Last updated: 26-Dec-2025, 05:29 PM AEST
Search Home ATL-TAB Don shares his JourneyThe black and white version of the header photograph can be seen on Brian Conlon's Tote website
As mentioned on that page, the recorder punch tape I worked with had a black top side. Later versions were changed, probably to improve how the electronics detected the punched holes - a small but important detail in the evolution of the system.
I wrote many stories about the old DQ punched tape equipment and my time working with Arthur Gardiner. This one still makes me smile.
The setting was the Seymour Races. We were inside the fibro-cement sheeted Paddock A tote house, sitting on straight-backed wooden chairs. Arthur had his cup of tea in one hand and a roll-your-own cigarette in the other, looking perfectly at ease as we chatted about the day's work.
When it came time to take the punched tape off the recorder and feed it into the reader, something looked wrong. The first few bets were fine, but then everything clumped together on a single line. A perfect mess.
Arthur had a habit of pulling extra tape onto the floor so it would not snag on the machinery - probably from some past mishap. Unfortunately, this time his chair leg landed right on that spare tape. There he sat, smoking away, completely unaware that every new punch was landing in the same tiny spot on the tape.
The punch tape was normally fed through the recording heads using a system of ratchet holes, similar to the sprockets on old movie film.
The result? A long strip of holes all in one place - and a whole lot of missing bets.
The first thing we did, naturally, was panic - the standard procedure in moments like this. Once we had gathered our wits, we turned to our ever-knowledgeable manual (human being), "Odds Calculator", and the government Inspector. Together, we managed to work out a fair Quinella dividend. I had navigated this tricky process before, and would do so many times again after that day.
I really cherished those years. They were full of great memories and moments that have stayed with me. You never forget the sounds, the smells,
or the feel of the place, a little like taking a ride today in a Tiger Moth or a Model T Ford. I can still do that,
but I will never again see this kind of equipment come to life, clattering and clicking the way it once did.
Those days taught me patience, problem solving, and respect for the people who built the foundations of the technology we use today.
In 1954 a decision was made by the racing industry to introduce Doubles betting onto Melbourne racecourses. While doubles betting was available elsewhere, the systems used were based on the Julius tote using escapement adders or systems using multiple electric counters which were impractical for use on fields of 24 runners as this would involve more than 500 counters and systems that were based on the reinvestment of first leg winning tickets exchanged for a ticket on a selection in the second leg.
Double:
The Double Pool is conducted on two races, the investor having to select the winner of both. In the Melbourne implementation it is necessary to nominate the two runners when investing as opposed to a re-investment pool where a ticket is purchased on the first leg and, if successful the ticket is exchanged for a ticket on any runner in the second leg. This was to be the first system to use paper tape to record the bets and a paper tape reader to then read what had been recorded on the paper tape and enable bets to be aggregated to determine the number of winning units on the winning combination of runners in consecutive races.
The recording equipment was a set of electromagnets that moved a system of rods and bars that were moved under the main solenoid that when energised would then drive the selected punches through the paper tape recording the combination as a set of 4 holes (or 3 holes if the selection in 1 leg was a field bet) across the paper, 2 holes represented a runner in the first leg and 2 holes represented the runner in the second leg.
When the solenoid released the paper was advanced so that it was in position for the next bet to be recorded. After the first leg of the double was run the paper tape that recorded the bets was wound through to provide a leader and then cut off, a length was then wound through and fed onto the bobbin on the recorder in readiness for recording the next race. The paper tape was then mounted on the reader and the switches set for the winner of that race and all runners in the second leg in sequence and the tape was passed over the reading head and the number of selections counted and displayed on an electronic readout. After all reading was completed it was then possible to declare odds for the second leg and the figures were available for the calculation of the dividend when the second leg winner was known.
At the front end of the van is a 3 phase 50 Volt rectifier and along each side were a set of batteries each of 50 volts that were kept charged by the rectifier. The 50 volts from the batteries provide power via a power distribution panel to the punch tape recorders and readers and the ticket issuing machines located in the selling houses. Each punch tape recorder was capable of supporting 32 ticket issuing machines using an access set that allowed only one ticket machine to record a bet at a time. One recorder was set up to support 1 Pound ($2) ticket machines and the remaining 3 supported 5/- (50c) ticket machines. All power and data lines for the ticket machines were provided via an interconnecting panel mounted on the side of the trailer close to the front. A new multi-leg ticket machine was installed at Melbourne racetracks. This new machine had the Julius number of "J10 Mk1" and was physically the same size as the J8 win/place ticket issuing machine which enabled it to be installed without any alterations to the existing bench works at the racetracks. New cabling was installed at the racetracks to interconnect the selling terminals to the recording equipment that was mounted in the van.
This new terminal used less cabling than the previous single leg J8 terminals as the runners were coded into a 2 of 8 code plus one additional wire in each leg for representing field bets. "Field bets enable the punter to select 1 selection in either leg and the field in the other leg."
The original paper tape readers used thermionic valves to electronically count the combinations as they were passed over the reading head which was made up of 18 photo electronic sensors with an incandescent light above the paper tape. As the paper with the holes punched in it passed over the read heads the sensors would detect the row of holes and the rest of the electronics would count the combinations that had been selected by the switches. Each reader consisted of two read heads over which the paper tape was passed and each head was independent of the other which meant each read was checked against the other head. This was what ATL called "the check on the check". Each horse was represented by 2 holes in each leg of the race (unless it was a field bet).
The count was displayed on 2 electronic display valves for the tens and units and a counter for the higher digits (see picture above). Each head had a separate display.
The count display is shown at the very top in the photograph and at right (and left as a separated display) with the paper transport below, the runner selection and power status next with the main electronics at the bottom. In the Melbourne installation the top counter display was separated and mounted above a bench where the dividend calculators would sit to calculate the dividends. When the second last race was run it was no longer possible to conduct a "Double" so the terminals were altered and the equipment was then used to conduct a "Quinella" pool.
Quinella: The Quinella pool normally operates on any number of starters and bets are lodged on combinations on any two runners in one race. The winning tickets are those that show the numbers of the first two horses past the winning post in any order.
Circa 1959 additional capacity for doubles betting was required and a new punch tape recorder was installed in the van. It was set up in such a way that it had to be set up each time the van arrived at a racetrack and packed up before the van moved to the next racetrack. At the same time as this recorder was installed along with additional Julius "J10 Mk2" ticket issuing machines, new punch tape readers were introduced that although the paper transport was basically the same the electronics was miniaturised with use of the "new" transistors. This changed the way things were done and control rooms were added at racetracks to accommodate the five new paper tape readers and their associated aggregator modules.
These aggregator modules (see above) displayed the count of the number of units on the winning combination. Although these were an improvement on the original displays for reliability there could sometimes be disagreements as to what number the needle was indicating when it was between numbers.
A newer display module was produced a couple of years later that used seven segment displays to display the count of the winning units. With these new displays there was never a disagreement as to what was displayed.
This setup remained like this until circa 1969 when the old readers were removed from the van and an additional punch tape recorder was added, the new recorder and the one previously added were mounted in racks which saved the set up each time the van was moved. The new readers still had to be packed up and readied for transport to the next racetrack by a cartage contractor who also transported the selling terminals.
The main reason the new recorder was added to the mobile van was to enable Quinella betting to be conducted on every race as well as Doubles. This van remained in service up until the introduction of the new computer system that was introduced in 1972. The punched tape system was still used at Victorian country racecourses for a number of years until it was finally replaced by the computer system at the country racetracks serviced by ATL.