Restoring a Fostex Model 80

[steviejingles]

So I finally got my hands on a head demagnetizer, and the sound coming out of the machine is pretty much exactly what's going in, which is great news!

But there's still the problem with Track 1. It's just not giving me any volume back. I mean, it's there somewhat, but just not nearly as loud as the other tracks.

Upon some serious testing today, here are some of my findings:

The volume on track 1 is very inconsistent. Within the same 5 minute span, the volume can go from about 1/2 of what was there on input to next to nothing. It's suffering from some serious dropouts, but it IS there, and pretty significantly sometimes. I also noticed that Track 8 also kind of fluctuates in volume on playback a little... Which got me thinking that maybe there's a little more at play here than simply a poor record/play head.

Then I noticed that the edge of the tape was rubbing against the takeup reel while playing, and that it was definitely not going to the centre of the reel. Could this mean that the tape is going off track somewhere along the tape path? Any ideas on how to remedy this?

Thanks so much for all the helpful feedback folks. It's very much appreciated, because there is no way than anyone would even considering looking at this machine where I'm from...

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Here's a picture of part of a never-before-played tape. You can tell which part I did play, and rewind, on this machine, as it seems really out of line with the rest of the tape. Maybe that's normal upon first playback....?


Here's a picture of the take-up reel. Notice how the tape is touching the reel in the bottom corner...

[Judas Jetski]

1/4" 8-track is a very narrow format. If the tape slitting is off by even a little bit, it'll make the outside tracks come and go... By the same token, anything you can do to make that reel pack more consistent will only help. I just ordered what I hope are new belts for mine. I'm going to give it one last shot at resurrection before I give up on it entirely. If it doesn't work, I'll have lots of parts available...

As for 'flawed format...' I'm not so sure. Sound quality isn't as good as .5" x 8, but with good noise reduction it's surprisingly close. 1/4" stock on 7" is very affordable and very storable. Best of all, I've found that Ampex/Quantegy 632/642 sounds about as good as anything else, and it's dirt-cheap.

However, proper noise reduction is everything. I can't possibly recommend dbx type I enough (in this context). OTOH, I utterly avoid the onboard Dolby C. As a trained theologian I've learned to avoid moral absolutes, but Dolby C is just wrong. It's the sound of angels being kicked in the crotch. The sound of kittens dying. The sound of hapless flowers wilting under a hot desert sun. The sound of... well, you get the idea.

[gravyface]

Reviving an old thread here but I have the same issue on tracks 1 and 8. Zero level right now, regardless of how hard I'm hitting it.

Service manual mentions record calibration (and gives an "R315" as where to adjust) but nowhere else in the manual do they actually identify where that is like they do other adjustment screws.

[Judas Jetski]

Nothing to add at the moment, but I'm very glad you revived this. The timing is perfect for me.

[gravyface]

Nothing to add at the moment, but I'm very glad you revived this. The timing is perfect for me.

Glad to be of service.

I'm working with 6 tracks at the moment as adjusting the Rec Level (finally found it) did nothing for track 1 so assuming there's some physical wear there. How can you tell by the way? Also, how on earth can a service technician pull of the acrobatics required to have an oscillator, level meter, input source, tape on with the cover off? All the adjustment screws on each card are on the bottom so I have no idea how you'd pull that off unless you built some custom stand that allowed adjustments to be made on the fly. Either that or remove tape, reel, hub, etc. between each adjustment, but that would drive me mad.

[steviejingles]

I didn't play around much with the BIAS levels on the bottom of the unit, but it did help out a little. Just turn the levels up, and you should have some luck.

The thing that helped me out the most with my Model 80 was putting some plastic on the reel hub before putting the reel on, so that the tape did not rub against the reel. I think this kept the tape aligned to the head a little better, which got those outside tracks at a more consistent level.