Ampex 351 Series - SECTION 6 THE AMPEX HEAD

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S ECTION 6
THE AMPEX HEAD
The h ea d assembly of an Ampex mag n etic
tape r ecor d er is the hea rt of th e equipment."
The technical a nd detailed know-how requir ed
for
th e fabrication of th ese h ea d assemb li es has
made Ampex the foremost manufacturer of
ma gnetic recording equipme nt in th e world
today.
In th eo ry , a tape recorder head assemb ly is
a si
mpl e device. In practice however, building
a
head assembly is a co mplicat ed task requiring
e
xtr eme ly pr ecise ma nufa c tu r in g techniques.
Ther e arc thr ee head stac ks in an assemb l y-
e ra se, record and pl ay b ac k. In recording, the
erase head e liminat es any pr evious recording
from
the tape. Th e record h ea d puts a new sig -
nal on t
he tape by m ag netiz in g th e iron oxide
particles
in the coating on the tape. In play-
back , the ma gnetic flux in the moving tape in-
Half - track head assembly
6-1