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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 7th Jan 2021, 5:21 pm   #1
DMcMahon
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Default National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Just unpacked it, much more substantial than my first 8 track purchase the Wien 8TD3 Player.

Needs a clean but looks quite reasonable cosmetic condition, pretty heavy and feels sturdy. Came with 17 tapes (most grubby looking), many are blank tapes that have various music recordings (some of which may be interesting), several pre-recorded ones of little interest to me (Frank Sinatra, Mario Lanza, Ray Conniff, Gilbert & Sullivan etc). A couple of the pre-recorded ones are of interest, Yes and Peter Frampton.

I will just use the pre-recorded ones of little interest to record on, I assume there is no difference between a blank recording tape and a pre-recorded tape in terms of recording on ?

The Panasonic as well as being a recorder has more facilities than the Wien including some real basic hardware that the Wien did not have such as a mains fuse, mains on/off switch (with RC transorb across its contacts), 2 bridge rectifiers for the power supply as opposed to a single diode in the Wien, Phono and DIN inputs/outputs, microphone inputs, 4 stage transistor preamps (2 in the Wien) and DC motor control.

It has Eject, Fast Forward, volume controls (no speakers or power amps), stereo headphone socket, VU meters (cheap looking) and a switch position labelled Panaject ?

Supposed to be fully operational but I will as always do a internal visual inspection first before powering up.
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Old 8th Jan 2021, 12:38 am   #2
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

First thing to check - make sure the mains voltage selector is set correctly, if there is one.

Yes, you can record over pre-recorded tapes. Unlike cassettes, there is no snap-off record protect tab on an 8 track cartridge. To reduce the risk of accidentally over-recording a cartridge, you can usually only enter Record mode by pressing and holding the REC button while inserting a tape. If you load a tape without pressing Record first, it will only play and won't allow you to press the Record button after the tape has been loaded or during playback.

Before attempting recording, especially on a previously recorded tape, check the head alignment. If the head height is slightly wrong you will be able to hear another track playing quietly in the background, particularly noticeable in the silent space between two songs. You need to adjust the head to eliminate any crosstalk (hearing adjacent channels), otherwise the old recording won't erase fully. Then the only solution is to erase the whole tape using a bulk eraser / demagnetiser. Carry out the head height adjustment using an original prerecorded tape, not one of the machine's own recordings.

The Panaject - if I remember correctly - is a very useful feature. When enabled, it will auto-eject the cartridge at the end of the 4th program. This avoids accidentally over-writing the beginning of a tape when making a recording. It's also useful in playback. Insert a tape and set your machine to play program 4. When the end-of-tape splice is reached, it should eject at the splice, allowing you to inspect it and repair / replace it if necessary. Of course this is not infallible, depending on the condition of the splice and cartridge as a whole, it could fail without triggering the track change.
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Old 8th Jan 2021, 6:08 pm   #3
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Thankyou Hamid for all your useful inputs.

The first thing I did when I removed it from its packing box was check the mains voltage selection switch and it is set correctly to the 220-250V setting.

If working/working correctly the Panaject switch sounds very useful.

David
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Old 8th Jan 2021, 8:27 pm   #4
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Does it even have an erase head? I'm thinking you're likely to need a bulk eraser.
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Old 8th Jan 2021, 9:33 pm   #5
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Yes it has an erase head.

Dave
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Old 10th Jan 2021, 1:27 pm   #6
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Have got inside for an inspection. A lot more hardware than my simple Wien 8TD3, looks reasonably good condition.

PB/Record area needs a good clean, cannot easily see an erase head but is shown on schematic ?

Drive belt intact and looks good condition.
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Old 10th Jan 2021, 2:03 pm   #7
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Looks like three lots of screened twin going to the same head block, I reckon the erase will be one of those ?

Lawrence.

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Old 10th Jan 2021, 5:03 pm   #8
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Some machines have a combined record / play and erase head. You should be able to tell by the number of wires coming out the back.
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Old 10th Jan 2021, 5:09 pm   #9
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Quote:
Originally Posted by ms660 View Post
Looks like three lots of screened twin going to the same head block, I reckon the erase will be one of those ?

Lawrence.
http://www.marcelstvmuseum.com/Natio...rack%2008.html

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Old 10th Jan 2021, 6:46 pm   #10
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Yes a combined Play/Record/Erase head, was not expecting that.

