valley CA 1978

I wonder if I could still program the time file entries from that keyboard.

@ebullock1ut Our 903 was named "Sammy", for "Sammy Schafer". I still have some printouts of format files and time files. It's cool to see you here, Earl. Sorry about waking you up in the middle of the night, but you got us back on the air after the lockup.

I worked with a Schafer 902. What a piece of crap. The fellow in the vid talks about the "dehumanizing" influence of humans doing repetitive tasks, but 40 years down the road, the radio automation system has un-humanized radio to the point that you can go 24 hours without hearing an actual person on the air. Feh.

When WILS-AM gave up the ghost on a a fully staffed 24/7 facility, it went with an reel--deck automation system controlled by a DOS based computer. The owners invested $100K for this monstrosity in 1983. Now, my laptop can do so much more for less than a grand.