I just got into the amazing world of cassette player and decks, and I'm very interested in getting myself a cassette desk for quality recording. However, in where I live the price for a working cassette deck is way too high and unreasonable. So I decided to purchase a NG but repairable Sherwood DD-4030C (as far as the seller claims) in hopes of learning how cassette player technologies work while I attempt the restoration. After some Googling and YouTube video surfing, it seems the following gears are required to make sure the deck is in good working condition: 1. Oscilloscope - To check for wow and flutter, tape head azimuth 2. 3000 Hz tape - To adjust playback speed 3. Millivolt meter - To check L/R channel playback level 4. Tape head demagnetizer 5. Basic electronics work equipment (soldering station, multimeter) I have a multimeter, soldering equipment, a oscilloscope, and a function generator right now (if it has any use). I'm planning to purchase the other equipment if they are absolutely necessary, so it would be really nice if someone can share their thoughts and experiences about the list. Do I miss something or some of the item is not strictly necessary? Please let me know!
There's a great thread over on AK that cover's all audio equipment. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...udio-gear-eh-heres-the-tools-you-need.333423/ I have a blue silicone electronics mat, A Yuasa Soldering Station, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and foam or cotton swabs. They make those cool USB-C pencil soldering pens now, those are really easy to work with. I do like my tape testing equipment (wow and flutter meters) but these are going for silly money these days, Leader Units tend to be popular on Ebay. My 3M Mincom is very high tech with a ton of test sets, sometimes you get lucky and they're getting dumped on ebay. Marantz/Superscope Service Manuals are nice because they walk you through test procedures, some of these might apply to other equipment or help you get going in the right direction.
You have to weigh up the cost of the equipment vs the cost of the tools. Technique is probably just as important. As @Cassette2go says take lots of photos so you know how to put things back together. I recently bought some JIS screwdrivers but that was only because I was working on a £100 Weltron. Not knowing your local market can't you pick up something old to practice on. It might even be worth buying a cheap new cassette player from Amazon to practice dismantling and examining. p.s. Don't worry if things go wrong, a few years ago I wrecked a Technics cassette deck despite being being a qualified electronics engineer since before it was made. p.p.s Have you watched any VWestlife videos e.g.
Hello Guys, One the useful Items among my bench is my apple Ipad great for photos I use on my bench is Anti static mat with ground Get yourself nice little cabinet to store various sizes of Electrolytic capacitors and resistors plus good selection of belts and good tasklighting I also have digital microscope . Far as parts digi key or mouser plus Ebay but don't buy no-name capacitors . I have accounts with factory parts dealers too since I used to do a lot warranty work . Sincerely Richard
Late to the party as usual, but I'll leave this here anyway... The deck you buy in the first place can cut down on the amount of difficult work you have to do and make the process of refurbing far less troublesome. I tend to do my homework first nowadays and target decks with an Alps mechanism of one variant or another. That covers hundreds of good models from the 1990s so it doesn't limit your choices too much. Looking at other people's refurb photos and videos can help you track down which specific models they are, but they include the Denon DRM-650S, Pioneer CT-S410, Pioneer CT-S450S, Teac V-1050 and Yamaha KX-580 to name but a few. You can make your own list and add to it as you go along. Why an Alps mechanism? They're dead easy to work on (a capstan belt change takes under 2 minutes), they have great long-term reliability, and belts and pinch rollers for most decks using them are still readily available. Regardless of variant, wow and flutter is typically a respectable 0.05% WRMS or thereabouts when healthy. If you have a reliable 3kHz or 3.15kHz test tape and a PC with audio line-in, you can easily measure wow and flutter and calibrate speed with WFGUI... http://www.ant-audio.co.uk/index.php?cat=post&qry=library As a basic setup in terms of tools, get yourself some ceramic screwdrivers for adjusting potentiometers and a cheap dual-channel oscilloscope for adjusting azimuth against a reliable 10kHz reference tape. I've had some expensive test gear over the years but have minimised my setup of late to a 10MHz dual-channel LCD oscilloscope (an SC02) that I picked up from AliExpress for £30 delivered, and a function generator (an FG-100 DDS) to create sinewaves for recording level calibration from the same place for £12 delivered. This kind of oscilloscope also usually has an OSD including information such as AC RMS voltage and a frequency counter, so it can be the only measuring equipment you need besides a wow and flutter meter. The most critical part is the reference tape(s). Most of my originals have now worn to the point of no longer being reliable references, but you will sometimes find reliable sources on eBay selling calibration tapes created on their own deck after having them professionally calibrated. This is obviously less than ideal as it will never be identical to the original reference tapes used, but it can still get you by if you're only calibrating decks for yourself. It just means that all of your decks will be wrong by the same small amount but still match. Not all calibration tapes use the same reference flux levels, so watch out for that as it's very easy to calibrate the Dolby level incorrectly if you don't. All good calibration tapes will have their level(s) specified in nWb/m. There are handy conversion charts available for free to convert from one reference to another in terms of dB which can be easily converted to a voltage ratio for easier conversion at the meter or oscilloscope. Don't worry too much about that as it's very easy to wrap your head around after you've done it a couple of times. Service manuals can be found for free for many if not most popular models on the hifi engine website. It requires a free sign-up and they're not always accepting new members, but I'm sure there will be existing members here who would happily download a manual for you if you ask them nicely. Whether or not you can source a manual is another good line in your inquiries as to whether or not a deck is worth getting hold of in the first place. Working blind is not great as you won't know what voltages to expect where during calibration. Above all else, have fun!
