Ferguson recorders and aliases

[hillmanie]

The objective of acquiring a stock of miscellaneous fixer-uppers was to derive inteerst from the differences between models and fault symptoms. Am now close to finishing my quota and a lot of interesting stuff has come to light. I have been asked by some persons of a Philistine nature why I'm buying so many when one should suffice. The best response to that is 'Ask your boys or girls why they continue to add to their Lego store when to the un-iniated they 'have enough'
Among the treasures are several of the Ferguson family, Ferg / Marconiphone/ Ultra, all of which use the same deck (appear to) and come in a variety of cabinet offerings. I will have many questions but today's concerns the Ferguson 3224 and Ferg 3226 of which latter there's a nice User Manual on eBay. I have a 3224 but not as yet a 3226. Am I right in thinking that there's not much difference between those two models and that the differences are slight? The same goes for Ferg models in the series 321...
In any case I'm going to get the docs for both models from our advertiser here
All inputs appreciated
TT

[hillmanie]

An old post suggests that the 3224 is the 2 track and the 3226 the 4 track. Would this make any difference to the electronics or just the switching hardware?
Thanks
TT

[ben]

There were electronic differences.

-The 4 track one had an AMP switch to allow the use of the speaker for amplifying a record deck or similar.

-There was also a multi -pin accessory socket at the rear, which had a free head output (so one could record on one track and simultaneously monitor what was on the other, useful for recording vocal accompaniment to guitar, or language learning). It also had a DC voltage one one of the pins to power an external stereo amp (in conjunction with the free head just mentioned) and a line to switch the pause solenoid on or off. The two track model did not have this socket as it did not have those features.

-I am pretty sure the 2 track was single speed and the 4 track also had 1 7/8 ips.

I have the manual for the 4 track model. Mine is an Ultra badged variant. Many years ago I had the 2 track ferguson. There were lots of variants for the German market too.

The deck was the DB type, DB42 / DB21

[ben]

Some of the Neckermann rebadges. The DB decks are used but you can see the magic eye has been replaced by a Japanese VU meter. The design of the first two shown also looks a couple of years more modern, more stylish in some ways, and much less like a suitcase machine - not unlike the Tandberg 6000 series.

I expect these were fully transistorized, if as I suspect they were manufactured a bit later than the UK ones.

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by ben

There were electronic differences.

-The 4 track one had an AMP switch to allow the use of the speaker for amplifying a record deck or similar.

Thanks for info. I noticed that socket on one of the recorders and wondered why. Looks like a complete circle of pins, about 9 in number. To buy a plug ? is maybe non-standard
TT

[dazzlevision]

The 9 pin socket is a standard B9A valveholder and plugs were available in the past.

[Cobaltblue]

They still turn up

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-vintage...wAAOSwlp1ZxTIJ

Cheers

Mike T

[hillmanie]

Interesting. I remember that Quad brand. Held to be a bit posh and quality in their day Even had a bulky pre amp from the charity shop once.
The plug look a bit familiar
Rgds
TT

[Cobaltblue]

Quad is till held in great esteme their valve amplifiers are very sought after in particular

Cheers

Mike T

[hillmanie]

Dear oh dear, why did throw mine in the skip 35 years ago!
Rgds
TT

[dazzlevision]

The original versions of these tape recorders had a slightly different tape deck, known as FTDx (shirt for Ferguson Tape Deck, I expect). I have an Ultra 6202 (IIRC) 4 track, 2 speed example.

[hillmanie]

Not sure I know the deck type nos. differences but i prefer the piano key style of deck over the joystick. A prejudice across all decks actually
TT

[Heatercathodeshort]

You can never have enough junk. Often hard to accumulate but takes only minutes to dispose of, often with regret a few years later.
The mention of handbags and shoes normally silences the outbursts for good..

One of the very best tape decks ever fitted in a domestic recorder. I have a Marconi 4 track version I purchased new in 1967 and it is performing just as well as it did 52 years ago.

I dug out these. The 1st picture is the MARCONI 4 track 4210 purchased in 1967. [The rest came off the tip years ago.] Next to the Marconi is the very stylish ULTRA version with it's teak trim and red lined lid, model 6206. The 2nd one is it's little sister the ULTRA 6214 together with the FERGUSON 3218 4 track. The 3rd picture shows a better view of the Ultra 6206.
Very nice tape recorders and a credit to THorn. Regards, John.

[ben]

Nice collection there, John. I still haven't come across one of the 6206 type Thorns, probably because it was a higher spec (3 speed and stereo) than the above DB21 - DB 42 mono units.

I also quite like piano key transports, but for the average user a joystick is probably safer, as it is theoretically impossible to wreck the tape by either trying to press two keys down together, or going from one mode to another without passing via stop first. I suppose also the 'travel' of a joystick also allows for braking time between modes.

The disadvantage is that they can be quite awkward, for example on the Tandberg ones you generally need to stabilise the machine with one hand as you shift the stick. The softest ones were the 1970s Philips. Anyway, apologies for the OT tangent!

[dazzlevision]

Actually, the mechanical interlocks built into the Thorn DC43 (mono) and DC432 (stereo) decks were comprehensive and it is pretty difficult to damage a tape. IMHO, they are a very good domestic tape recorder.

[JohnBHanson]

I built an automatic switch to switch between two of these decks. Can be set so that when a tape finishes on one deck it automatically changes over to the other deck.

Also can automatically start both decks together for dubbing.

Details are here...
http://81.105.120.101/electronics/ci...apeswitch.html

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort

You can never have enough junk. Often hard to accumulate but takes only minutes to dispose of, often with regret a few years later.
The mention of handbags and shoes normally silences the outbursts for good..

One of the very best tape decks ever fitted in a domestic recorder. I have a Marconi 4 track version I purchased new in 1967 and it is performing just as well . Regards, John.

WARNING - LONG POST
Since John posted this, the Ferguson etc family have become my favourite recorders. I like the look of them especially the deck. They're also quite compact compared with some others though Grundigs share this. In other threads I have confessed to a return to RtoR and started a collection of fixer uppers. I'm still not ready to publicly admit to how many I've acquired in the past six months, even to committed 'collectors' like your goodselves. Suffice it to say that in answer to the exclamation "surely not another tape recorder!" I explain that each new purchase is like opening a new book, with the pleasure of finding out what's inside. I only investigate one at a time so as to avoid too any dismantled bits. Hence many have not even been looked at yet. Two problems - storage and carrying. As you know they start at 10kg and compact as they are they still take up space, in every spare corner of my cramped quarters, under the bed, the sofa et al.
The second is weight. I use one of those bin service depots instead of home delivery because of outrageous postage to house. Since I'm unable to lift them down if on a high shelf of the bin I must hang about until somebody shows. That way I've met a cross-section of interesting people including a taxi driver, a senior college professor and a serving soldier complete with military jeep and its enormous roof aerial. The longest wait has been three quarters of an hour, the average one quarter.
The object of this post is two-fold, to endorse John's assertion that you can never have too much junk and to break the long silence since my last posting, reason being nothing new to report. Be sure I will have questions in the not too distant. I believe that when a member has posted and received help with a thread, minimum courtesy requires that he posts an interim update or and final sign off
TT