[Les Cargill[_2_]]

Jay Ts wrote:
mcp6453 wrote:
After embarking on my journey to bring my Tascam 32 back to life, I have
a new appreciation for the mechanical complexity of these machines. It
is totally a mystery to me how Tascam or Otari ever made any money
selling these. There are so many proprietary parts that it is daunting
to even go through the parts list.

It's called manufacturing -- sadly, a nearly lost art in the USA and UK.

Hmmmmm... not so much. Cheaper, better digital replacements
are just everywhere.

I've taken apart various old things, including tape recorders, and
often wondered how people could ever have designed anything
that worked so well, without having computers and CAD software.


It used to take much, much longer to design things. Still,
something like an iPhone represents a horrendous amount of NRE.

Once I rescued a 4-track Tascam reel-to-reel deck from a garage
sale. There was a problem with the electronics on one of the tracks,
and because the circuit was all through-hole, with discrete transistors,
I was able to repair it using just a DMM and a soldering iron. I had to
replace one of the transistors, and I got it working again.


And that is what we lose. Which is kinds sad, but them's breaks.

I hope you have success too.

Jay Ts

--
Les Cargill