Patent ID: 6985323

Claim:
A helical scan tape recorder comprising: a rotatable scanner upon which is mounted a first set of plural transducing heads and a second set of transducing heads; a transport system for transporting magnetic tape proximate the rotatable scanner in a manner so that information is transduced by at least one of the transducing heads during a revolution of the scanner; wherein the sets of transducing heads are so mounted on the scanner with respect to azimuthal orientation of the transducing heads that all tracks transduced by the transducing heads have a desired width regardless of an error in physical distance separating the sets of transducing heads; wherein the first set of plural transducing heads comprises a first head and a third head wherein, the second set of plural transducing heads comprises a second head and a fourth head, and wherein the sets of transducing heads are mounted on the scanner so the first head and the third head transduce respective tracks during a first angular phase of the rotation of the scanner, and so that the second head and the fourth head transduce, during a second angular phase of the rotation of the scanner, respective tracks which partially overlap a previously-transduced track, wherein the tracks on the tape alternate according to differing azimuthal orientation; and wherein the sets of transducing heads are mounted on the scanner so the second head transduces a track which preferably resides a distance H below a track transduced by the first head, wherein H=3P+½(P−W 1 ), wherein P is a nominal width of the second head, and wherein W 1 is a width of the first head.