Re: And the living is easy

Pat Durkin wrote:
"Tony Cooper" wrote
"Maria" wrote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
Maria wrote:
Skitt wrote:
Maria wrote:
the Omrud wrote:
Maria said:

Btw, years ago (mid-1950s), we had a 2nd-hand reel-to-reel
tape recorder that recorded at 16 rpm as well as at 33, 45,
and 78. When it broke, there was no one around who could fix
it. It was huge, and heavy, too.

But, but, tape recorders don't revolve. Did you mean
inches-per-
second? The standard tape speeds were 15, 7.5. 3.75 and 1.875,
IIRC.

It may have been in inches, but the "dial" (or indicator) said
16,
33, 45, and 78. I wouldn't swear to the 45 or 78 -- it may have
been one or the other. But it also could have been exactly as I
said -- 4 speeds. I just wouldn't bet my money on something that
we had 50 years ago.
And... this will be questioned, I'm sure: You could play it
backwards, getting all sorts of weird sounds.

Are you sure you are not somehow thinking of your record player?

Yes. It was a tape recorder. The record players we had either
played
45s only or 33s, 45, and 78s. And none of them played anything
backwards.

......It
is impossible for the tape reels to turn at a uniform speed and
render listenable recordings. The capstan, which does rotate at
a constant speed for the selected tape speed, spins at a rate far
higher than 78 rpm, even for the slowest speed of recording.

Well, I don't know about the technical aspects. I can say this: It
may have been foreign-made. My now-late uncle, who had just been
discharged from the Army after service during the Korean War, was
the one who gave it to us. He may have gotten it in Japan (where
he lived for a while during his Army years).

I think Skitt is exaggerating greatly when he says that it's
impossible for tape recorders to render listenable recordings. The
old reel-to-reel recorders provided very listenable recordings.

There may be some confusion about all this because I may be using
the wrong terms. I'm guessing when I call it "reel to reel." It had
two reels and the tape went from one reel to the other (in either
direction). Could be that the "backwards" versions of some things
were caused by an audible rewind. Does that sound reasonable?

The entire "box" (the whole recorder) was about 20" x 20" (nearly
square, but not quite) and about 8-10" high. It was heavy, but
portable.
Not sure, but I think the cover lifted completely off.

Here's a reel-to-reel in use:
http://www.rfbd.org/member_reel2reel.jpg

The image doesn't show the recorder to the best advantage, but you
can see that there are two reels, and the image shows relative size
by comparison.

The tape cassettes we use now are reel-to-reel, I suppose, since the
tape moves from one capstan (I think that's the word) to another and
is reeled on to it, but the designation reel-to-reel is used to mean
one where there are two separate reels and not just a tape reeling
from one capstan to the other.

Skitt's statement was, on review, ambiguous. Do you take it to mean
that the reels couldn't move at a constant speed and *still* render
listenable recordings, or that reel-to-reels couldn't produce
listenable recordings.

I took the latter meaning. Skitt doesn't usually set-up trick
statements.

I don't know how those things work. Perhaps the mechanism is set up
to keep the *tape* moving at a constant speed.

I think that is the clue.

I have an old Wollensak (bought it in '67, right after Revere bought
out Wollensak. I always keep wanting to find a repair shop to
replace the sound light, but it's been 25 years, and I still haven't
done it.) I also, refusing to yield to the changing world and the
move to cassettes, bought a portable reel-to-reel recorder made by
Channel Master, which I haven't opened in 8 or 10 years. (Last time,
the batteries had corroded, and now I don't know if I left the new
batteries in or not.)
Anyway, on a reel-to-reel system, even inside the cassetts, the VCRs
etc, the capstans will move faster as the tape gets shorter. The
tape speed, unless there is slippage or gear problems on the capstans
(grease on the drive wheels or on the capstans, etc), should move at
the same speed across the reading head until manually slowed by
whatever means is provided. There are, of course pick-up and drive
gears on the capstans, depending on FF and Rewind setups.

You can tell that the capstan speed varies by watching the feed reel,
which spins faster as it gets emptier. This was also true on movie
projectors. As the pick-up reel fills, it goes slower. The constant
speed is on the read/write head, or on movie projectors, on the lens.

The definition of a tape recorder capstan is:
=============
Capstans are rotating spindles used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder. The tape is threaded between the capstan and one or more rubber-covered wheel, called a "pinch roller", which presses against the capstan, thus providing friction necessary for the capstan to pull the tape. The capstan is always placed "downstream" (in the direction of tape motion) from the tape heads. To maintain the required tension against the tape heads and other part of the tape transport, a small amount of drag is placed on the supply reel, either mechanically or electrically. Tape recorder capstans have a function similar to nautical capstans, which however have no pinch rollers, the line simply being wound around them.

The use of a capstan allows the tape to run at a precise and constant speed. Capstans are precision-machined spindles, and polished very smooth: any out-of-roundness or imperfections can cause uneven motion and an audible effect called flutter. The alternative to capstan drive, simply driving the tape takeup reel (which was used on some cheap tape recorders), causes problems both with the speed difference between a full and empty reel and with speed variations as described.

Dual capstans, where one is on each side of the heads, are claimed to provide even smoother tape travel across the heads and result in less variance in the recorded/playback signal.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capstan_%28tape_recorder%29";
==============

Capstans have nothing to do with the spindles on which the reels are mounted. The speeds of the reel spindles are controlled by the tape speed. A constant light tension is maintained on the tape by both reels.
--
Skitt
Jes' fine!

.

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