I agree, Robert, that was how I learned it at ABC-TV Network in the West 66th Street facility. On 2013-02-06 4:16 PM, Robert Cham wrote: > Back in the '60s and early '70s, everywhere that I worked the drill > was ridges to the left. That was because most people are right > handed, and you check for the ridges with your thumb. > > Bob Cham > > > >> I have a feeling that all these answers have confused some of the >> newbies who have never used a double-quarter inch patchboard -- what Lou >> called a dual pole. This used a pair of tip-sleeve plugs on one plastic >> base where the two tips were the balanced-circuit conductors and the >> sleeves were ganged together. There was an edge with ridges on each >> plastic block which told the operator which tip was which. I always >> taught that the RIDGES GO TO THE RIGHT. (Both could go to the left but >> it was better to have every operator do it the same way.) A stereo >> signal required two patch cords -- one for each channel. So if you have >> one cord with one end reversed, the two channels would be out of >> relative phase. > -- Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800 http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.