OUCH! I-70 Closed Until October, Son Gets Detoured.....

 He was going to come on the Southern Route, taking I-40 through AZ and NM. Well....he changed his mind, and was planning on taking I-70 through CO to get here.

As the headline says, I-70 is closed due to mudslides and other weather-related issues. Google Maps is telling him to take the 13 North out of Rifle up to the 40, and then come across and down to Denver, and then up to here on the I-25.

At least he can stop at Shooters for lunch....

My Son Has Started His CALEXIT

 So SLW and I have been cleaning things up and getting ready. 

His trailer is loaded, and he'll be "Leaving L.A." momentarily. He's taking the Southern Route, as he got a bit nervous when I was blasting through the mountains with him, trailer in tow at 75MPH, when he came out here with me back when SLW and I moved here.

Hard to believe we've been here close to four years now.

I told to make sure he stops on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, and I'll tell him to send up a flare as he goes through Flagstaff. Maybe LL or some others will see it.

Didn't get back on the TEAC, as I had several more pressing things to do, like sweeping, mopping, picking things up, some more PT, and a list of new exercises for my left shoulder.

Gettin' old sucks!

We'll keep you posted.

Via Con Dios, my son....

Possible Explanation of "Too Fast" Recordings.

 OK, so after pouring over the Service Manual for the TEAC, I see no mention of any "Speed Adjust", which makes sense as all three of the motors are AC motors, meaning they're pretty much "locked" to the frequency of the incoming AC power.

Everything turns freely, and recordings I made using the Pioneer on FM for a source sound great. The recordings I made at 3-3/4ips sound good, while the ones made at 7-1/2ips sound even better.

I'm shopping now for a "Test Tape", aka "Calibration Tape", which will confirm that the recorder is running at the correct speed. Until that gets here, I'm going to run 10 seconds of tape, and measure the length. Should be pretty close to 45" of tape at 3-3/4ips, and 90" of tape at 7-1/2ips. I know this isn't "exact", but it'll be a pretty good ballpark guesstimate, and will have to do until I can get a real test tape.

BUT.....what could have caused the deck to run slower than "normal" when these old recordings were made?

The only explanation I have is that the AC power at U-Tapao where these tapes were made was 50Hz power, and not 60Hz power. 220V/50Hz could be stepped-down to 110V/50Hz, making the Voltage OK, but not the frequency. Since I know little to nothing about the base infrastructure back then, or where they got their AC power from, this is a "First Order SWAG", and I might be 100% wrong.

Anybody know anything about the AC power used in SEA back then? I'm pretty sure if the were running on US generators they'd have 220/110 60Hz, but what if the "Host Country" supplied the power? The wikkipedia entry indicates that Thailand currently (no pun) uses 50Hz power, so I may have found the "problem" with the tapes running fast.

"First Light" with TEAC A-4010SU

 And the verdict is.....It's running too fast. I'll have to go into the Service Manual and see how to check and adjust the speed. I tried several of the recorded tapes "The Colonel" gave me, including the Bob Hope tape after I was sure the deck wouldn't eat it, and they sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks. I recorded some songs from a local FM station using  the Pioneer receiver at both 3-3/4ips and 7-1/2ips, and they play back great, so some components or adjustments have shifted between when the tapes were made on this deck and now.

You can tell it's Bob Hope talking, but the tape is sped up to the point that it's not really listenable.

I looked up some of the artists whose names are listed on the tapes, and they're mostly from the 1930's and 40's, swing, and big-band stuff. And a couple of the artists had notes on their bios that all their master recordings  were destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios Fire. I don't think these tapes are "valuable", but I'll ask around on some of the vintage tape forums.

So the radio and speakers work fine, and I can play records on the turntable without crazy feedback, and if I make my own recordings, I can play them back fine, but to me, the deck still has a problem.

Hmmmm....Another Training Flight?

 Saw this guy orbiting around today.

The tail number indicates it's an RC-135 "Rivet Joint" aircraft.

Getting in some practice, I guess.....

Big Rain!

 The barometer went way up, and the temp dropped about 25*, and it's pouring here. NWS has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Alert, and Flash Flood Warnings. Per the NWS weather radio, over 1-1/2" of rain have fallen, and up to two inches more could happen.

The dark red areas are the burn areas from last summer, and the yellow area is the storm warning area.

The weather map was updating when I did the screenshot, so there's a bit of missing data to the West.

Here's one a few minutes later.

As "usual" (or so I've been told....) out here, the worst of it is mostly East of I-25, and there were reports of "Quarter-Sized" hail from up around Wellington.

