New toy showed up today...

miroslav

miroslav

Cosmic Cowboy
This baby showed up in my studio today. :eek: :guitar: :cool:

Ampex_ATR102.jpg


So as I've mentioned a fee times in the past, the place I work also has a theater as part of the bigger operation...we get music/Broadway/Cirque show, and they also use it for large group assemblies/presentations..etc.

Anyway...I take care of their website and I also did major work to set up their online ticketing system years ago, and I provide the support and maintenance for it when needed...so I know all the theater people and I've wandered in their storage areas many times.

Twelve years ago I saw that Ampex ATR 102 sitting in a back room, unused, kinda dusty...at one point they were cleaning up old gear, and I asked what they were going to do with it. At the time, they wanted to hang on to it for some reason...mind you, it probably had not been used for 10-15 years.
FWW to today (twelve years later)...and the building manager says to me that they're cleaning out some of the old junk from the theater, and that there were reels of tape, and if I wanted any I could just grab them (they know I'm an audio guy).

So I go and check out the tapes, and it's mostly used stuff, covered in dust from laying there for many years...and there were a couple of dozen small reels of Ampex 631, which is a lower "voice" grade tape, but they were still in plastic, so I just grabbed them, not sure what for.
However, I notice that in the pile of gear they were moving...was the Ampex ATR 102...and I asked if they were getting rid of that too..???
They said it's been sitting there for so long, it was not even on their books anymore after 30+ years, and that, along with the other stuff that was not on the books, was going to get taken to the dump/recycling center.
My eye popped open, and I immediately asked the property folks if indeed that was going to get tossed...and they said yup, 'cuz they had no record of it anymore or any associated value...and if I wanted it, I should take it now, otherwise it would be carted off.

:eek: :D

I told them I would be happy to unload it for them...and into the back of my truck it went and here it is.
The fucking Holy Grail of 2-track tape recorders...well, I guess the 1/2" 2-track version is THE Holy Grail, but this 1/4" version is right there too. These things don't show up too often, and if they are in good shape, they are prized as mixdown decks.

Anyway...I've got to spend some time cleaning it, it has a lot of surface dust/grunge...but I took a peak inside, and the components are all clean....not a speck of any oxidation/rust, 'cuz it sat in a dry, controlled environment all these years. It has all the cards, even got a couple of extender cards...the heads look to be in good shape, and I think once I overhaul it, it should work fine, with maybe minor issues. I wouldn't be surprised if I have to replace some caps, most likely in the PS...but I think the overall electronics look to be in very good shape.

There some minor scratches, the armrest has is torn in one spot, but I can easily get it redone with a new piece of vinyl or faux leather. There's some reside from duct tape or some other adhesives in a few spots, but that should all come off.

So I've got a nice project for the winter...and I could end up with killer mixdown deck in the end.
 
Fantastic. That would be my dream mixdown deck. Rumour is that they demoed the system at AES using square reels to demonstrate how good the servo system was.
 
In some ways...I have modern audio technology to thank for this.
Once MIDI and digital audio became the go-to options for the theater...they instantly abandoned the analog stuff.
They had zero interest in spinning tape anymore. :D

I can understand why...with MIDI and digital, the recall options and ease of sequencing things was/is key for a theater.
 
Nice Miro...... That looks pretty heavy duty. Was Ampex the industry standard at the time?

Rumour is that they demoed the system at AES using square reels to demonstrate how good the servo system was.
Click to expand...

That woulda been something to see.....
 
bachelorb said:
Nice Miro...... That looks pretty heavy duty. Was Ampex the industry standard at the time?
Click to expand...

It was what most of the top studios used in the 80s, yeah. AFAIK the transport design is similar to the Otari MTR90, with no pinch roller and relying entirely on the reel servos to maintain tape tension against the capstan. Since most of my transport problems on 1/4" machines have been in some way related to the pinch roller, a deck which eliminates it sounds like a wonderful thing. However, this does mean that it won't play tape loops or fragments.
 
Congrats, Miro! :D

I’m jealous.

Here’s a youtube that’s a little more inline with the demonstration of the servo system’s prowess that took place at the AES conference years ago (not square reels AFAIK). This is a non-English language video, but just watch the whole thing. Very impressive.

YouTube

The servo system is the Achilles heal on these when they have a problem. They are very complex to troubleshoot and some components are somewhat unobtanium, but these are workhorse machines, definitely a pinnacle, and there are people that can service them. Definitely a keeper.

Glad you got such a reward for your service!
 
