Ampex ATR-102-----And, "How to align your analog tape machine"

This is valuable info, Steve! I knew you had to align the tones, but I didn't know it was that involved!

Now, i'm looking to the day *I* can get one. Yeah! In the future! Well, I actually had a dream yesterday that my niece sold me two decks (no kidding!) that had a selector for a special tape type called "Renaissance" that never took off. I'm not kidding! Then I was going to call Bob Lovely to find out what tape he recommended I use. Then I woke up feeling crappy and had to get to work.

I should be doing this stuff if i'm dreaming about it..

 

Still kicking myself--our electronics class in high school gave away tubed scopes when they switched to transistorized units. I should have grabbed one.

I still want to get a dual-channel scope, though, and a frequency generator. Would like to do some troubleshooting on a few pieces I have. I may have to start watching eBay.

 

I know we're talking about a pro deck here, but I found that musical content with lots of high-frequebcy transients works for me better than pink noise when finding the sweet spot.

 

I wish I had had those kind of priorities NOW!

 

Some type of contant level sound works best where as music has normally highly variable levels as compared to pink noise or a tone. Difficult to hit a moving target...

Bob

 

Yes. I find that certain disco songs with a steady, syncopotated drum pattern with hi-hat works well. "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes was always a good one. I used to keep a good cassette dub of it handy just for that purpose. Whenever I bought a new deck, or had one right where I wanted it, I would immediately dub the song from CD onto a high-bias tape at -20, five minutes into the tape. Then, to adjust the alignment of my three-head deck, I would tweak the playback head in mono.

It was the best I could do without test gear.

 

I hear what you are saying. I suppose one could try 'Surfin Bird" by the Trashman whereby you could adjust the peaks to simply "sit" at a pre-set level. One thing: What happens if the recording that you are using was mastered "out-of-phase"?

Bob

 

I used "The Love I Lost" from Rhino's "Billboard Top R&B: 1973" CD because it was mastered very well. The song itself is crisp and clean, and in phase. Inglot/Perry were very careful.

I was always careful to ensure that things were in phase. I used to be meticulous about my cassette recordings.

 

Sound restoration man about town Art Shifrin noted in an email to me that the critter being discussed does have a capstan; it doesn't have pinch rollers...

From Art: "It's true: they're not usefull for tapes with physical problems: superb for physically flawless tapes. If you have tapes with physical regularities, then they should indeed be played on machines with pinch rollers. There were many manufacturing variations involving heads and electronics. The early units didn't even have differently keyed boardfs: you could insert an audio board into an MDA slot & then watch much of the machine fry! Also, the early ferrite heads were notortiously unstable. A trick to getting better sound quality out of any unmodified ATR is to bypass the I/O module."

If you wanna learn more about my pal Art,click the link: http://www.shifrin.net/

 

Very true. The early black ferite heads are terrible, they crack at the gap. Mine does not have these heads, mine has the good Ampex replacement heads. Mine is a later unit, so it dosent have any of the electronics problems described above. There were a lot of quality control issues with this machine. It was Ampex's first product to be assembeled outside the US. When you get this deck working, it is amazing, and it is reliable, but to make sure it stays this way, it really needs to be upgraded and restored by someone like Mike Spitz at ATR Services (www.atrservice.com)

 

Joe - take a look a the link to Art's site - I think you'll really enjoy it...

 

Thanks! It is a really neat site!

 

I am picking up my machine tomorrow!!! I am so excited!!! I was supposed to pick it up last week, but the seller had other plans. I will post again once I receive the unit.

 

Joe,

Let us know...

Bob

 

I got it today!!! It is in great condition! and it works great, I absolutely love it! I am going to have some minor card work done by ATR Services, just to bring the audio specs up to spec. The heads look good, so I don't have to worry about those for a while. This is really a great machine!

 

Seriously Joe: Enjoy your new machine and good luck in college next year.
I have one question tough: What's the deal with the green rotary telephones?
Just wondering...

Best-
Norm

 

I am going through a nostalgia thing! I love them!, the ring is wonderful! It adds to my vintage decor

 

Good news! I was able to resolve all of the audio problems I was having, by simply cleaning all of the contacts on the cards, and headblock. I also completely disassembled the machine and cleaned it (luckily I got it all back together ) The two volume Ampex manual is very, very complete. The cleaning resolved the tension problems. The machine now works even better than when I got it. The unit only had light use over the years, its previous home was in a small TV station, where it was used lightly for voice overs. After I get the cards refurbished, and four speed padnets, this machine will be really awesome! Being able to switch between any one of four speeds will be nice!

 

I wuz just wondering. That's what happens when your post your eBay handle on your profile
We spy on your auctions !

Enjoy your new machine and use it in good health.
It's good to hear about someone who has a passion and the nerve to try and make it their livelihood. I wish you the best.

Peace-
Norm