Hi All:
I have a chance to pick up an Otari 1/2" 8 track at a very reasonable price.
I know I should see that the head stack is in good shape as far as wear,
but what else should I look out for on this machine like electronics and
mechanical considerations. Thanks in advance for any heads up on this.

George

Geoley wrote:
I have a chance to pick up an Otari 1/2" 8 track at a very reasonable
price. I know I should see that the head stack is in good shape as
far as wear, but what else should I look out for on this machine like
electronics and mechanical considerations. Thanks in advance for any
heads up on this.

I had mine for about a year before the capstan driver died. I sent the
whole thing in to jeff gilman at precision motor works and had the
capstan motor and servo electronics rebuilt, power supply recapped, a
ceramic sleeve put on the capstan, and the heads relapped. it's been
running fine since. (I should hope. it wasn't cheap.)

athan has replacement pinch rollers.

the second two numbers in the serial number are the year of manufacture.

my 1984 unit is IEC EQ; although you can set the playback to get fairly
flat response for NAB. (which confused the hell out of me when I first
got the thing, since it wouldn't record very well with NAB.) apparently
both NAB and IEC variants exist.

also be aware that the inputs may not really be balanced, and may be
pin-2 hot. again, variants are rumored exist.

--
Aaron J. Grier | "Not your ordinary poofy goof." |
"someday the industry will have throbbing frontal lobes and will be able
to write provably correct software. also, I want a pony." -- Zach Brown

In article ,
says...
Geoley wrote:
I have a chance to pick up an Otari 1/2" 8 track at a very reasonable
price. I know I should see that the head stack is in good shape as
far as wear, but what else should I look out for on this machine like
electronics and mechanical considerations. Thanks in advance for any
heads up on this.

I had mine for about a year before the capstan driver died. I sent the
whole thing in to jeff gilman at precision motor works and had the
capstan motor and servo electronics rebuilt, power supply recapped, a
ceramic sleeve put on the capstan, and the heads relapped. it's been
running fine since. (I should hope. it wasn't cheap.)

athan has replacement pinch rollers.

the second two numbers in the serial number are the year of manufacture.

my 1984 unit is IEC EQ; although you can set the playback to get fairly
flat response for NAB. (which confused the hell out of me when I first
got the thing, since it wouldn't record very well with NAB.) apparently
both NAB and IEC variants exist.

also be aware that the inputs may not really be balanced, and may be
pin-2 hot. again, variants are rumored exist.


Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.

Nice little machines. Used to run all the big shows in London's theatres!
Pip pip
--
Chris Notton
Replace "nospam" with my surname to reply by email
Sostituisca il "nospam" con il mio cognome per rispondere
}////(*

In article ,
says...
Geoley wrote:
I have a chance to pick up an Otari 1/2" 8 track at a very reasonable
price. I know I should see that the head stack is in good shape as
far as wear, but what else should I look out for on this machine like
electronics and mechanical considerations. Thanks in advance for any
heads up on this.

I had mine for about a year before the capstan driver died. I sent the
whole thing in to jeff gilman at precision motor works and had the
capstan motor and servo electronics rebuilt, power supply recapped, a
ceramic sleeve put on the capstan, and the heads relapped. it's been
running fine since. (I should hope. it wasn't cheap.)

athan has replacement pinch rollers.

the second two numbers in the serial number are the year of manufacture.

my 1984 unit is IEC EQ; although you can set the playback to get fairly
flat response for NAB. (which confused the hell out of me when I first
got the thing, since it wouldn't record very well with NAB.) apparently
both NAB and IEC variants exist.

also be aware that the inputs may not really be balanced, and may be
pin-2 hot. again, variants are rumored exist.


Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.

Nice little machines. Used to run all the big shows in London's theatres!
Pip pip
--
Chris Notton
Replace "nospam" with my surname to reply by email
Sostituisca il "nospam" con il mio cognome per rispondere
}////(*

Chris writes:
Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.
Chris Notton

The remote was an option when I got mine. I had one of the earlier
units. I didn't know they ever included it as standard.

Chris writes:
Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.
Chris Notton

The remote was an option when I got mine. I had one of the earlier
units. I didn't know they ever included it as standard.

georgeh wrote:
Chris writes:
Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.
Chris Notton

The remote was an option when I got mine. I had one of the earlier
units. I didn't know they ever included it as standard.

speaking of which... I'm looking for one for mine. any ideas where to
find one these days? locator and remote would be ideal, but I'll take
what I can get.

--
Aaron J. Grier | "Not your ordinary poofy goof." |
"someday the industry will have throbbing frontal lobes and will be able
to write provably correct software. also, I want a pony." -- Zach Brown

georgeh wrote:
Chris writes:
Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.
Chris Notton

The remote was an option when I got mine. I had one of the earlier
units. I didn't know they ever included it as standard.

speaking of which... I'm looking for one for mine. any ideas where to
find one these days? locator and remote would be ideal, but I'll take
what I can get.

--
Aaron J. Grier | "Not your ordinary poofy goof." |
"someday the industry will have throbbing frontal lobes and will be able
to write provably correct software. also, I want a pony." -- Zach Brown

I built a remote for my 5050mkIII and used momentary switches through out. The
machine just needs a pulse. I had the transport remote that came with the
machine, sans track arming/control. I piggy backed the new remote off of it's
connector so I could run the machine from inside my booth.

The click is just for user confidence. Any momentary will do. Size was my
concern since I did a whole lot of toe punchins.

Patric

spud wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 04:22:29 -0000, (Aaron J.
Grier) wrote:

georgeh wrote:
Chris writes:
Make sure you get the remote-control & remote-control-cables with it. It
should have come with them, most did. They sometimes get separated.
I think I still have heads for them, if not John at JRF probably has.
Chris Notton

The remote was an option when I got mine. I had one of the earlier
units. I didn't know they ever included it as standard.

speaking of which... I'm looking for one for mine. any ideas where to
find one these days? locator and remote would be ideal, but I'll take
what I can get.

Well, there's a remote chance you could find a Teac RC-120. My MarkIII
came with one of these and the previous owner said it was $100 new as
opposed to something like $1500 for an official Otari retail option.
It's an aluminum box about 2x3x5 inches. There is 15 feet of wire on
mine but I don't know what the max might be. It has the transport
buttons, an LED type location readout, memory and locate buttons. You
would need the pinout for the Otari remote plug at the back of the
machine (in the standard schematic), a soldering iron, some reading
glasses and the will to succeed. I think there are about a dozen #22
wires involved. The switches make a clicking sound as they are engaged
which is picked up by your mic if you are doing punch-ins with your
big toe. If someone knows of a clickless switch I could replace them
with please share. tia and best of luck, s.