Reel-to-reel tape decks (was Re: ZX81 denigrated!)

From: Philip Pemberton <philpem_at_dsl.pipex.com>
Date: Tue Nov 30 19:33:16 2004

In message <m1CZImz-000JEEC_at_p850ug1>
          ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote:

> That was a farily standard connector on Philips tape recorders. The
> middle pin is a locator only -- the real reason for it was to stop the
> plug going into European mains scoksts (!).

Heh.

> One of the outside pins
> should be martked with an earth symbol, the other is (of course) the
> signal pin. The original plug was unpolarised, but carried a red dot to
> indictate the signal pin.

the problem now is, where can you get the plugs?

> Said machine is Stereo, 4 speed (including 15/16 ips [1]), can copy one
> mono track to the other while mixing in the microphone input, and so on.
> The speakers are somewhat Heath-Robinson. There's one in the case, used
> for mono playback and the left stereo channel. And another in the lid.
> For Stereo playback you uncoil a lead from a slot inside the lid and plug
> it into the RH extension speaker socket. Then put the lid on the right
> side of the machine, about 2m away. Of course you can also connect up a
> pair of speakers or a stereo amplifer/speaker system...

Sounds like a nice machine. Vacuum-tube or transistorised?

> It's not in Poole and Molloy, at least on that I can find. Can you give
> me more description, so I can see if I can identify the Philips equivalent.
>
> In particular :
>
> It's 4 track, does it have a Stereo socket [3]?

> [3] Another odd idea of Philips. On some later 4 track machines there was
> a 3 pin DIN socket, the connections being the lower (track 3) head
> winding, ground, and +16V (normally obtained by potting down the HT+
> line). You could connect a special Philips pre-amplifier there and :

Not to my knowledge. I'll have to drag it out again and check the
destructions. The only 3-pin DIN on there that I know of is the microphone
input socket.

> What's the cabinet made of (most were rexine-covered plywood, a few later
> ones were plastic)

The manual says "Plastic-covered wood". The areas of plastic-paper covering
that are peeling reveal wood underneath.

> How many speeds, what are they

Single speed.

> What controls and connectors do you have?

Play, fast-forward, rewind, stop, record, Superimpose (disables the erase
head), tone control, volume control (with track-switcher on the outer ring,
volume on the inner ring), record level adjust, and a cute little EM84
magic-eye built into the stop button.
As far as connectors go, there's:
  3-pin DIN: Mic.
  3-pin something-or-other ( O | O layout): Record player / radio input
  3-pin " " ( O o O layout): Headphone output
  3-pin " " ( O o O layout): Speaker output

Thanks.
-- 
Phil.                              | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem_at_philpem.me.uk              | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.me.uk/          | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... If at first you don't succeed, call it Ver 1.0
Received on Tue Nov 30 2004 - 19:33:16 GMT

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