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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 10th Aug 2017, 10:42 am   #1
crispyw
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Question Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Hi - I'm looking for information on an old Vogue reel to reel tape recorder I've just acquired - it was found in a skip in Cardiff by a friends son.

I've searched online and can't find anything that matches this model.

Complete with lid, and the only thing missing (externally at least) is the left hand knob.

I haven't tried re-wiring the plug (an ancient 2 pin) yet, but if anyone has any information about the model and whether it would be worth attempting to restore it etc, then I'd be grateful
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 11:04 am   #2
ms660
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

The deck looks like a Collaro Studio.

Lawrence.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 11:59 am   #3
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Thanks Lawrence - just googled it and looks like you're right - I assume the same deck was used by different manufacturers. I know nothing about tape decks and don't even have any tapes or reels for it to test. Will wire the plug up properly and see if it does anything.

If anyone has any more information - particularly the 'trick' setting on one of the knobs (what does that do?) I'd be very interested.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 12:14 pm   #4
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

I'd assume the "trick" mode switches off the erase head so you can (sort of) overdub one audio over another. A couple of years ago I obtained a similar machine but made by Sound. As a precautionary measure I replaced the grid coupling capacitor that goes to the audio output valve. Typically 0.01 to 0.1 uF. If that has gone electrically leaky it can wreck the output valve and output transformer due to excess current.

If it has a contact-cooled selenium rectifier, some people swap those on sight using a silicon rectifier plus resistor. I didn't on my Sound and it's still OK.

The service info for the tape deck part is available "up top".

If you request a tape in our Wanted forum section you'll no doubt get offers of a few for just the cost of postage.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 12:51 pm   #5
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Thanks Llama - I afraid any electronic repair work is way beyond my capabilities though, (apart from wiring the plug!) but thanks for the suggestion for getting hold of tapes - I'll have a look on ebay too.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 1:07 pm   #6
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Quote:
Will wire the plug up properly and see if it does anything.
This is not always a good plan. A small problem (e.g. capacitor that has gone bad with disuse) can rapidly escalate into a big one (burnt-out transformer or dead rectifier) when power is first applied after a long slumber. The fact it still has a 2-pin plug suggests it might not have seen power for a long time. There's plenty of advice to be had on this forum about what to check and how to wake things up gently.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 3:04 pm   #7
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Only thing I can find so far is a reference in the Dec. 1965 issue of Amateur Tape Recording, for someone wanting a schematic for a "studio" Vogue tape recorder made by the Raldgres Engineering Company (Mag. page 15) As spelt I can't find anything on them either yet:

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/...TR-1965-12.pdf

Lawrence.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 3:45 pm   #8
Ted Kendall
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

This looks like a product of Sound (Tape Recorders) Limited, who made tape recorders both under their own name and for countless chain stores. Vogue was one model name they used. In any case, there are only so many ways of skinning this particular cat, so a perusal of their circuits may be instructive.
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 8:28 pm   #9
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Do the reel tables really travel as far as the detents in the deck plate imply?
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Old 10th Aug 2017, 8:45 pm   #10
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Facilities and deck are also like the Elizabethan LZ29, which also had other brand names.
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Old 11th Aug 2017, 8:07 am   #11
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Quote:
Originally Posted by ricard View Post
Do the reel tables really travel as far as the detents in the deck plate imply?
AFAIK those depressions next to the reel table have no function because the reel positions are fixed. It's a three-motor deck with a rewind speed to satisfy even the most impatient user.

From the restorer's point of view it's refreshingly free from tricky belts and levers - its construction is straightforward and you may well find that mechanically it still runs, but will benefit from careful lubrication. I used this Collaro Studio deck for years with my Sterns Mullard HF/TR3 kit amplifier and it proved very reliable.

Martin
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Old 11th Aug 2017, 11:06 am   #12
Ted Kendall
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Originally, the idea was that the reel motors could be moved inboard so that 5 3/4" reels could be used without overlapping the deckplate. In practice, this never happened as far as I know - the deckplate had circular holes in the 7" position only, and presumably the brakes would have needed adjustment as well.
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Old 11th Aug 2017, 12:55 pm   #13
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

This looks almost identical in terms of the use of the Collaro deck, the control layout, the control panel size, the same functions of the 5 controls, together with the EM84, as the Sound "Studio" tape recorder made by Sound (Tape Recorders) Limited of Tottenham. These were made in 1959 and the valve line up should be EF86, ECL82, EL84, EM84 and a full wave selenium rectifier. It may even use the same 8" x 5" speaker. It has mixing and superimpose functions. It's a good circuit, although IMHO somewhat lacking in the EQ filtering for the 3 speeds. I still have mine fully restored.
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Old 11th Aug 2017, 1:54 pm   #14
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

As Ted rightly says, the Studio was designed as a 5-3/4" or 7" to suit customer needs, hence the scalloped deck plate. In contrast, the flat deck plate on the Brenell allowed 7", 8-3/4" and 10-1/2" models but Truvox was scuppered for their 7" cast-alloy deck would not allow any modification... and asperations to a 10-1/2" model thus foundered!

The only 'Vogue' I have recorded with a Collaro is the short lived Vogue Bermuda. Very little is recorded of Raldgres - as indeed of many other hopefuls.

Barry
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Old 14th Aug 2017, 9:06 am   #15
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Thanks to all of you for the info - I'll definitely open it up and check it out before switching it on. Apart from the one missing knob it all looks in fairly good condition so I hope it was just sat in an attic for years unused before being dumped. A few years ago I'd have asked my father in law to have a look as he was a BBC engineer for many years at Pebble Mill, but sadly he's been incapacitated by a stroke. I have friends who know enough about electronics who may help in return for a few beers though.
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Old 17th Aug 2017, 3:03 pm   #16
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. Guess what I saw in a second hand shop a couple of days ago? Yes, you got it, a Vogue tape recorder looking remarkably like the one crispyw has posted here - except that mine (I bought it on the strength of what had been said about it here) has a sloping front.

I've not powered it up (I had to stop the bloke in shop trying to demonstrate it to me !) and think I can see where all the fixing screws are. But is there a 'good' sequence to dismantle it for mechanical and electronic servicing?
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Old 17th Aug 2017, 4:29 pm   #17
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

I'm not familiar specifically with the Vogue, but does it have a removable bottom panel as a starting point? Then, you should be able to remove the deck, held by four bolts at the corners. Two of the bolts are behind the deck control key moulding which is a press-fit on pillars. Beware that those shiny polystyrene mouldings are EXTREMELY brittle and easily cracked.

If there's no removable bottom panel, then I suggest the first stage will be to remove
the deck to gain access to the electronics.

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Old 18th Aug 2017, 11:12 am   #18
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

Thanks for the tip Martin, I'll examine it in more detail later on. Off memory I don't think it has a removable bottom panel, rather a couple of gold anodized type ventilation grilles. Your point about the brittleness well noted by me.
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Old 18th Aug 2017, 2:06 pm   #19
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

When you open this up compare it to my spec in post 13 and advise.
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Old 18th Aug 2017, 2:46 pm   #20
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Default Re: Vintage Vogue Tape Recorder - any information welcome

The deck looks just like that of the Elizabethan I inherited from an uncle, dating from circa 1961, but it has no "trick" switch. In mine the rubber pinch roller has deteriorated badly and needs replacing: one of those "Round Tuit" jobs.

My recollection is that, where a recorder was made in both 2-track and 4-track versions, the "track" switch of the 4-track model sometimes was used as a "trick" switch in the 2-track model, and allowed superposing of recordings.
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