UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Sound Belle reel-to-reel heads

Boulevardier · 18th Oct 2020, 10:40 pm

You seem to have shown that the playback amp is working by connecting your ceramic cartridge to it. I think you should now test whether the R/P head is actually generating any signal. The simplest way of doing this is by holding a tape-head demagnetiser against the front of the head. If you haven't got a demagnetiser, you could wind a coil of enamelled copper wire (say, from a junk transformer) onto a large nail, and feeding (briefly) ac from the valve heater chain into the coil. If the head is working, you will get a good 50c/s hum from the amplifier when the demagnetiser or the magnetised nail is held against the head.

Mike

Edit - sorry I'm not familiar with this machine, but I've assumed that it's a valve machine and that it has a 6.3V ac heater chain. Obviously, if it's a mains-fed heater chain, don't connect to this.

18th Oct 2020, 10:40 pm	#23
Boulevardier Octode Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Bristol, UK. Posts: 1,654	Re: Sound Belle reel-to-reel heads You seem to have shown that the playback amp is working by connecting your ceramic cartridge to it. I think you should now test whether the R/P head is actually generating any signal. The simplest way of doing this is by holding a tape-head demagnetiser against the front of the head. If you haven't got a demagnetiser, you could wind a coil of enamelled copper wire (say, from a junk transformer) onto a large nail, and feeding (briefly) ac from the valve heater chain into the coil. If the head is working, you will get a good 50c/s hum from the amplifier when the demagnetiser or the magnetised nail is held against the head. Mike Edit - sorry I'm not familiar with this machine, but I've assumed that it's a valve machine and that it has a 6.3V ac heater chain. Obviously, if it's a mains-fed heater chain, don't connect to this. Last edited by Boulevardier; 18th Oct 2020 at 10:49 pm.