Dictabelt
Encyclopedia
The Dictabelt or Memobelt was a form of recording medium introduced by the American
Dictaphone
company in 1947. It used a type of "Write Once - Read Many" medium consisting of a thin, plastic belt 3.5" wide that was placed on a cylinder and spun like a tank tread. The needle would then move slowly to the side ways, making the recording. Unlike a record cutter, the audio on a Dictabelt is imprinted (pressed in) rather than cut. The recordings had better fidelity than the wax cylinders they replaced. The belts could be folded and placed in envelopes. However, if they were stored too long in a folded state, the folds would become permanent. In the 1960s, Virginia
required that all of its circuit courts be outfitted with Dictabelt machines. The belts first came in red, then blue, and finally purple.
Along with a Gray Audograph
sound recorder, a Dictabelt recorded the police department radio channels in Dallas, Texas during the John F. Kennedy assassination
.
These recordings were reviewed by the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Dictaphone
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
company in 1947. It used a type of "Write Once - Read Many" medium consisting of a thin, plastic belt 3.5" wide that was placed on a cylinder and spun like a tank tread. The needle would then move slowly to the side ways, making the recording. Unlike a record cutter, the audio on a Dictabelt is imprinted (pressed in) rather than cut. The recordings had better fidelity than the wax cylinders they replaced. The belts could be folded and placed in envelopes. However, if they were stored too long in a folded state, the folds would become permanent. In the 1960s, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
required that all of its circuit courts be outfitted with Dictabelt machines. The belts first came in red, then blue, and finally purple.
Along with a Gray Audograph
Gray Audograph
The Gray Audograph was a dictation format introduced in 1945. It recorded sound by pressing grooves into soft vinyl discs , like the competing, but incompatible, SoundScriber...
sound recorder, a Dictabelt recorded the police department radio channels in Dallas, Texas during the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
.
These recordings were reviewed by the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final...
.