Tascam TSR8 - Won't record?

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Tascam TSR8 - Won't record?

Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:05 am

Hi all,

Working on a TSR8 that I inherited from my father. He used it to do voice-overs in his home studio in the 90's. I have several reels of 1/2" which play fine, his and mine, but when I try to record on it, I get nothing.
Signal shows on the meters as expected, record arm lights work on the channels and the red light on the record button comes on, but when I play back, the tape is still blank. This same tape, BTW, has some stuff recorded earlier which plays back.
Any ideas what to look at here? The machine overall seems to be in good shape.

It does have a couple of other weird things though, that I'll ask about if I can solve the record mystery.

Thanks,

Sean
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Post by Gregg Juke » Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:23 am

What other weird things? (Might help figuring-out the record/playback mystery).

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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:33 am

Gregg Juke wrote:What other weird things? (Might help figuring-out the record/playback mystery).

GJ
Well, I didn't want to confuse the main problem, but:

- Counter is counting backward. I.e., if I reset zero and hit play, it starts counting with a "-" in front of the number, and if I hit RTZ, it then fast forwards instead, trying to get into positive territory, which never happens.

- Stop or Play do nothing while the tape is FFWD or RWDing. If I'm doing either, I have to hit the opposite fast button, and wait till the tape starts to slow, and then Stop and Play work. This happens with the front panel buttons, and with the RC-408 plugged in.
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Post by kslight » Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:42 am

The first problem might just be not routing the signal/arming the track correctly, I would check against the manual make sure you are following the steps exactly.


The follow up problems are probably how the tension and speeds are set, there are several trimmers that you can adjust to dial it all in and make it work like it's supposed to. I have also seen problems like this caused by old/bad tape, but I'd start with the adjustments if the tape isn't obviously shedding.


I don't have specific experience with this model but similar ones, you'll want to find the service manual to get specifics on the adjustments I mentioned but it's pretty straightforward and requires little in the way of tools, just fiddling the trimmers until everything works (they are all inter related so adjusting one may throw another one out, etc).

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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:42 am

BTW, I have no idea how many hours are on the machine or how to tell. My guess is not a lot, because this machine was a late addition to his studio, and was a backup machine. I myself had only used it for about 2 hours of playback since I got it, and it's mostly sat.
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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:57 am

kslight wrote:The first problem might just be not routing the signal/arming the track correctly, I would check against the manual make sure you are following the steps exactly.
Thanks. I'll double check. I have done a ton of recording on my old 38, but not this machine. Should be as simple as plug source in the back, arm track, hit record/play, right? The signal does show on the meters, and the arming lights flash, then go solid.
Last edited by bloodspoint on Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:02 am

Don't have a manual for this, but the only input related switch I see is the auto input button. I've tried with that in, and out.
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:19 am

I know this might be a silly question but are you sure the tape is threaded correctly? I have an MSR16S that has similar issues with the counter if the tape isn't properly wound over the counter wheel/tape guide. That's the big, rubber covered wheel just to the left of the heads.

Image

The tape path should go under the left tension arm, over the counter wheel, past the heads (obviously), through between the capstan and pinch roller, over the tape guide and under the right tension arm.
Every now and again I'll miss something if I'm threading tape in a hurry. It's such a simple, stupid mistake that usually takes me a half hour to chase it down.

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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:08 am

A.David.MacKinnon wrote:I know this might be a silly question but are you sure the tape is threaded correctly?

The tape path should go under the left tension arm, over the counter wheel, past the heads (obviously), through between the capstan and pinch roller, over the tape guide and under the right tension arm.
Every now and again I'll miss something if I'm threading tape in a hurry. It's such a simple, stupid mistake that usually takes me a half hour to chase it down.
Holy shiite, do I feel teh stoopid. I was going under that first roller after the left tension arm. Correcting that has fixed the two extra mystery complaints - the stop and play not responding and the counter going backward. That should have been my clue...

However, having corrected that, I still am not recording audio. the machine is rack mounted with a patch bay to the rear panel connections. I guess I'd better pull that heavy ass SOB and take a look. I was assuming that if I saw signal on the meters, I should be printing audio, but look where assuming has gotten me so far...
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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:41 am

Okay, so, I pulled it out of the rack. I've only got 16 jacks in the back for audio. 8 input on the top, and 8 output on the bottom. Here's what I just tried. If you see what I'm doing wrong, please let me know.

- I pulled the entire input harness out, and routed audio from an iPod into input 1-2.
- All switches off on the front. Auto input and All input off. I don't know if those actually control the flow of audio, or just the meter display, but when I play back a previously recorded tape, the meters go.
- Record armed tracks 1-2. Little lights flashing.
- Pressed play on the iPad. Meters on the front jumping.
- Pressed Record and Play on the machine. Little red lights below the meters went solid, meters still jumping. Tape rolling.
- Pressed stop. RTZed to where I started.
- Pressed Play.
- Nothing on the meters.
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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 12:26 pm

I did find the manual!

It is surprisingly light on detail.
All is says is to put some signal into the back, arms some tracks, hit record and play, and sit back and enjoy your recorded audio.

Only thing I noticed messing around with front panel buttons is that if I have "All Input" lit, the prerecorded tracks don't make any noise, but none of those front buttons gets me recorded signal.
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Post by kslight » Mon Nov 16, 2015 1:26 pm

I would think to record you would need either all inputs or auto inputs enabled, and to hear your playback disable it...worth a shot?


Also, I found this thread with similar symptoms and the user fixed the problem with a new reel of tape. Don't know if you have any other tape to try..


http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=17163

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Post by bloodspoint » Mon Nov 16, 2015 1:48 pm

kslight wrote:I would think to record you would need either all inputs or auto inputs enabled, and to hear your playback disable it...worth a shot?


Also, I found this thread with similar symptoms and the user fixed the problem with a new reel of tape. Don't know if you have any other tape to try..


http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=17163
Thanks, I tried the auto input thing, and another (not new, but I don't have new) reel. Same results. It's almost like someone flipped a "safe" switch or something, but there is none that I can find.

I appreciate all the suggestions. I did at least figure out that I had the tape threaded wrong.
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Post by wkrbee » Tue Mar 22, 2016 5:47 pm

Verify that the tape is touching the heads and the tape lifters are retracting in play.
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Mar 22, 2016 6:23 pm

wkrbee wrote:Verify that the tape is touching the heads and the tape lifters are retracting in play.
^^^^^This. And one more thing. if this machine is like my MSR16S there is a plastic, spring loaded head guard that comes out of the body of the machine below the record head. If you push in on it it will recess into the body of the machine and stay there. Push on it again and it will spring out to cover the head (does that make sense?). If the guard is out and you're threading the tape over it you'll get no recorded sound.

Again, a totally stupid mistake to make but at 45 I've made just about all the stupid mistakes there are to make.

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