|
Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc. |
|
Thread Tools |
21st Dec 2017, 7:33 pm | #1 |
Pentode
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 193
|
New tape recorder Tandberg
Oh no, they're multiplying now I've got 4
This old, dog-eared Tandberg 12-41 came from a charity shop and I've listened to the tape and it used to belong to a amateur G4HMU, its got a recording of him putting a call out on 80m. It's diferent to the others I've got as it starts from a stop when u press play so I hear it speed up till it gets to the right speed, I think it's supposed to do that. It worked eventually after a tinker about with and sounds good. My guess is about 1966 it's the only one I've got with bass and treble. |
21st Dec 2017, 9:13 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex.
Posts: 5,817
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Tandberg were quite "high end" and expensive on the domestic market in the mid sixties. You could get better value, and more tape "mileage" it terms of a 4 track home grown machine for a lot less cash. My friend's dad had a brand new Radiogram, in the new Scandanavian style, that he let us use to play our Beatle records etc. It came from a rather posh Hi Fi Dealer who had fitted it with a matching Tandberg recorder. It was foreign and exotic by comparison but I was never wild about the joystick mechanism. The professional recorders [that I couldn't have afforded either] didn't have joysticks.
It was just a cost issue though really as the sound quality of those decks was generally very good. A nice find! Dave W |
21st Dec 2017, 10:13 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kington, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 3,675
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
The Tandberg was up there with Revox and Ferrograph in terms of straight-line performance. Tandberg were well aware of the starting wow, hence the instruction to use the pause control for starting and stopping once the joystick is engaged. Once the mechanism is up to speed, the wow and flutter performance is very good.
|
22nd Dec 2017, 1:26 pm | #4 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: North Herts. UK.
Posts: 549
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Here's an ad for what looks to be the same machine, from Hi-Fi News, June 1966.
|
22nd Dec 2017, 4:17 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kington, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 3,675
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Note that "totally transistorised" - well, it wasn't quite - Tandberg retained the EAM86s for their superior dynamic qualities until marketing forces squeezed them out. Pseudo-VUs arrived on the 12X, 15 and 3000/4000/6000 generation, around 1970.
|
22nd Dec 2017, 7:42 pm | #6 |
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Wembley, Middlesex
Posts: 7,225
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
How can a 'magic eye' have superior dynamic qualities?
|
22nd Dec 2017, 8:34 pm | #7 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 13,454
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Instantaneous (as good as) No meter ballistics, and a steep slope.
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/eam86.pdf http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/em84.pdf Lawrence. Last edited by ms660; 22nd Dec 2017 at 8:49 pm. |
22nd Dec 2017, 8:39 pm | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex.
Posts: 5,817
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
That model might have been a bit later than the one I mentioned then which would have been all valves-probaly 1964. I should have said that I do have one [later] Tandberg, a 3300X [it came to me a few years ago via an exchange deal with a repair guy in Bexhill]. I'm very happy with its performance in playing back archived tapes and the Joystick is very positive in operation!
Dave Last edited by dave walsh; 22nd Dec 2017 at 8:44 pm. |
22nd Dec 2017, 10:14 pm | #9 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
I suppose technically the EAM86s were just being used as CRT indicators, not valves in the main signal path ..... so the machine was fully-transistorised from the audio signal's point of view .....
__________________
If I have seen further than others, it is because I was standing on a pile of failed experiments. |
23rd Dec 2017, 12:45 pm | #10 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kington, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 3,675
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
My point was exactly that a magic eye is an excellent peak indicator - because there is no mass involved, you can define the characteristic as you wish - fast attack and slow decay, for instance, rather like a PPM. Undoubtedly it was an asset in exploiting the dynamic range of the available tapes, which is why Tandberg took the trouble to provide an HT supply in an otherwise fully semiconductor unit. Trouble was, by 1970 it was perceived as old-fashioned, so they fell into line with rest of the market in fitting nondescript meters. Peak LEDs were some way off at this time - the Revox A700 had peak lights in 1974, and some cassette machines at around the same time, but it still wasn't as elegant a tool as the magic eye...
Last edited by Ted Kendall; 23rd Dec 2017 at 12:53 pm. |
23rd Dec 2017, 1:25 pm | #11 |
Pentode
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 193
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
|
23rd Dec 2017, 1:34 pm | #12 |
Pentode
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 193
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
I had it down as a valve deck when I saw the magic eyes and was surprised when I saw transistors
|
24th Dec 2017, 11:40 am | #13 | |
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Wembley, Middlesex
Posts: 7,225
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Quote:
|
|
24th Dec 2017, 11:52 am | #14 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kington, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 3,675
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Quote:
The corresponding mono units were the 8 and 9 - the 9 having three speeds and a better all-round spec than the 8, which was a two-speed lower-cost model. |
|
25th Dec 2017, 11:51 pm | #15 | |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lund, Sweden
Posts: 1,632
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Quote:
When they were new I think they started fairly quickly, but as the idler hardens with age the reduced friction cause them to speed up slower. But yes, it's true, the flywheel is stopped in stop mode, and is only driven in play. As for the HT supply for the indicator valves, I think they actually use the same 165V winding on the transformer as is used for the motor, so it's only the rectifier bridge and smoothing capacitors which are needed for the valve supply. The 12 is my favorite Tandberg model. It strikes a good balance between the old and new generations of machines. This particular model is plagued with record/playback switch problems however, which lead to scratchy and noisy contacts, a problem which I believe is due to DC being passed by the contacts, with the consequent electrolysis causing oxide buildup. They rectified this after serial number 2209550 by a slight circuit redesign, after which the switches cause very little problems. |
|
26th Dec 2017, 2:17 pm | #16 |
Pentode
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 193
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
I thought the tone controls were strange, and yes the 2 3 way switches at the front are very scratchy and nasty, something I hope Servisol will cure.
|
26th Dec 2017, 3:17 pm | #17 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex.
Posts: 5,817
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Based on Ted's info [post 14] the RG must have been fitted with a series 6.
I think the sophistication of the three heads had been emphasised and the Tandberg WAS built in, ie separate but not easily removed from the cabinet. I'm sure it played back and recorded through the Gram which was STEREO. We tried it out using Beatles For Sale and the 1812 Overture [his Dad's favourite] nearly blowing out the French windows in the process. He was a University Lecturer and could afford the experience. Seasonally, this was XMAS as well, probaly 1963 or 4! Later, I recall this generous chap coming to look at my Eddystone 358x which was a bit deaf. He by-passed the RF coils with the aerial lead attached to the V1 grid and things burst into life. Happy days! Dave |
26th Dec 2017, 9:32 pm | #18 | |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lund, Sweden
Posts: 1,632
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
Quote:
It's a bit finicky but not undoable. I'm not sure how long the treatment will last though. |
|
27th Dec 2017, 9:16 am | #19 |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Birmingham, West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 618
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
I cleaned switches up this way too. Stripping was the only way but once done it has lasted 5 years so far with no problems
|
27th Dec 2017, 8:49 pm | #20 |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lund, Sweden
Posts: 1,632
|
Re: New tape recorder Tandberg
That sounds reassuring. I've had a couple of model 12's over the years, but the only one I've got now is one of the late serial number versions which has never required cleaning, so I've never known how long the earlier versions last after refurbishment.
|