New here with an Otari MTR-12 that's got issues

[vinyldavid]

Played with the jumpers on the transport control board and the one internal switch on that board. No lifter response.

Still have not yet checked the voltage going to the solenoid, I need to unearth my DVM.

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by vinyldavid

Here's the issues I am having:

-no tape lifter response
-when I press stop with the tape unthreaded it doesn't try to take up the slack (I am used to the Sony APR-5003V), and the button is labeled stop/load so I assume this is it. After manually loading the tape and pressing stop it does take up the slack.
-cue doesn't work (obviously)
-It may be off-speed, I have only tested 7.5ips though the internal cue speaker.

I don't think I'll be of much help but I have noticed a few things in your post that do interest me.

"no tape lifter response". Does the machine run? In fast forward (if it does go FF) the tape stays on the heads? If so, take off the top skin and see if the solenoid is getting voltage and if it is you probably have a sticky solenoid. My Otari MX-80 has had this happen.

"when I press stop with the tape unthreaded it doesn't try to take up the slack (I am used to the Sony APR-5003V), and the button is labeled stop/load so I assume this is it. After manually loading the tape and pressing stop it does take up the slack."

Don't know that model specifically but this is how a properly functioning MX-80 acts. Remember this is an Otari not a Sony

Do you know when this machine last ran and who ran it?

I'm just trying to jog some thoughts here and bumping this post back to the top in hopes of an owner of the same model can help you out.
Best of luck....machine looks like it can be brought back to operating condition with a little help.

[JeremyPaulCarrol]

Hi... I too have just bought an MTR-12 (1/2" half-track). Mine cam out of Swanyard studios in London a while a go and had been sitting for ages.

I had some issues at first, but resolved everything by going through the Installation procedure in the manual. It involved an awful lot of reseating connectors.

Edit: Just seen that you don't have any manuals. I don't know if there's any online. I very much doubt it. I could do you a scan of the relevant parts if you need (it's a HUGE manual!)

Let me know.... I doubt you'll be able to set the machine up without the relevant information from the manual. I've got it all to hand and even then, I'm having a hell of a time.

Cheers,

Jeremy

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by Rick Sutton

I don't think I'll be of much help but I have noticed a few things in your post that do interest me.

"no tape lifter response". Does the machine run? In fast forward (if it does go FF) the tape stays on the heads? If so, take off the top skin and see if the solenoid is getting voltage and if it is you probably have a sticky solenoid. My Otari MX-80 has had this happen.

"when I press stop with the tape unthreaded it doesn't try to take up the slack (I am used to the Sony APR-5003V), and the button is labeled stop/load so I assume this is it. After manually loading the tape and pressing stop it does take up the slack."

Don't know that model specifically but this is how a properly functioning MX-80 acts. Remember this is an Otari not a Sony

Do you know when this machine last ran and who ran it?

I'm just trying to jog some thoughts here and bumping this post back to the top in hopes of an owner of the same model can help you out.
Best of luck....machine looks like it can be brought back to operating condition with a little help.

I need to dig up my DVM from the dark basement of doom...but the solenoid does not feel sticky when I manually move it.

The machine came out of a closing studio in Ann Arbor and was sold to a gentleman who didn't know anything about R2R as a fully working deck. It sat in his garage for 3 years. I was going up to Michigan to deliver some tape transports for a friend (who was paying the gas money), so when I saw it for sale I jumped at it. Long story short, after some negotiations, my friend picked it up for me and I ate gas money there and back, and gave my friend a Magnavox tube amp.

The deck seems to function close to perfectly other than the tape lifter issue. It goes into fast wind and shuttle modes, I now understand how the stop/load switch works, I just wish it had an "edit" mode like the Tascam 40 series and Sony APR for threading.

Originally Posted by JeremyPaulCarrol

Hi... I too have just bought an MTR-12 (1/2" half-track). Mine cam out of Swanyard studios in London a while a go and had been sitting for ages.

I had some issues at first, but resolved everything by going through the Installation procedure in the manual. It involved an awful lot of reseating connectors.

Edit: Just seen that you don't have any manuals. I don't know if there's any online. I very much doubt it. I could do you a scan of the relevant parts if you need (it's a HUGE manual!)

