[comp.music] SMPTE specs

ma62141@naakka.tut.fi (Antila Marko) (12/04/89)

I need the documentation of SMPTE time code, i.e. the data
format and info about the method it is recorded on tape (fsk?)

If anyone had that kind of information in on-line format or the address 
of the SMPTE-organization I would appreciate if it were possible to email
either one to me.

I'm constructing a stand-alone SMPTE-MIDI sync box using
8031-microcontroller for my home-taping purposes and it seems a bit
difficult to obtain exact technical information on SMPTE :=( 

Of course commercial versions of that kind of boxes are also 
available but for me they seem to be too expensive / complex.


*   Marko  Antila  (ma62141@tut.fi)  ! Studying Wonders of    *
*  Tampere University of Technology  ! Electronics @ TTKK     *
* Signal Processing Lab, P.O.Box 527 ! ====================== *
*      SF-33101 Tampere, Finland     ! Vacuum tube rules OK   *

scott@bbxsda.UUCP (Scott Amspoker) (12/05/89)

In article <10230@etana.tut.fi> ma62141@naakka.tut.fi (Antila Marko) writes:
>I need the documentation of SMPTE time code, i.e. the data
>format and info about the method it is recorded on tape (fsk?)
>...
>I'm constructing a stand-alone SMPTE-MIDI sync box using
>8031-microcontroller for my home-taping purposes and it seems a bit
>difficult to obtain exact technical information on SMPTE :=( 

Well, somebody on the net recently helped me on this so now's my
chance to repay the favor.  There are two sources of information
that helped me.  One of them is back issues of the SMPTE Journal.
You can do this and get your information today.  Go down to the
library of whatever major university that happens to be nearby.
There is a catalog (probably in the science/engineering section)
of articles published in various technical journals/magazines.
This is not a card catalog but a bunch of thick books sitting on
a shelf somewhere (one volume per year).  Look under "synchronization".
The articles I found useful were from 1979 to 1983 or so and
published in the SMPTE Journal (I will email the exact Journal
volume later if I can find it).  The articles in question described
the logical data format (80-bit format) but did not discuss what
you need to build your own sync-box.  I suspect if you went back
before 1979 you would find what you're looking for (BTW, the
SMPTE Journal changed its name around 1979 but don't let that
confuse you.)

The other information source is a booklet by TASCAM called 
"Understanding Syncronization" which they will mail to you for
free.  I will try to dig up the phone number for you to call.
I did this a few months ago and got the book in the mail
within a week.  Once again, I doesn't explain the hardware
aspects of SMPTE but is does explain the applications of SMPTE
and provides a data format.


-- 
Scott Amspoker
Basis International, Albuquerque, NM
(505) 345-5232
unmvax.cs.unm.edu!bbx!bbxsda!scott