Hello,
probably a stupid question but thought i would ask before i ruined something, but do i remove the cards from a Tascam tsr 8 by simply unscrewing the bottom plate and pulling them out? (with reasonable force?)
it's not in the users manual.
thanks
Comments
If all channels are working and aligned/adjusted properly, you s
If all channels are working and aligned/adjusted properly, you should just leave them alone. The card edge connector at the rear can be a bear and you run the risk of having a bad connection. Rotating would just be asking for problems and I've never heard of that practice. If you have a suspect channel and want to swap a card around to determine where the problem is that's one thing. If you were to do that then the circuitry alignment for that board won't match the head channel you've adjusted it to and you would need to check and readjust/realign.
If all channels are working and
djmukilteo, post: 409466 wrote: If all channels are working and aligned/adjusted properly, you should just leave them alone. The card edge connector at the rear can be a bear and you run the risk of having a bad connection. Rotating would just be asking for problems and I've never heard of that practice. If you have a suspect channel and want to swap a card around to determine where the problem is that's one thing. If you were to do that then the circuitry alignment for that board won't match the head channel you've adjusted it to and you would need to check and readjust/realign.
Agreed. I've aligned a boatload of tape machines in my time, and have never heard of "rotating" those cards... they're not tires. LOL.
As DJ mentioned, those cards hold the electronics and bias characteristics for each corresponding track. If you start swapping the cards, those settings will no longer correspond to the track/head channel that the card was originally set for in terms of bias/voltage, etc..
If you need to work on the cards and adjust trim pots, there are extender cards available. You connect the extender card to the existing installed card, and you can adjust the installed cards without removing them. You might want to contact Tascam Service/Parts and see if they still make them, or, check Ebay.
Viceroy is a cat, post: 409487 wrote: Good idea, i will do so...
Viceroy is a cat, post: 409487 wrote: Good idea, i will do so... But i can adjust my tape biased without the extender correct?
Yes you just lay the deck on it's back and remove that bottom plate. They are all right there. Just don't tweak or randomly start turning any of those pots on those cards unless you have the service manual with the setup and settings. You need a meter and audio generator and scope to do a proper alignment job. You also should have the correct MRL alignment tape for that machine. Like was said unless you have problems with it and have the tools, you could mess things up.
You don't need a scope unless you are aligning tape heads. What
You don't need a scope unless you are aligning tape heads. What you will need in addition to a test tape and the voltage meter is a tone generator and a fresh tape to set your record bias.
On the topic of heads... have you checked out the condition of the stack? Can you feel ridges or edges? If so, you may need to have the stack re-lapped. It won't do a whole lot of good to align azimuth, zenith, tilt and the other parameters of the heads if they are in bad shape to begin with...
just a thought...
BTW... if you've never aligned or biased a tape machine before,
BTW... if you've never aligned or biased a tape machine before, you should either let someone experienced do it for you, or have an experienced engineer from the analog age with you to show you how.... because DJ is right, if you get in there and just start tweaking the pots, you're gonna be sorry. ;)
Can I ask why you posted to begin with? Don't take that wrong, I really am sincerely curious... because if your tape machine isn't giving you any problems; if what you are recording is playing back okay in tone and amplitude, ( bias okay) and if you aren't hearing "wow", "flutter", drop outs or weird phasing - which can result from the heads either needing aligned (or re lapped, or maybe even replaced) then is there a reason you were asking about the adjustments on the track cards?
DonnyThompson, post: 409573 wrote: BTW... if you've never aligne
DonnyThompson, post: 409573 wrote: BTW... if you've never aligned or biased a tape machine before, you should either let someone experienced do it for you, or have an experienced engineer from the analog age with you to show you how.... because DJ is right, if you get in there and just start tweaking the pots, you're gonna be sorry. ;)
Can I ask why you posted to begin with? Don't take that wrong, I really am sincerely curious... because if your tape machine isn't giving you any problems; if what you are recording is playing back okay in tone and amplitude, ( bias okay) and if you aren't hearing "wow", "flutter", drop outs or weird phasing - which can result from the heads either needing aligned (or re lapped, or maybe even replaced) then is there a reason you were asking about the adjustments on the track cards?
I posted it as i had two channels die, which i initially thought were the tape cards as they are the oldest in my setup and a i have a re-occurring nightmares that my tape machine breaks. Checked my cables, Checked the cards, no obvious issues, turned out to be 2 of my focusrite outputs, which they are now fixing on warrenty. But thankfully the tape machine works great and sounds amazing!
After you remove the bottom plate there are bracket clips on eac
After you remove the bottom plate there are bracket clips on each end that you remove then the cards should slide out of the main connector backplane. Use a gentle back and forth wiggle action while pulling outward to release the card from the connector at the back.