Need help w/ Juliette 4 transistor

Sadona M

New member
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I recently received this recorder from a family member. Turns out it might have belonged to my late father (pasted in 1986). His voice may be on this tape.

After looking it over it seems the motor is frozen. Any help with possibly fixing the machine or how to listen to the tape would be appreciated.

From a grateful daughter
 
Most likely it's a belt-drive deck and the belts have disintegrated or stretched out of shape. Getting the deck itself going is likely to be a multi-step process, especially if it's not been used for 30 years. However, you can probably find someone who is able to do a transfer of the tape.
 
Ah, I begin to see the problem. Reading up on these it looks like they have a rim drive arrangement on the reels and no capstan. That means that the tape speed is going to change from one end of the reel to the other, which is not how normal recorders work. That could be corrected digitally, though it would largely be guesswork as to the rate of change. Alternatively, it might be feasible to lace the tape up on a conventional machine in such a way as to bypass the capstan.

Otherwise, you would have to find a compatible machine on ebay or fix this one, and to be honest this design is weird enough that I'm not sure where to start. If the motor is truly stuck, e.g. it's not just an idler wheel turned to mush, it's probably going to need to be disassembled and that's not something I can really advise on. Good luck with it, though.
 
Turns out it might have belonged to my late father (pasted in 1986). His voice may be on this tape. From a grateful daughter

First things first. Carefully remove the tape just as it is and place it in something like a 11 by 12 baking pan or dish. Google "reel to reel tape to mp3 conversion services". Take the player to any local music store and seek their advice on who could possibly repair it, if that is your end objective. In my area, both services are available.
 
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