UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Cassette deck head alignment

knobtwiddler · 20th Dec 2022, 4:22 pm

I can't see too much detail, but it looks like what's known as 'rail roading' to me. TDK tapes are famous for it, and I suspect I have a few that are much worse than that, yet they play perfectly and don't seem to have more drop-outs than other tapes that are flat.

Is the Denon a twin-capstan drive? Azimuth should be more stable on a TC machine, but I have seen people posit that single-capstan has advantages when it comes to creased tapes. I would have thought that the TC arrangement would be better, but my memory on the topic needs refreshing.

For what it's worth, I'm not sure that the crease is the problem here. Once under tension, the tape will be pretty flat. My suspicion would be head height on the machine that made the tape, along with azimuth (the 2 are interlinked, obviously).

Have you tested the machine with any test tapes? Torque would be interesting, as it should give back tension. You can get 6 test tapes from a fellow in Germany for ~ £50 if you don't have them already (no torque tape - but there is a great tutorial at this forum where someone shows how to do it with spring gauge).

20th Dec 2022, 4:22 pm	#5
knobtwiddler Octode Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: London, UK. Posts: 1,050	Re: Cassette deck head alignment - a surprise I can't see too much detail, but it looks like what's known as 'rail roading' to me. TDK tapes are famous for it, and I suspect I have a few that are much worse than that, yet they play perfectly and don't seem to have more drop-outs than other tapes that are flat. Is the Denon a twin-capstan drive? Azimuth should be more stable on a TC machine, but I have seen people posit that single-capstan has advantages when it comes to creased tapes. I would have thought that the TC arrangement would be better, but my memory on the topic needs refreshing. For what it's worth, I'm not sure that the crease is the problem here. Once under tension, the tape will be pretty flat. My suspicion would be head height on the machine that made the tape, along with azimuth (the 2 are interlinked, obviously). Have you tested the machine with any test tapes? Torque would be interesting, as it should give back tension. You can get 6 test tapes from a fellow in Germany for ~ £50 if you don't have them already (no torque tape - but there is a great tutorial at this forum where someone shows how to do it with spring gauge).