David
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Old 10th Jan 2021, 7:00 pm   #11
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Replaced 2 core mains cable with 3 core and fitted new 3 pin plug.

Cleaned the head and associated area.

Powered up OK and it plays well, program selector works both manually and automatically. Fast forward works, Eject works (viscous), some of the Program Indicator lamps are intermittently not working or dim.

Headphones output work but not that loud, volume controls work. VU meters working on Playback but low levels displayed on pre-recorded tape.

Recording still to be looked at, both microphone and line DIN/Phono.

VU meter sponge supports need replacing.
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Old 11th Jan 2021, 10:34 pm   #12
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Program lamps (1,2 & 3) that previously were intermittently not working and/or dim stopped working all together.

Tests proved that all had blown/gone open circuit.

They are tiny wired lamps fitted into moulded white rubber holders. Have ordered some grain of wheat lamps as replacements.

Erase checked by selecting record with no input signal, erase works well.

Initially could not work out how to get the Record push button to hold in. With tape cartridge fitted, when the Record button is pressed in it would not latch in. With no tape cartridge fitted, the Record button will latch in when pressed but as soon as the cartridge is then inserted the Record button unlatches itself.

Could not find a User manual but found one for very similar model the RS-803US which explains that you have to press the Record button in at the same time as inserting the cartridge.

Recording still to be looked at.
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Old 12th Jan 2021, 6:49 pm   #13
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Replaced the decomposing sponge mounts for the VU meters.

Tested recording, all works well.
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Old 20th Jan 2021, 11:38 pm   #14
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Renewed the 3 blown program indicator lamps. New ones were smaller diameter so were loose in the rubber holders so used a bit of silicon sealant to hold them central.
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Old 5th Feb 2021, 6:51 pm   #15
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Been using it a lot for background music, working very well generally but it has just developed a new fault symptom.

On the left channel get a loud hum type noise (on top of the music) if the left volume control is set above around 60% max. Up to now it was working fine with both left and right volume controls at maximum, the right channel is still good at maximum.

Same symptom across numerous tape cartridges.

Same symptom on headphones connected to the 806 as well as line out to Hi-Fi amp.
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Old 6th Feb 2021, 4:19 pm   #16
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

I suggest a clean of the long silver switch on the main board. Sometimes the contacts can play up allowing feedback on one channel.
You could also check the left hand side capacitors as they can cause hum.
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Old 6th Feb 2021, 6:21 pm   #17
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Thank you. I have just looked at the noise signal on the scope. It is a large (much larger than the music signal) clean/stable sinewave of 6mS period so around 166Hz, amplitude increases with higher setting of the volume control. No sign of the noise signal with volume control below 60% max. Seems like it is breaking into oscillation, maybe feedback as you say.

Found that if cartridge ejected and put straight back in, that it takes around 30 seconds for the noise to return (with the volume control setting left at a bad setting), like a charging/capacitive effect maybe.

Operated the Record switch a couple of times and this has fixed the issue, so as you suggest will give the Play/Record switch a good clean.

David
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Old 7th Feb 2021, 4:42 pm   #18
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Have cleaned the Play/Record switch and for good measure the volume controls, working fine, will keep an eye on it.
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Old 7th Feb 2021, 9:09 pm   #19
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

Left it cycling playing music, an hour later found no music playing and loads of tape tightly wrapped around the capstan shaft and loose tape spewed out.

Extricated the tape cartridge by cutting the tape and opened up the cartridge. The tape is also broken at the sensor foil join and no sign of the pressure pad foam (apart from small quantity of foam dust), just the strip that the foam secures to. Prior to playing the tape I thought the pressure pad foam was reasonable looking.

First time I have played this tape for more than a few minutes.

Two lessons to be learned from this:-

1. Do not leave tape playing for long periods unattended, especially with untested tape.

2. Service old/untested tapes with new sensor foil and new pressure pad foam before trying them, as I am sure others have said before.
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Old 8th Feb 2021, 12:43 am   #20
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Default Re: National Panasonic RS-806US 8 Track Player/Recorder

That seems unlucky to me.

I have had a few carts fail at the splice and I was only playing them to get the tape to that point I order to refurb them. On mine, when they failed all that happened was the tape went in the cart and it was an easy fix.

In your case did some glue from the splice, or pad material make the capstan sticky thus catching the tape?

From what I have seen all foam pads are bad. They may look ok, but if you prod them they have all gone a bit funny. That applies to unplayed ones too.
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