Silvertone tape recorder

[hillmanie]

Silvertone pics (I hope)

[llama]

Fascinating construction for a (presumably) commercial product. Mixture of tags and point to point wiring on blank SRBP, if I've interpreted picture No 1 correctly. Nice to see a BY100 in there (if it is!)
Graham

[hillmanie]

Dare I say it - for one who lives in the relevant soldering and workmanship glasshouse - but I thought the overall quality of construction was below normal commercial standards. Re BY100 I'll have a closer look with a glass. If so, what would a diode be used for in this setup?

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by AC/HL

Thread retitled, can you post some photographs to help identification.

Pics up now but not particularly good enough to inform I think

[vidjoman]

Originally Posted by hillmanie

Re BY100 I'll have a closer look with a glass. If so, what would a diode be used for in this setup?

As it's attached to the fuse it's most likely the rectifier.

[vidjoman]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this type of construction in any normal factory made product. It maybe that as a relatively small quantity would have been made that they employed a bloke with a soldering iron to knock a few up. The circuit would have been taken from a standard circuit and you should be able to find another product that used the same valves.

[DMcMahon]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

As it's attached to the fuse it's most likely the rectifier.

It does not appear to have the top hat shape of a BY100 (not that I know BY100's very well).

[DMcMahon]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this type of construction in any normal factory made product. It maybe that as a relatively small quantity would have been made that they employed a bloke with a soldering iron to knock a few up. The circuit would have been taken from a standard circuit and you should be able to find another product that used the same valves.

It does look slightly home made/prototype/development.

[hillmanie]

Will try to take a close up with a better camera. I have one of those PC endoscopes but I find they suffer from poor lighting. Otherwise they would be great for homing in on things

[llama]

Regarding the BY100 or similar, I was glad to see it instead of a nasty selenium rectifier of that period. Here's hoping it is silicon.
Graham

[Techman]

I can see the output transformer and I can see a nice hefty dropper - has it got a mains transformer?

[llama]

The dropper is part of the Studio deck. Possibly to reduce take-up torque during play(?)
Graham

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by ben

Googling 'silvertone reel tape' brought up a number of models, mostly US origin. Maybe one is yours?

True, but you'd expect them to be less coy in showing their model numbers !
T

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this type of construction in any normal factory made product. It maybe that as a relatively small quantity would have been made that they employed a bloke with a soldering iron to knock a few up. The circuit would have been taken from a standard circuit and you should be able to find another product that used the same valves.

Yes, Am hoping for that
T

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by Techman

I can see the output transformer and I can see a nice hefty dropper - has it got a mains transformer?

Yep, it has a transformer. There's some writing on the diode which I haven't cracked yet. If it's a half wave rectifier then it's a skimpy way to power the thing, probably consistent with the overall quality.theory re prototype
Dsvid's comment re prototype could well be on the money

[DMcMahon]

Tony have you got a photo of the top view with it assembled ?

David

[hillmanie]

Originally Posted by llama

Regarding the BY100 or similar, I was glad to see it instead of a nasty selenium rectifier of that period. Here's hoping it is silicon.
Graham

The thing is indeed a diode as you've all correctly identified but I can't see a maker's symbol on it eg Motorola or such, just the following marks
RT (S) T in that order, - S being the usual diode symbol showing polarity. These marks may be the code for the brand or it may of course be an anonymous Yellow Pack item from faraway East.

Re selenium- were those the type that burned out giving off rotten egg gas if connected wrong way around? Half wave and fitted to many old AC/DC TVs of the 50's, you didn't get a second chance. Interesting way of waking you up by TV especially before 3 pin plugs were standard and 2 pin 10amp types still common. Never was the warning "This side up" more necessary

[AC/HL]

Definitely not selenium and probably not germanium, but it's the photographs we want if we're to identify the model.

[DMcMahon]

Originally Posted by hillmanie

The thing is indeed a diode as you've all correctly identified but I can't see a maker's symbol on it eg Motorola or such, just the following marks
RT (S) T in that order, - S being the usual diode symbol showing polarity. These marks may be the code for the brand or it may of course be an anonymous Yellow Pack item from faraway East.

Re selenium- were those the type that burned out giving off rotten egg gas if connected wrong way around? Half wave and fitted to many old AC/DC TVs of the 50's, you didn't get a second chance. Interesting way of waking you up by TV especially before 3 pin plugs were standard and 2 pin 10amp types still common. Never was the warning "This side up" more necessary

Never experienced it myself but yes from many reports failed Selenium bridge rectifiers can stink strongly.

[Edward Huggins]

Regarding finding a "close match" circuit, most budget R2Rs of this period used an ECC83/ECL82(or ECL86) and EM84. However, the Sound "Studio" - Tape Recorders (Electronics) Limited - used an EF86 and ECL82 for record and the EF86, ECL82 triode section and an EL84 for playback. Plus the EM84 as well. That seems a fairly close match. Your unit seems to have an 8" x 5" speaker. Hopefully when fixed, this should sound above average for this class of unit.