Yeah, slow "news day" here. Had to completely strip the rack the stereo is going to reside in as it was blocking the outlet I want to use, and I wasn't going to move it with that much weight on it. A side result is I'm also going to anchor the rack to the wall. Even with the heaviest items on the bottom, I don't want to find myself needing a hand-hold to get up off the floor, and accidentally grabbing the rack. A couple of hundred pounds of vintage equipment landing on me would not be pleasant.

TEAC A-4010SU Wrap-Up

 All clean and shiny again!

I cleaned the wood case today, and applied/rubbed in a generous amount of "Old English Dark Wood Scratch Cover", and let it soak in while I replaced the tape counter drive belt, cleaned the level controls on the record electronics, and did a few other things..

After it had soaked in for a couple of hours, I buffed it with a microfiber towel. It had  looked pretty shabby after cleaning 60 years of "stuff" off, but the wood oil really brought it back.

I pulled the top cover from the receiver as I had to replace the dial lights, and was going to give it the same treatment, BUT.....it's a particle board cabinet with a vinyl "wood grain" applique. Pretty much what Mom called "Contact Paper", and used on her shelves. I did mange to repair some areas where the wood grain applique had lifted, and gave it a good cleaning, so it looks much better than before. Since the Pioneer SX-780 was their "Loss Leader", I guess the cabinet was where they saved a few bucks.

So now I have to move the TEAC downstairs, and connect it all together. Then I can find out what's on that "Bob Hope USO Show" tape that I found in the box they gave me.

Interesting Flight Path

 Looks like they may be doing mapping or photo flights.

Most people don't realize the the "Satellite" imagery used in Google Maps is actually from USGS photo flights.

This is the first time I've seen one using my little ADS-B receiver and display program.

Teac A-4010SU Cleaning and Repair

 WELL......things aren't quite as good as I first thought....

I took the front cover off the deck (after removing it from the wood case) so I could clean/check/lubricate the parts.

In the center of the picture is an aluminum pulley, between the two tape spindles. Look closely, and you'll see a black strap-shaped thing laying there. It's the main drive belt, and was in three pieces.

OOOPS! Well, at least the seller gave me two sets of spare belts, one for the main drive, and a smaller one for the tape counter. So, that means the rear panel has to come off, and the deck pulled from the wood case.

Looks clean inside.

And after some fits and starts determining which screws to remove per the manual, I had the transport mechanism out of the case.

The entire capstan assembly has to be removed from the chassis to replace the belt; no way around it, as per several forums and YouTube videos. You have to remove four large screws (here we go again, which four screws?) the get the capstan assembly loose enough to snake the belt in there, and get it around the large driven pulley.

About this time I printed out the entire service manual and put it in a binder, as running back and forth between the garage and PC isn't conducive to efficient use of time.

While the manual was printing, I dropped the rear chassis plate so I could get at the four screws.

Two things grabbed my attention. Since I'm going to have to flip the chassis over numerous times to get the screws out and swap the belt, I began wondering about some way to strap the rear plate to the main chassis so I wouldn't have to put undue flexing and strain on a 50~60 year old wiring harness, generally NOT a good idea.

Lo and behold, TEAC thought about that, and made provisions to use two of the rear panel screws to secure the rear panel to the main chassis!

See the screw with the Tinnerman nut and the U-Slots in the panel?

Yep, they put them there to hold the panel while you work on the chassis.

Now the rear panel is held tight allowing you to flip the chassis over. Thank you, TEAC!

One other item I addressed "While I was In There" (yep, sounds like "Mission Creep") was to replace the ancient two-wire AC socket with a modern three-wire socket that takes a standard power cord.

 

Old:

 

New:

And there was even a perfectly placed terminal strip, with an unused ground lug, bolted solidly to the chassis I was able to use for the ground wire.

I also visually checked all of the electrolytic capacitors for leakages, bulging, and failing seals, and they all look "Good to Go". Since this was made when Japanese capacitors were very high quality, I don't have any issues with leaving them in place. So tonight's work consisted of getting the new capstan and tape counter belts installed, lubing a couple of points that needed it,  making sure all the solenoid-driven linkages were smooth, free to move, and not binding, and doing a few mechanical adjustments that just didn't "feel right" to me. Sure enough, the service manual confirmed they were out-of-spec, and gave the measurement numbers and procedure. Tomorrow will be an inspect my own work day, and putting the deck back in the case after I clean the gorgeous wood case it's in, and do a once-over on all the visible parts again.