Let me know.... I doubt you'll be able to set the machine up without the relevant information from the manual. I've got it all to hand and even then, I'm having a hell of a time.

Cheers,

Jeremy

I didn't see any references to manuals being available online when researching this machine. I might just take you up on that offer, or maybe just a concise summary if that's easier. A broadcast engineer friend is looking for someone who may have manuals, so we'll see where that goes. Right now, it seems to be in decent mechanical condition (only listened to it through the cue speaker), audio calibration I can mostly do.

[JeremyPaulCarrol]

Originally Posted by vinyldavid

-when I press stop with the tape unthreaded it doesn't try to take up the slack (I am used to the Sony APR-5003V), and the button is labeled stop/load so I assume this is it. After manually loading the tape and pressing stop it does take up the slack.

This is as it should be. Or at least as mine is :-)

-cue doesn't work (obviously)

Forgive me if this sounds a bit too obvious, but you need to press the cue button first before moving the cue lever... The DC signals for the Cue function can be adjusted on the Capstan Control board (if I remember correctly) if they've wandered. Mine were miles off.


Cheers,

Jeremy.

[JeremyPaulCarrol]

Just found an MTR-10 manual online, although it's for a Series I, not a Series II machine. The MTR-12 is effectively the same thing as the MTR-10 (just different max reel width) with only a slight difference in the tape path. I don't know what the differences between the Series I and II machines was...

Here's the MTR-10 series 1 manual

Cheers,

Jeremy

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by JeremyPaulCarrol

This is as it should be. Or at least as mine is :-)

Forgive me if this sounds a bit too obvious, but you need to press the cue button first before moving the cue lever... The DC signals for the Cue function can be adjusted on the Capstan Control board (if I remember correctly) if they've wandered. Mine were miles off.


Cheers,

Jeremy.

Oh, I thought that "cue" was a dedicated tape lifter button to drop the lifters during fast winding.

The shuttle lever works fine.

Originally Posted by JeremyPaulCarrol

Just found an MTR-10 manual online, although it's for a Series I, not a Series II machine. The MTR-12 is effectively the same thing as the MTR-10 (just different max reel width) with only a slight difference in the tape path. I don't know what the differences between the Series I and II machines was...

Here's the MTR-10 series 1 manual

Cheers,

Jeremy

Wow, I dunno how I missed this, but this will hopefully help me get a start!

[JeremyPaulCarrol]

A brief skim through that PDF makes me think that the difference between the Series I and Series II machines are in the specifications and adjustments. It seems that the functionality and operating is the same. I'd beware trying to adjust or align your machine using the Series I manual unless you're sure which model you've got. Yours looks exactly the same (apart from the number of channels and the tape width) as mine, which came with a Series II manual... so I assume mine's a Series II and therefore so is yours (probably).

Anyone know how to tell the difference between a Series I and Series II MTR-12???

Edit: I've just had a look on the back and it says so on a sticker "MTR-12 II". Duh!

Now, if only someone would reply to my thread about setting the input sensitivity on each channel...

As I said, if you need some scans from the Series II manual, just give me a shout...

Cheers,

Jeremy

[38.1cm]

I'm also new to this forum and just acquired an Otari MTR 12-II, 1/2" 4 channel that was converted to 1/2" 2 track. I wanted to thank Jeremy for the link to the MTR 10 manual, that really helps because I have nothing for this deck. I haven't even powered it up yet. I'll posts some pictures when I figure out how to post them on this forum.
David, how is the MTR 12 doing so far?

[38.1cm]

Almost look the same.

[vinyldavid]

Okey doke...digging into this.

Shorting the right post (positive?) on the pinch roller solenoid to the solenoid chassis makes the solenoid engage. Found this out by accident.

I found the grouns of both the pinch roller solenoid and the capstan solenoid. Figured out it was the pinch roller by unplugging the connector and testing it.

Any ideas? I can't find where the positive side of the solenoid comes out of the wiring bundle. I have tested every connection point i can find in the transport.

[JeremyPaulCarrol]

Have you gone through the Installation procedures in the manual - it takes you through every connector that may need re-seating. I followed it and unplugged an re-seated every connection as they suggested. It sorted 99% of the issues I had....


Cheers!

Jeremy.