UHER 4200 Report Stereo - Questions and Problems

[radiotechnician]

Clearer voltage inset

[arcticfox]

Just to clarify I'm currently working on the Uher 4000 as it seems to be the easier one to fix at present. The dial vu meter is reading the signal on record yes. Is the circuity the same in the diagram for the 4000?

[radiotechnician]

The circuit for the 4000 Report is different, however the methods for determining faults are the same.

Insets shows 4000 Report aspects. There is also another earlier 4000 REPORT schematic, essentially the same.

[arcticfox]

So by this diagram would that mean I'd be testing T8 for the Uher 4000? It appears to be in the same position from the image you kindly posted.

[radiotechnician]

T8 is the bias oscillator transistor. The inset here is the image
of the UHER 4000 REPORT circuit board section of interest.

[Baguette]

Hey, I bought one of these beauties for 7€ (about 5,5£) in a garage sale. There's rust on the top but it works great. According to the reel it came with, it was serviced in 1985.

Regarding your power problem: the original power supply outputs 7,5V DC through these 2 pads. Putting it in the device also triggers this little button which probably tells the device it's using the AC adapter instead of batteries.

Also, from what I read you can power it with a standard lead acid 6V-3Ah battery (7€ on Ebay for a Yuasa one), but you will need the AC adapter to charge it without taking it out of the recorder each time.

[DMcMahon]

While searching for something on the Forum found the link below where Ted at Post # 11 references an organ piece from ELPs first LP.

I think this is maybe the organ piece that includes a 16Hz fundamental note that I have never been able to hear/feel on any of my Hi-Fi systems.

Has anybody heard it, if so on what equipment ?


https://www.google.com/url?client=in...fAdg8JXmV5I6ih


David

[derekheeps]

Originally Posted by arcticfox

Intro

Recently bought two UHERs 4000 + 4200 from a chap in North London who assured me that I would "be fine if you're technically minded". I thought I was technically minded but I need some major advice and reassurance as opposed to the golden wave. I have left the 4000 with

I will be using this machine to make stereo recordings of acoustic performances. It is my intention to hook up a stereo mic or pair of mics through a valve pre-amp and to record directly into the machine. I wish to have one or two stereo outputs to monitor via headphones or reference monitor speakers.

Questions:

Would it be possible to use this 5 pin DIN to 4 phono cable to get audio in and out of the machine?

http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/produc..._stereo_inout/

Obviously this would make life easy as phono connections are pretty commonplace and it would easily extrapolate to audio interfaces/mixers/headphones etc.

I am quite fond of the mic inputs on the front of the machine. Would it be possible to use something like this:

http://www.ltt-versand.de/Ton/Kabel-...FWMq0wodTsYFYg

...to get a mono signal into each of the front mic ports, hence recording a stereo image?

Could I use something like this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-2-p...wire-10m-a53nx

...wired to a female jack connection (or something similar) in order to get a headphone or speaker channel hooked up?

[SIDENOTE] This is the first time I have seen DIN and I am freaking out slightly.

Last question... I would like to get some power into the machine. Having read other threads it would seem this is possible, but I can't find an original power supply anywhere and do not wish to pay a premium for a vintage item. So, is it possible to make one of these or find something appropriate and then wire in something like this to the end of it:

http://www.rapidonline.com/lumberg-w...-mount-54-5147

Caveat:

I am very new to electronics/reel to reel tape and am trying to get this machine tip top as soon as possible to record an album with, am trying to think for myself but don't quite 'get' analogue electronics yet so any help would be appreciated.

Problems:

Most things on the machine seem fine but there is currently no playback and the belt to the counter is snapped. It would be useful to know where the counter belt attaches (as I can only see the little black plastic bit that attaches it to the counter.

The playback thing is a big issue really, but the wiring all looks nice and the machine doesn't appear to be in bad condition so I'm hoping its something simple?!

The one thing I would question about recording musical performances onto a UHER 4000 series portable is recording time : these were machines designed for news reporters who wanted to capture 'sound bites' or at most interviews lasting at most a few minutes . Forget recording at 1-7/8 , quality will be cr@p . Even 3-3/4 will be mediocre , so 7-1/2 ips is the minimum tape speed to be worthwhile ( the 4200IC stereo report I had even had a 15/16 speed which was barely useful for speech ! ) .

At 7-1/2 ips , I doubt you'd get much more than 20 mins a side record time with a 5-1/4" spool ; can't remember exactly because it's been so long . Really , to record anything of reasonable duration , you want a machine capable of running 10-1/2" reels - so look at Revox , Studer , Nagra ( if it has to be a portable ) . Some higher end Sonys , and the Technics RS1500 were quite decent too .

I've had many 1/4" machines , including Revox , Studier , Ferrograph , Teac , Tascam , Sony , Technics through my hands , but by far the best sounding was the high speed , half track Revox G36 I once had and stupidly sold .

These days I still have a high speed half track B77II and a standard speed 1/4 track A77 , both only kept to play back old recordings .