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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Dear Quadlist:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Oh what fun it has been.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>It has been awhile since I’ve updated anyone here about
our rebuilding the RCA TR-600 machines we have. It is taking a while because
we can not devote full time to this project. But it is interesting and I am
learning a lot about the operation of these machines.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>These systems started out in pretty rough condition. I swear
when we cleaned them, we got pounds of dust, dirt, tape trimmings and other
junk out of the machine (ok…maybe pounds is exaggerating a bit…but
it was a lot). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><br>
We are almost at the point of having one of the machines up and running
(yesterday was quite frustrating…more in a moment). We picked what we
felt was the better of the two whole machines (we have a third for parts).
This one had lower hours compared to the other machine and it would at least
power up (including the head wheel and capstan) and would pull tape. We were
not able (at first) to get any true video signal, as it just wasn’t
locking up. After pulling all the boards, cleaning all the contacts and reseating
everything, we were at least able to see video, although color wasn’t
locking (in other words, even color videos played in B&W). We checked
power supplies and looked for any obvious things (broken wires, burned
caps/resistors/boards, etc). After a thorough cleaning, we started fine tuning
the machine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Last week, we started going through the alignment procedure.
Wow…what a lot of adjustments. A lot different than today’s
machines. I’m only acting as the assistant here (ok…really a
go-fer…but what the heck…I’m learning). Our engineer has a
better idea of what is going on with the machines, so some of my explanations
may seem a bit light, technically.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>First step was alignment and EQ. We got this looking pretty
good. What we found is that many of the adjustments were close, but a couple
were off by quite a bit. After going through the alignment, we made the TBC
adjustments…color is looking better at this point, but still getting banding
and drop outs in the video. Horizontal phase is not working at this point
(knob turns, but it doesn’t do anything).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>After TBC adjustments, we went through the drop out compensator
and got it adjusted properly. At this point, the video is looking really good…actually
surprisingly so. Everything seems to be working properly. Horizontal phase is
now working.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Now keep in mind that the whole time we are doing this, we are
doing so with the back off the machine, because we are looking at adjustments on
the front of the machine (cards in the nest) and looking at wiring on the back
of the machine to make sure everything is connected as it should be. At this
point (yesterday about lunch time), we are feeling pretty good. Good enough to
button up the back to make sure the cooling works on the machines as it is
designed to. So, we put everything back together (all the panels and guards)
and roll the machine back into its place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Once this is done, we want to just try one last test. I load up
a tape, which turns out to be B&W. It looks pretty good (no burst, because
it is B&W), but it still looks good. So we decide to put up the color tape
we were working with and it looks like absolute garbage…what the heck???
The output video looked really bad when playing a color tape…lots of
banding…video taking a long time to lock up (we had it locking up in
about 1 second…now it was back to several seconds…probably 5-10
seconds), horizontal phase is no longer working, etc. This is the same exact
tape we saw play great ½ hour ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Here is the situation. We were not able to see output video by
using the top switcher (we always were able to see demod and TBC…but not
output). We ended up changing that switch (which is just a manual switch). In
order to see output video, we physically had to route the cables to the TV monitor…but
we wanted to be able to switch the video so everything could be done from in front
of the machine. I can’t believe this had anything to do with the output
video going from good to bad…since this is only a manual switch…but
who knows. Talk about frustrating…here we are, seeing really good
looking video, thinking we are ready to go, only to have a setback like this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>So here is our present situation. We worked on it a little more
yesterday. We found that some of the boards in the “C” row might
not have been seated completely. We got it to the point where we are able to
get video to lock up, but there is still a significant delay with the video
output (the video is shifted to the right side of the TV monitor screen and we
can’t seem to adjust this at this point). Our next step will be to go
through the TBC adjustment (alignment) again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>But at least we got to see the machine make really nice pictures
for a little while (so we know it can)…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>There are a couple of things that are strange…when looking
at demod and TBC video on an oscilloscope, we see one synch and one burst
signal…but when looking at video output, we see two…and one is in
the wrong place (I can’t remember if we had the system in regen or house
mode when seeing this…I think maybe in regen). Note that we are feeding
a black burst signal into the machine from an external generator. This seems
to be a timing issue, but I would be interested in hearing input from others on
the Quad list if they’ve experienced anything like this in the past.
Alignment may solve this problem…but if anyone has any thoughts or ideas,
I’d appreciate them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Another, possible related issue is that if we feed bars to the machine
and it is in regen mode, the video signal drifts (as seen on both the TV
monitor and waveform) and the video is in B&W. If we switch to house mode,
this clears up immediately (color bars are now in color and rock steady…note
color bars are from a synch/color bar generator…not an outside tape
source). The color bar generator is genlocked to the black burst generator
feeding the machine. Terminations are correct (we checked). Strange…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Another is the tension on the reels…we are playing a ½ hour
tape and it seems as if the mass of the reel is too much for the system to
overcome (we have to continually adjust the tension to compensate for this). I
have spare reel motors, but don’t want to get into replacing these unless
we absolutely have to. We have not put a spring scale on the reel motors yet…that
will be our next step. Along with the tension problem, we have a buzzing (intermittent)
that appears to be from one of the solenoids on one of the reel motors (supply reel).
This comes and goes…not sure if it is related to the tension problem or
not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Once we get the first system working, on to the second system. We’re
close on the first system…we’ll keep you posted on progress.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>A couple of things learned…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>A magnifying glass would be a great help when locating test
points. Fortunately, we have a second set of boards we can look at to help
with this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>A short tweaker is a must (you just can’t get at some of
the adjustments with a long one).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>When 2” video looks good, it looks really good, but it can
go bad in a hurry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>4.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I have a new-found respect for the engineers who kept these
things running.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>5.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>A second extender card can make your life a lot easier.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>6.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>A short chair is a necessity…knee pads would be nice (ok…just
kidding)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>7.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Supply reels and take up reels of different sizes cause
problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>8.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Thank goodness for manuals…even if they aren’t that
well written. You couldn’t do this without them. More pictures would be
nice (of the oscilloscope, demonstrating what the signal is supposed to look
like…just for confirmation). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Thanks;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>John Walko<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Media Archive Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Scene Savers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><a href="http://www.scenesavers.com">www.scenesavers.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>800-978-3445<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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