OTARI MX 80 help ?

ANALOG BUM · 9th August 2009

I was striping a tape on channel 24 with my JL COOPER PPS 100 which I know works just fine.

**sigh**

Anyway, I boo-boo'd and then tried to ERASE the track by recording over it and it wouldn't ERASE.
I have DOLBY SR on this and it's in "NORMAL." It also seems to be working fine.
It seems that when the OTARI is on for a while it starts NOT RECORDING over the track and erasing it, as it should. Then my autolocator started blinking on and off really fast while in RECORD mode. "What in hell?" I said to myself. I talk to myself a lot anyway cuz I'm the only one here.

Is there an eprom or chip going or what? Anyone ever seen this before? Can't find much in the manual about this. And where can I find a TECH for this machine in ARIZONA, a state which SUCKS for the most part ?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you from an "imaginary 56 year old rock star."

hired hand · 10th August 2009

You are going to have to be very proactive. Talk to, seek out, visit, music stores, recording studios, amp techs and guitar techs, other musicians, etc. etc. Eventually somebody will guide you to a knowledgeable tech that can help you. That is a nice 2" machine.
Good Luck

ripple_fx1 · 10th August 2009

Hi AB - never used one of those, but the "on for a while" comment makes me think heat related. See if the power supply or anything else needs a good dusting off (compressed air), and remove any panels that will allow for better airflow. Any dead fans? Pulling the cards one at a time and cleaning their contacts may solve your problem - power off of course. Give the little relays on the channel cards a tap tap tap with your pencil eraser if there are any....
And before you get started on anything, disconnect your autolocator and operate the machine from the deck itself to rule out an autolocator fault. And verify if the record problem is one channel or all channels. If it's all channels, you can be fairly certain it's not an individual channel card and more likely a power supply or mainboard issue. Opening the chassis covers and using a box fan to cool it down will possibly let you know if heat is the culprit. Cheers! JR

ANALOG BUM · 16th August 2009

Thank you, gentlemen, for all your help. I will do that trouble-shoot as suggested and see what's up.

Again, thanks.

9th August 2009	#1
ANALOG BUM Gear interested Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2 Thread Starter	OTARI MX 80 help ? I was striping a tape on channel 24 with my JL COOPER PPS 100 which I know works just fine. sigh Anyway, I boo-boo'd and then tried to ERASE the track by recording over it and it wouldn't ERASE. I have DOLBY SR on this and it's in "NORMAL." It also seems to be working fine. It seems that when the OTARI is on for a while it starts NOT RECORDING over the track and erasing it, as it should. Then my autolocator started blinking on and off really fast while in RECORD mode. "What in hell?" I said to myself. I talk to myself a lot anyway cuz I'm the only one here. Is there an eprom or chip going or what? Anyone ever seen this before? Can't find much in the manual about this. And where can I find a TECH for this machine in ARIZONA, a state which SUCKS for the most part ? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you from an "imaginary 56 year old rock star."

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10th August 2009	#2
hired hand Gear interested Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 11	You are going to have to be very proactive. Talk to, seek out, visit, music stores, recording studios, amp techs and guitar techs, other musicians, etc. etc. Eventually somebody will guide you to a knowledgeable tech that can help you. That is a nice 2" machine. Good Luck

10th August 2009	#3
ripple_fx1 Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 569	Hi AB - never used one of those, but the "on for a while" comment makes me think heat related. See if the power supply or anything else needs a good dusting off (compressed air), and remove any panels that will allow for better airflow. Any dead fans? Pulling the cards one at a time and cleaning their contacts may solve your problem - power off of course. Give the little relays on the channel cards a tap tap tap with your pencil eraser if there are any.... And before you get started on anything, disconnect your autolocator and operate the machine from the deck itself to rule out an autolocator fault. And verify if the record problem is one channel or all channels. If it's all channels, you can be fairly certain it's not an individual channel card and more likely a power supply or mainboard issue. Opening the chassis covers and using a box fan to cool it down will possibly let you know if heat is the culprit. Cheers! JR

16th August 2009	#4
ANALOG BUM Gear interested Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2 Thread Starter	Thank you, gentlemen, for all your help. I will do that trouble-shoot as suggested and see what's up. Again, thanks.