The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » More Ancient Tech

Fitz · May 21, 2018 6:36 pm

ok so I did not have a working eight track player and saw this unit at a garage sale today and got it for six bucks. The eight track works fine but surprising for a cheepo unit is the AM radio reception. I am pulling in the Buffalo stations like WECK and WXRL ( just listened to a bit of night time polkas or something like that) that I usually do not get outside of the car. All with just the built in antenna. Nothing to listen to on the radio these days but the eight track may come in handy. Did not hook up a turntable to test the scratch and rumble buttons.

Saul · May 22, 2018 10:12 am

How about KMOX, WWL, WBZ. Betcha ...

Fitz · May 22, 2018 1:22 pm

Saul wrote:
How about KMOX, WWL, WBZ. Betcha ...

Have not tried the tuner with the night time pattern yet but no doubt that those signals will come in but in terms of tuning ability with the night pattern almost any radio can bring in most of the regulars.

I remember listening to KMOX for St Louis Blues Hockey with Dan Kelly and Gug Kyle . In the days before the internet and all sports TV and radio AM was one way of real time updates. WBBM had the Chicago Black Hawks. There is so much available now that was not there before.

Mainstream music radio however is a wasteland because "today's best mix" is the same in Toronto and Chicago and anywhere. Gone are the days of regional hits and variations for the most part and so it does not matter that you can tune into into Bangor, Maine anytime Having said that, there is interesting stuff to listen to on the net but it's off the beaten path.

Fitz · May 24, 2018 8:26 am

Have continued testing out this receiver and yesterday morning I was able to get the NPR affiliate from Rochester WXXI AM and also Alternative Buffalo 107.7 FM. I hooked up an amplified FM antennae and got a steady but weak stereo signal. Not sure if atmospherics had any thing to do with it but I don't recall getting that signal at home since CKDO obliterated it several years ago. 107.7 is a signal I recall most fondly as WUWU FM was on it in the eighties. Have not tried it on my best receiver which is a Marantz and it's in the basement.

Now I will say that in this day and age I am not sure why anyone would want to tolerate weak signals on terrestrial FM if the stream is on the internet. Two things may warrant that. One some signals are not streamed and secondly the MP3 sound quality and streaming things through the phone in the car. Stations such as Jazz FM and and Classical FM have a nice signal and sound much better than most streamed services on the actual FM band.

Am hoping to find some old air checks on eight track. Here's a picture of the back panel of the receiver and it has an interesting MIC and Guitar input which I guess was designed to be able to play and sing along to whatever source was being used.

Jody Thornton · May 24, 2018 8:43 am

@Fitz:

Is that a Sony 7" open-reel deck above the system?

Saul · May 24, 2018 10:15 am

FITZ WROTE: "Have continued testing out this receiver and yesterday morning I was able to get the NPR affiliate from Rochester WXXI AM and also Alternative Buffalo 107.7 FM."

Want to put that sucker to the test? Take it to the top of the Scarborough Bluffs. and point your antenna away from the CN Tower by 45 degrees.

Last edited by Saul (May 24, 2018 10:16 am)

Fitz · May 24, 2018 6:03 pm

Saul wrote:
FITZ WROTE: "Have continued testing out this receiver and yesterday morning I was able to get the NPR affiliate from Rochester WXXI AM and also Alternative Buffalo 107.7 FM."

Want to put that sucker to the test? Take it to the top of the Scarborough Bluffs. and point your antenna away from the CN Tower by 45 degrees.

Grew up very close to that location and it had a great radio reception.

Fitz · May 24, 2018 6:13 pm

Jody Thornton wrote:
@Fitz:

Is that a Sony 7" open-reel deck above the system?

It is an open reel but not a Sony. Has a rather unusual system to change speeds called a "Capstan.sleeve" which is inserted by a screw type mechanism over the capstan to go from slow to faster speed. A workhorse Akai.

I have a Sony R2R and it has a unique design, comes down on an angle instead of straight. Works very well and was another find out in the wild as opposed to something like Ebay. Did pay more than $ 6.00 but nothing to break the bank and the machine has come in handy for the web site:

Last edited by Fitz (May 24, 2018 6:14 pm)

Saul · May 24, 2018 6:19 pm

Grew up close to downtown, but discovered the many assets of the spot. I've had FM out to the east coast from up there ... band is much more crowded now. Loaded with repeaters in NY State so deep and with Toronto and NY State IBOC, those days are probably down memory lane. I'm guessing the WXXI repeat was on 88.5? If so you managed to evade the Newmarket station quite deftly. This time of year right through summer the Rochester signals really do pound in up there. It's amazing how WBEE Rochester can sometimes clobber Toronto on 92.5.

Jody Thornton · May 24, 2018 8:51 pm

Fitz wrote:
I have a Sony R2R and it has a unique design, comes down on an angle instead of straight. Works very well and was another find out in the wild as opposed to something like Ebay. Did pay more than $ 6.00 but nothing to break the bank and the machine has come in handy for the web site:

Holy Crap! I inherited the same deck from my brother in law back in 1986. I kid you not. Mine was a quarter-track three-speed machine with 7.5, 3 3/4, and 1 7/8 IPS. You had to hold the twin record levers, and crank the transport knob to the right to record. I just unloaded it back in 2013 before I moved from Stoney Creek to York Region.