I would have had this finished by now, but Sunday is the day TLG comes by, so that takes precedence here! He's excited about the new stereo in the workshop, but doesn't know what a tape recorder is.....yet. He starts dancing around in the garage and yelling "ROCK AND ROLL!!" whenever a good rock song comes on, so I think he might be impressed to hear a good stereo setup, especially if I play Blue Oyster Cult "Godzilla". When I do that, he starts doing his Dinosaur Dance, and he knows all the lyrics to the song.

And I really need some better speakers in the garage. The $30/pair Pyle speakers just don't make enough volume out in the garage. Need some better air pumps! I'll have to see what they have at the Bizarre Bazaar that's suitable for "Garage Speakers".

TEAC A-4010SU Tape Recorder

 This one's a big SCOOOOORE!

Not only is it cleaner than expected, I met the original owner, who's the grandfather of the young guy who listed it. He bought it new, at the BX, while he was stationed in "Viet Nam" with the Army.

The heads show some wear, but it's what I consider "acceptable", and the tape path, pinch roller, and capstan are really clean. He said he took good care of it, and it shows. It's got some smudges on the front panels, but they're easy to clean with some of the stuff I used. The wood case is in amazing condition considering he had it so long, and it was shipped around while he was in the Army.

They gave me a head demagnetizer, and a bag of spare replacement parts, including a new pinch roller, capstan, and TWO complete sets of belts for it.

And the original manual, warranty card, and bag of accessories.

Even before the young guy brought the deck out, he said his Grandpa also had these two boxes of "Tapes and Stuff" that I could have if I wanted. Not having any tapes, or empty reels for that matter, I said sure, and we loaded those in the car.

WHATTA HAUL!

I was given Fifty-Six Ampex tapes with program material on them, Eight brand-new sealed-in-plastic tapes, Ampex 341 and Maxell Low Noise tapes, and Six brand-new empty take-up reels.

This is over $800 worth of free goodies, and I'm indebted to them.

 And one of the tapes is a live recording of a Bob Hope USO tour, two reels worth.

So I'm stoked about this, and will do a "Cleaning/Lubrication" check per the manual, and then see what's on some of these tapes. I don't need several reels of "Beer Barrel Polka" and several reels with "Sound of Music", "Sounds of Lerner and Lowe", and "The Music Man" on them. I'll check the tapes to see if the media matches what the box says, and run them through a bulk eraser.

Looks like I won't need to buy any recording tape for quite a while.....

Update On The Pioneer SX-780 and Speakers

 Sooooo....I dragged the two speakers I made some time ago out of the basement, and set them up with the SX-780. When I used these speakers before, I used them with my turntable, preamp, and a small, PylePRO PCA2 "40 Watt" amplifier. Hah....in your dreams, maybe. For one-half cycle at some given frequency. While cooled by LN2.....

The first no-no I did was to have the speakers about 18" from the turntable. Yes, I know better, but in my haste I used the model car workbench to set things up quickly, there wasn't much room, and I wasn't planning on listening at high volume.

Nope, doesn't work. Even at moderate volume, having the speakers that close to the turntable causes a form of audio feedback, where the sound pressure waves from the speakers vibrate the turntable at variable frequencies, which get picked up by the stylus,  fed to the amp, and then the speakers, and then the turntable again, and presto! TERRIBLE sound.

So I set the SX-780 on the den coffee table, set the speakers up a few feet away and 6' apart to see what kind of separation they have, connected things up, and brought the receiver up.

 

YOWIE-ZOWIE! This thing sounds GOOOOOD! I had a clip lead about 29" long (1/4-wavelength!) that I used for an antenna, and I could get just about every station on the dial. The stronger stations ("Full Quieting" in FM-Speak) sounded spectacular, WAY better than they do on our home theater system when I use the FM tuner. I knew this was a premium grade receiver when it was new, but I was surprised how good my home-built speakers sounded now that they have a clean signal "with enough amp" to drive them to good levels. You can compare speakers to air pumps, and I was running 45 Horsepower air pumps with 15 Horsepower motor s when I was using the little amp.

Now I've got like 60 Horsepower, which gives me plenty of reserve capacity, or "Headroom". Makes a huge difference.

All the rotary switches and controls turn smoothly, and quietly, with no scritchy-scratchy sound, and all the lever controls do the same. The FM dial calibration is a bit off to my eye, but it's off a consistent amount from the bottom to the top of the band, so that's usually caused by the dial cord having slipped a bit. Easy-Peasy fix, and I'll do that when I take the cover off to replace a burned out dial lamp, and blow any dirt and dust out of the chassis.

This is the first "High End" FM Stereo Receiver I've ever owned although I've heard plenty. When some of my friends were buying things like this, I was buying things like Carillo connecting rods. Different priorities for different folks.