Method and apparatus for maintaining consistent track pitch in helical scan recorder

A helical scan tape recorder comprising:

• a rotatable scanner;
• a first group of transducing elements mounted on the scanner for use in transducing tracks of a first track pattern, the tracks of the first track pattern having a first pattern nominal track pitch;
• a second group of transducing elements mounted on the scanner for use in transducing tracks of a second track pattern, the tracks of the second track pattern having a second pattern nominal track pitch;
• a transport system for transporting magnetic tape proximate the rotatable scanner in a manner so that information is transduced by a utilized group of transducing elements during a revolution of the scanner, the utilized group being one of the first group and the second group;
• wherein the transducing elements are situated on the scanner at predetermined nominal positions whereby, regardless of which group is selected as the utilized group, the tracks transduced by the utilized group have a consistent track pitch regardless of an error in the vertical direction in physical distance separating the transducing elements of the utilized group.

A helical scan tape recorder comprising:

• a rotatable scanner having plural transducing elements mounted thereon, at least one of the transducing element having a first azimuth angle orientation and at least another of the transducing elements having a second azimuth angle orientation;
• a transport system for transporting magnetic tape proximate the rotatable scanner in a manner so that information is transduced in helical tracks by the transducing elements during revolutions of the scanner;
• wherein the transducing elements are arranged so that the tracks are transduced:
• (1) in a temporal order as follows:
• plural tracks having the first azimuth orientation followed by plural tracks having the second azimuth orientation;
• (2) in a spatial order on the tape in which the tracks alternate in azimuth orientation between the first azimuth orientation and the second azimuth orientation.