Old Sony 250 tape recorder meets my TV

[W. eWatson]

My tape recorder is probably 30-40 years old. It plays 4-track tapes.
Twenty or so years ago, I had it tuned up. I recently stumbled onto it
in a closet and realized that I have some old tapes that I recorded
family moments on, and it might be wise to convert them to digital.

I set it up a few weeks ago with a PA amp with speakers I have, and
found that it more or less worked on a commercially produced tape, 7"
reel. It was a bit slow, but I could tell music was there. Aside from
that, when I stop the recorder it makes something of a grunt.

I did open the top and examine matters, but have no service guide to
attempt some sort of repair.

Since the PA amp and speakers are hard to put up for further
exploration, I thought I'd taking the audio from the recorder to a video
port on a TV set. I couldn't get any sound at all. Am I missing
something? Comments?

What I'm really trying to do is determine whether there is any recording
on the family tapes I have.

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:22:51 -0800, "W. eWatson"
<wolftracks@invalid.com> wrote:

My tape recorder is probably 30-40 years old. It plays 4-track tapes.
Twenty or so years ago, I had it tuned up. I recently stumbled onto it
in a closet and realized that I have some old tapes that I recorded
family moments on, and it might be wise to convert them to digital.

I set it up a few weeks ago with a PA amp with speakers I have, and
found that it more or less worked on a commercially produced tape, 7"
reel. It was a bit slow, but I could tell music was there. Aside from
that, when I stop the recorder it makes something of a grunt.

I did open the top and examine matters, but have no service guide to
attempt some sort of repair.

Since the PA amp and speakers are hard to put up for further
exploration, I thought I'd taking the audio from the recorder to a video
port on a TV set. I couldn't get any sound at all. Am I missing
something? Comments?

What I'm really trying to do is determine whether there is any recording
on the family tapes I have.

Use _extreme_ caution. I've found that old audio tapes have a
tendency to stick together, and also are often stiff.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[W. eWatson]

On 2/4/2013 5:34 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:22:51 -0800, "W. eWatson"
wolftracks@invalid.com> wrote:

My tape recorder is probably 30-40 years old. It plays 4-track tapes.
Twenty or so years ago, I had it tuned up. I recently stumbled onto it
in a closet and realized that I have some old tapes that I recorded
family moments on, and it might be wise to convert them to digital.

I set it up a few weeks ago with a PA amp with speakers I have, and
found that it more or less worked on a commercially produced tape, 7"
reel. It was a bit slow, but I could tell music was there. Aside from
that, when I stop the recorder it makes something of a grunt.

I did open the top and examine matters, but have no service guide to
attempt some sort of repair.

Since the PA amp and speakers are hard to put up for further
exploration, I thought I'd taking the audio from the recorder to a video
port on a TV set. I couldn't get any sound at all. Am I missing
something? Comments?

What I'm really trying to do is determine whether there is any recording
on the family tapes I have.

Use _extreme_ caution. I've found that old audio tapes have a
tendency to stick together, and also are often stiff.

...Jim Thompson

Mine look as fresh as when I first played them.

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:22:51 -0800, "W. eWatson"
<wolftracks@invalid.com> wrote:

My tape recorder is probably 30-40 years old. It plays 4-track tapes.
Twenty or so years ago, I had it tuned up. I recently stumbled onto it
in a closet and realized that I have some old tapes that I recorded
family moments on, and it might be wise to convert them to digital.

I set it up a few weeks ago with a PA amp with speakers I have, and
found that it more or less worked on a commercially produced tape, 7"
reel. It was a bit slow, but I could tell music was there. Aside from
that, when I stop the recorder it makes something of a grunt.

I did open the top and examine matters, but have no service guide to
attempt some sort of repair.

Since the PA amp and speakers are hard to put up for further
exploration, I thought I'd taking the audio from the recorder to a video
port on a TV set. I couldn't get any sound at all. Am I missing
something? Comments?

---
Video???

--
JF

 

[W. eWatson]

On 2/5/2013 2:08 AM, John Fields wrote:

On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:22:51 -0800, "W. eWatson"
wolftracks@invalid.com> wrote:

My tape recorder is probably 30-40 years old. It plays 4-track tapes.
Twenty or so years ago, I had it tuned up. I recently stumbled onto it
in a closet and realized that I have some old tapes that I recorded
family moments on, and it might be wise to convert them to digital.

I set it up a few weeks ago with a PA amp with speakers I have, and
found that it more or less worked on a commercially produced tape, 7"
reel. It was a bit slow, but I could tell music was there. Aside from
that, when I stop the recorder it makes something of a grunt.

I did open the top and examine matters, but have no service guide to
attempt some sort of repair.

Since the PA amp and speakers are hard to put up for further
exploration, I thought I'd taking the audio from the recorder to a video
port on a TV set. I couldn't get any sound at all. Am I missing
something? Comments?

---
Video???

Solved. I was plugging the audio into the wrong ports on the TV. The

black raised letters around the plugs made it hard to tell what each one
was. That plus the darkness in the area around the TV.

There is static when I play any of the tapes. I'm not sure if that's
coming from the player or the tapes. I don't have any clean tapes.

It would be good to have a service manual.

 

On Monday, February 4, 2013 5:34:47 PM UTC-8, Jim Thompson wrote:
<snip>

Use _extreme_ caution. I've found that old audio tapes have a

tendency to stick together, and also are often stiff.

...Jim Thompson
snip

You might want to check this out if you have old tapes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_baking#Baking

I work in video and old 2" tapes almost always require baking to get them to play. At my current and former employers we use a food dehydrator from 125 to 135°F for 8-12 hours for 2" and less time for thinner tapes. This is particularly useful for tapes 20-40 years old. With the hundreds of tapes I've seen get baked, nearly all were repaired and not one was made worse than it was.

G˛