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OVER 2 YOU, 145 (02/09/03)
VINTAGE TAPE RECORDER
I am told that my old
(circa 1960) Philips reel-to-reel tape recorder cannot be repaired. The machine
had three speeds and I have some 7-inch diameter tapes recorded at 1 7/8 feet
per second. (I think the ‘standard’ speed in those days was 3 3/4 feet per
second). Does anyone know of a machine that could play my tapes at the slow
speed, or is there another solution?
Douglas Lumb, Shipley
Mr Lumb may be confused
over the tape speeds of his reel-to-reel tape recorder. It is measured in
inches per second (ips) not feet. Some manufactures would not produce
machines running at 17/8 ips as the reproduction quality was considered
inferior. A number of 3-speed machines (1 7/8: 3 3/4: & 7 1/2 ips)
were on the market with reasonable quality low speed reproduction. The
rule was, 7 1/2 for classical music, 3 3/4 for other music and 1 7/8 for
speech. With the introduction of the 8-Track and compact cassette recorders,
both of which in my opinion were inferior to a good quality reel-to-reel, many
machines were confined to the scrap heap. Mr Lumb may locate a 3-speed machine
at a boot sale or second-hand shop although I understand that they are now
becoming collector’s items. I have owned an Akai GX 221D mono/stereo from new
and I feel sure that If Mr Lumb could track down such a machine he would
be delighted with the quality.
Les Reeves
The 7-inch reel at the speed
he quoted (it should be inches per second…) will give about 3 hours each side
if he used 1800 ft. tapes. I believe that the older tapes were thicker and
therefore less than 1800 feet. They were probably not stereo so one track
up and one track back. He could try with two reel-to-reel recorders playing the
tape at 3 3/4 inches per second then re-recording this onto the second recorder
at 7 1/2 inches per second. When he plays this back at 3 3/4 ips he should have
the correct pitch. I know it seems involved but if it works it only requires
one recording then one playback
H.& M.C. Goodwin
I have solved a
similar problem by purchasing an ex-BBC Revox PR99MK3 2-track
1/4" reel-to-reel tape recorder through ebay for £150. However
this deck only offers 7.5 and 15 inches per
second playback speeds. My tapes were then played into a Roland UA-30
digital USB interface and recorded onto HDD using Cool Edit 2000 software.
I then expanded the running time of the files by 400% thus reducing
the perceived playback speed to normal and burnt the new files to CD. It’s
a long-winded process but ultimately rewarding - only you will know if your
tapes are worth the effort and expense.
Graham Collins, Haslemere,
Surrey
I had the same problem and
resolved it by buying a Tandberg Series 84 machine from ebay. I also
hired, and then bought, a Tandberg Series 12 from Eastern Electronics. My
dear old 1969 Tandberg 1600X deck is still going strong but shivers and
shakes in the last quarter of a tape.
You could start, as I did,
with a search for "reel to reel tape recorders" on Google. The
Eastern Electronics web site is www.easternelectronics.co.uk
- they specialize in Revox machines and their Nigel Hunt is very helpful.
Make sure you are very
clear on exactly what you want - 2 track or 4 track, amplified machine or just
a deck (it's easier to record to your PC with an amplified machine, as you can
set it so that you can hear what is being recorded) and make it totally clear
that the 1/78 speed in working order is essential.
Ann Hood
For the past
several weeks the Christian Response charity shop in Southend, Essex
(01702-330700) has had several tape recorders, including a multi-speed model
for sale, which may be of interest.
John Cronin
This reminded me that I
have had a valve Truvox PD86 stereo three speed, (including 17/8” ips),
reel-to-reel tape recorder, which will accept 7” reels, stored in my loft for
many years.
Having got it down and
connected it to an amplifier I was amazed that it would still play music tapes,
recorded at 3 3/4 ips. 35 – 40 years
ago, with very good quality. The fact that the tapes had not degraded too much
over the many years since they were recorded was interesting. We were
continually reminded that the tapes should be rewound at least annually to
prevent print-through and that they only had a relatively short life anyway.
