Time index on ATC audio tapes

[evilroy]

A question arose about time index marking of ATC audio, how it is recorded, etc, these days.

In my day it was a multi-channel reel-to-reel tape and if there was an incident we'd call 'Mark tape!" and a slip of paper was inserted into the reel.

What about these days? Do they use tape or is it all to digital hard drive? Do they have time index marks tied to the audio?

Thanks in advance.

[running dog]

Our station clock is tied into the GPS system so its accuracy is to the 1\1000 of a sec.

This controls the time of the clocks, radar and audio.

The radar and audio are recorded on hard drives and copied to DVDs on a regular basis.

The recording can be played back on specific replay computers without compromising the original and can be downloaded to USBsticks if they are needed for investigation.

Hope this helps.

[evilroy]

Thank you for that - much appreciated.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

In days long ago each hour and minute were marked with CW characters.

[jmmoric]

Where I started we had magnetic tapes, that had to be changed daily. That was done by the staff themselves every day at noon I think, we went out in the tech room, pulled out and stored the tape, took another that was more than a month old from the storage, erased it using a powerfull magnetic board, and inserted it into the recorder.

Obviously they found it to be not very practical the people who were being recorded did have access to the recorder and tapes (and knew how to delete them) :}

[running dog]

Been there, done that!

"Oh dear, I put the wrong tape in the bulk eraser. How on earth did I manage that " :(

:)