Factors limiting the sensitivity and dynamic range of a seismic system employing analog magnetic tape recording and a seismic amplifier with adjustable gain settings and several output levels

In the course of modernizing the low-speed-tape-recorder portable seismic systems and considering the possibilities for the design of a cassette-tape-recorder seismic refraction system, the factors that limit the sensitivity and dynamic range of such systems have been reviewed. These factors will first be stated briefly, and then their influence on systems such as the new 5-day-tape seismic system will be examined in more detail. To fix ideas, we shall assume that the system consists of the following elements: 1. A seismic sensor: usually a moving coil inertial seismometer with a period of about 1 second, a coil resistance of about 5000 ohms, and an effective motor constant of 1.0 V/cm/sec (across a 10K load terminating the seismometer sensitivity-and-damping-adjustment resistive network). 2. A seismic amplifier/voltage controlled oscillator unit made up of the following components: a) A fixed gain preamplifier with an input resistance of 10K and an internal noise level of 0.5 muVpp referred to the preamp input (0.1 Hz