The main degradation was the tape heads’ pressure pad; the foam under the
ribbon had disintegrated so I replaced it with foam door insulation.). If Mr.
Lumb is interested, he can get in touch with me.
John Graves
The following manufacturers
all made certain models of tape recorders that would play your Philips tapes: Brenell, Ferrograph, Grundig, Sony, Tandberg, Uher, Bang & Olufsen. You would need to know whether the
tapes are 1/2 track or 1/4 track and whether mono or stereo. Some tapes made at
certain dates will now have deteriorated mechanically
and will be difficult to play well. I can give further advice personally, or
you could try: www.taperecorder.co.uk
(01473 311259), who sometimes have old recorders for sale.
George Johnson
I have a Philips
reel-to-reel recorder model EL 3549 A/15, which is a four-track machine with
speeds 15/16, 1 7/8, 3 3/4 and 7 1/2 ips.
I have owned the machine since I purchased it new around 1960 but
somehow it has never been thrown out although it was close some 20 years
ago. I believe it is still in good
working order but have not used it for some time. If he is interested he can get contact me at the email address below.
Michael Catling
TENNIS TOURNAMENT
We run a monthly mixed
tennis tournament, with differing numbers of participants, playing mixed
doubles. Can anyone suggest a simple program that will enable players to play
with the maximum number of different partners, whilst avoiding clashes?
Many thanks
Jeff Dowson.
This question stirred
memories of a similar query in Over 2 You a couple of years ago. As luck would
have it I kept the replay, which pointed to a website with what looks like a
suitable program, for organising mixed doubled tennis tournaments. I checked
and it’s still there, so have a look at John Stockton’s web page at: http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/js-pairs.htm.
Mark Leyton, via email
You can download a 30-day
trial version of a program called Tennis Captain from http://www.tenniscaptain.com/. The
features include scorecard printing, results analysis, print and email reports
to members, create weekly line-ups and even set up your club website.
Jason Alexander, via email
If you know your way around
DOS then I recommend a program called Tennis 5, which is available from the
Colchester Phoenix Tennis Club’s web site at: www.keinton.demon.co.uk/tennis
L. Taylor
GUJARATI FONTS
Recently I brought disks
containing Gujarati fronts from Terafont Software in India. I have tried to
load them into my computer but without success. Does anyone have any experience
of installing and using Gujarati fonts on a Windows PC?
L. S. Shah, via email
Gujariti fonts are no more
difficult to install than any other sort but if your correspondent is unsure
then he will find useful tutorials at the following web addresses:
http://www.myfonts.com/support/help_
formats[underscore]win.html#truetype
and
http://net-square.com/saumil/poems/gujfont.html
A.T.S, via email
A while ago I came across
the Indian language keyboard program (ILKEYB), which is a font and software
package designed for standard keyboards. It supports Gujarati, as well as
Devanagari, Telugu, Bengali, Tamil Mayayalam and Kannada fonts. It’s shareware
and a single language version costs $19. You can get more details from the
ILKEYB home page at: http://www.aczone.com/ilkeyb/
U. Jessa, via email
CAN YOU HELP?
I'm looking for some
software, and an interface to enable a PC to control the loco, points and
uncouplers of a small model train yard. Assisted by gravity, it should be
able to sort trucks (Red, Green, Blue) into an order determined by pressing
keys 'R', 'G' or 'B', for example. I saw such an arrangement operated by a BBC
computer many years ago, and I wish to recreate it as a demonstration
model to take to some local fetes.
Geoff Marshalls, via email
Can anyone recommend an
easy-to-use program for writing music on my computer? In the past I have
used 'Mozart' which was all right but I wondered if there was anything better
available now and preferably not too pricey.
Pamela, via email
Does anyone know of any
software that I can use to record telephone conversations on my PC? Presumably
I will also need some kind of adaptor to connect it to the telephone,
suggestions for that as well please.
K. Leyland, via email
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