To finish unit#3 I have to wait for the new CPU rev.F PCB and for some silicone oil. Everything else is working and already assembled. Thus I thought let’s go with Unit #4, you know, the Sound machine that was sold to me as “working” and mint conditions. Well it is neither in a mint condition (some white painting on […]
Category: Tape Mechanics
Soft Eject and the search for oil…
The last weeks I was and still am searching for a replacement oil for the soft eject mechanism. I have no idea what material it exactly is. It is very simple, only a rotating plastic wheel with some oil, which is similar to a glue, that slows down the rotation process. More expensive devices contain a hydraulic cylinder or similar. […]
Trying to figure out the current position of the tape
Well, one idea to figure out the current tape position was to measure the current of the motors when playing the tape. There were several devices I had in history which I can remember that did it that way. I expect a difference in the current when the tape is at the very beginning and at the end of the […]
Tape Counter Button
It took me a while to design and print a button for the new tape counter. Whilst the first approach was working it was not so stable and too thin. From four prints I was able to use two. Need to figure out the best way to add supports for a better outcome. However, I had to redesign it. I […]
A digital tape counter? Aye, a digital tape counter!
I recently recorded a tape and had to rewind and then to go back to the previous position. With the analog counter that was quite a challenge. Thus I thought by myself it would be great to set a marker and go back and forward to the desired positions. And to see minutes and seconds would be even better. Well,just […]
Unit 2 finished (for the moment)
Finally unit 2 is finished – or at least for the moment… What was done? All capacitors replaced with new Nichicon and Elna Audio. A list of all capacitors inclusive part numbers for mouser.com is available in the download section Every panel got repaired and working fine. Still one segment on the LCD at the CD-player lights up The tape […]
Troubles with the slide servo relay
From time to time the slide servo relay does not switch. Till now I was not able to figure out the reason. By using the original circuit with the darlington amplifier of 7523 and 7516 the relay does not react in any way. A fun fact is that the delivered 12V are not converted into 5V (G & G1) but […]
Getting familiar with the tape deck mechanics
To be able to rewrite the code for the CPU I need to understand how the tape mechanics work. Unfortunately I was not able to get the service manual SER-1/5603 which contains the required information. Therefore, I it was necessary to do a reengineering of the mechanics. I surely disassembled the mechanics a thousand times to analyse its functions. In […]