I see an ATR-102 on ebay at the moment. £14'000 plus shipping, so a little bit out of my price range...
 
sweetbeats said:
Congrats, Miro! :D


Glad you got such a reward for your service!
Click to expand...

Thanks.

We'll see if it was a reward or if I saved them a trip to the dump. ;)
You know I'm going to be bouncing some questions your way when I get going on the refurbish.

Seriously though...I think it's in pretty good shape, and I should be able to get it up and running...but there's also the reality that there might be some issues and some repairs needed that might be beyond my expertise.
Considering that parts for these are not plentiful or cheap...that will be the deciding factor if it ends up being fully functional and up to spec or if I just get it fairly well reconditioned, but end up letting it go to someone who can take it to 100%.

I mean...I absolutely want to make this my mixdown deck, and I'm willing to spend the winter slowly working on it, take as much time as needed, and I'm willing to throw some money into it for sure...but it's hard to say at the moment what that will be.
I've got like 20 things going on right now life-wise, so I won't really dive into it until after November is over...then my free time will open up substantially.
I'm already scouting for any/all things Ampex 100 series. :D
 
One immediate problem on these is tantalums. I've had them go off and make a real mess. You should have got the extender card with it. For a start, take out all the cards, and power up, check power supply volts on the extender card. Because it has sat for years I would power up the cards individually on a current limited dual supply.
 
Like I said...I have the extender card...actually, there were two of them inside the unit...one is for the main cards, same size as them...the other is a lot longer and narrower width (less contact points). I'm not quite sure what it's for, but I haven't even opened up the back of the unit yet.
There is also a smaller card that looks like the same width/contact points as the long one, and it has a two-conductor wire attached, with a couple of feet of wire, and on the end it looks like a banana plug...???
Maybe it's for the Ampex...maybe it was for something else, and they just stuck it inside the Ampex...?

Also...when you say I "should have gotten the extender card"...you need to understand that I wasn't getting this from some in-use situation where they had all the parts/pieces for it. This was being carted off to the dump...and I basically grabbed it before they loaded it on the truck....so beggars can't be choosers, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, and all that. :D

I did look around on their shelves where they had the tapes, to see if maybe there was a manual or any other items that might be part of the Ampex...but this deck has been moved a few times from store room to store room...and no one was all that worried about keeping track of any items for it.

That said...today I scored an original ATR 100 Series manual w/binder...and it's the Vol. 2 version that came out in '80-'81...and it has all the expanded schematics and parts lists. I had a downloaded copy, but it was shit...probably been copied/saved a few times...so the images were all dark and murky. The original manual will be much easier to deal with.

I found on one of the components inside the deck with a 1980 date, so that manual is the perfect companion for it. This means the deck is not older than 1980, and is probably from 1980-82, assuming some parts might have been used for a few years in a row. I'll have to check the rest of the components and see if I find any other date stamps.
 
The extender card for the electronics normally came with the machine and was plugged into one of the spare amplifier slots for the 4 track model. There is another extender for the I/O module. That had an aluminium mount from memory.
 
Yeah...that's what I got....the one that's in a spare slot, and the longer one with the aluminum "cover" was tucked in along the side.
So that's good...I don't have to source those. :)

The deck has a set of Otari hubs...which work perfectly...but I found a used pair of hubs that look like the original ones you see on the 100 series, just not sure I want to drop $90 on them, considering the Otari hubs work fine.
I'll probably end up getting them...just for the aesthetic value. :D :facepalm:
 
Wow, what a stroke of luck that you got there before they tossed it out!!!

You deserve it.

I wish you all the best with it. If you need help, there are still a few folks on the Ampex Mailing List with knowledge of these machines.

Cheers

David
 
Thanks for that info.

That certainly is an "old-school" communication method. :D

I skimmed through some of the links...not too many referencing the ATR 100 Series, but I did see that the three Ampex technicians they had listed are all here in NYS...and not too far from me. :)
 
Nice grab!
Ref Radardoug's point about tantalums? These were indeed a PITA in domestic kit as well, would go short at the drop of a hat. I definitely would not power up anything with old tants' in it!

Their claim to fame was very low leakage current but mostly that they could hold value with zero polarizing voltage. This is now pretty much the case with modern aluminium electrolytics. Take advice for sure but my feeling is you could just replace with good quality Allys.

Dave.
 
I'm waiting on the original ATR 100 Series manual that I pickup so I can trace things out and find what's what, and where those tantalums are used in the circuitry...but yeah, I'm sure I will be doing some recapping in the deck. :)

It will take some research time to find out what new components brand/type/tolerance would be best for the Ampex deck.
 
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