Last edited by Jody Thornton (May 24, 2018 8:52 pm)

Fitz · May 24, 2018 10:05 pm

Jody Thornton wrote:
Fitz wrote:
I have a Sony R2R and it has a unique design, comes down on an angle instead of straight. Works very well and was another find out in the wild as opposed to something like Ebay. Did pay more than $ 6.00 but nothing to break the bank and the machine has come in handy for the web site:
Holy Crap! I inherited the same deck from my brother in law back in 1986. I kid you not. Mine was a quarter-track three-speed machine with 7.5, 3 3/4, and 1 7/8 IPS. You had to hold the twin record levers, and crank the transport knob to the right to record. I just unloaded it back in 2013 before I moved from Stoney Creek to York Region.

Yup that's the very same machine and I used it recently for a WWWW FM ( W4) upload on the site. There was a channel disparity on the original tape and so I played it on the Sony and recorded that on another unit while boosting the volume on one channel. The player still sounds great for something that may be 45 years old.

Jody Thornton · May 25, 2018 6:33 am

Fitz wrote:
Yup that's the very same machine and I used it recently for a WWWW FM ( W4) upload on the site. There was a channel disparity on the original tape and so I played it on the Sony and recorded that on another unit while boosting the volume on one channel. The player still sounds great for something that may be 45 years old.

Wait just a minute. I also had a Realistic metal reel. Does the black covering that goes over top of the heads have a crack on , say, the bottom-right side? I know there were two metal poles that the head protector slid into. I recall mine having a crack there.

Fitz · May 25, 2018 6:59 am

Chuck99 wrote:
I am assuming you live in the GTA. If so, being able to receive WECK 1230 is impressive since it only broadcasts with a power of 1000 watts. I doubt you will receive it at night because even on a car radio, it can barely be heard north of Fort Erie due to pattern changes. Being able to receive it on 100.5 would be even more impressive because the power from the Grand Island transmitter is just 230 watts.

I live in Pickering and was surprised to be able to get WECK inside the house. Have heard it in the car. Some of it could be atmospherics at this time of the year on FM but I am impressed with the AM/FM receiver. Tempted to try a better antenna than the amplified one as those do have their problems but due to internet radio streaming not sure if that is really necessary. Main goal for the unit is to find air checks recorded on eight tracks. Definitely a failed format with the endless loop and inability to fast fwd etc but air checks is air checks.

Fitz · May 25, 2018 7:06 am

Jody Thornton wrote:
Fitz wrote:
Yup that's the very same machine and I used it recently for a WWWW FM ( W4) upload on the site. There was a channel disparity on the original tape and so I played it on the Sony and recorded that on another unit while boosting the volume on one channel. The player still sounds great for something that may be 45 years old.

Wait just a minute. I also had a Realistic metal reel. Does the black covering that goes over top of the heads have a crack on , say, the bottom-right side? I know there were two metal poles that the head protector slid into. I recall mine having a crack there.

The head cover does not have a crack but I have always felt that it does not fit snugly as it should and I think I got the realistic metal reel from the same guy as this recorder. He used to live in the Beaches.

Jody Thornton · May 25, 2018 7:45 am

Fitz wrote:
The head cover does not have a crack but I have always felt that it does not fit snugly as it should and I think I got the realistic metal reel from the same guy as this recorder. He used to live in the Beaches.

.... and how long ago did you buy it from him? I'm starting to wonder if this might be my old machine.

Plate Voltage · May 25, 2018 1:55 pm

Jody Thornton wrote:
@Fitz:
It is an open reel but not a Sony. Has a rather unusual system to change speeds called a "Capstan.sleeve" which is inserted by a screw type mechanism over the capstan to go from slow to faster speed. A workhorse Akai.

It looks like an Akai 4000DS or similar machine. It's tough finding the capstan sleeve that you have to screw on to raise the speed from 3.75 to 7.5 IPS. A lot of them out there seem to be missing them now.

Fitz · May 25, 2018 9:17 pm

@Plate Voltage
Yes it is an AKAI 4000 DS and I have the sleeve. The biggest prob I had with the machine had to do with power, Someone had cut the power cord and re-attached a very short one and the machine did irreparable damage to a few really good tapes after being fine for a few years. I was able to figure out the issue but at the cost of some audio distortion on those tapes.

@Jody
You never know could be the same player as I always thought the problem with the head cover was on the right side ( top not bottom). I got the machine just a few months ago and judging by the few tapes the guy had it seems he may have had it only for a few years.Reading about the machine though it seems that it was a very common model with lots of units sold and as I said before it works really well even after all these years.

Last edited by Fitz (May 25, 2018 11:32 pm)

splunge · May 25, 2018 10:02 pm

fwiw my 1984 technics dual cassette drive finally pooched last year. fantastic machine. the only dual deck i could ever find that allowed one tape to record both line in and the second deck simultaneously. i could pre mix beds before taking up studio time... and oh the mix tapes i made for girlfriends past....

in some ways it beat razor blades and splicing tape!