Azimuth adjustment on 112mkII

[RFsoundguy]

OK, so now I've got my Tascam 112mkII on order. I've read through the user's manual. I think I've got a pretty good handle on the mechanics of this azimuth adjustment thing.

Here's the question. I've got 500 tapes, which means approx. 500 adjustments. Would it be ill advised to drill a small hole in the plastic cassette door for my diddle stick to make adjustments easier? Would this be better than removing the door 500 times? Would a piece tape over the hole be enough to keep out dust?

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by RFsoundguy

Would it be ill advised to drill a small hole in the plastic cassette door for my diddle stick to make adjustments easier? Would this be better than removing the door 500 times? Would a piece tape over the hole be enough to keep out dust?

Don't drill. I have no clue about what exactly the door design on those tascams. Removing the door maybe easy. It may slide off/on the door-"frame/cassette tray" or slide-in-hook-and-snap-down sort of thing. I've seen doors with a screw-to-be-removed first and then slide-off... also the door sits nice and tight without that srcew...
You've mentioned that you may be looking into selling the deck in the future... and a "hole-feature" may (and most likely will) be seen as a REAL bad sign rather than a "smart convenient modification"... and it may cost you at the end. If selling the deck is not an issue, then you can do anything you want with it, that makes practical sense... it's your deck
Also, placing a piece of tape over a hole means sealing the hole and thus no nothing can get through that specific location . Would it be enough? I 've no idea lol but I would imagine, that it's going to look ugly enough, and depending on type of tape you are planning to use for that purpose and depending on the frequency/and/amplitude of your hads shaking - removing that piece of tape estimated 500 times and placing it back may be even bigger pain in the A%$ than removing the door, but the good side of it is that after a while you get tired of dealing with the tape and will ignore the damn hole and leave it be and stop worring about the dust-through-the-hole, unless you are really out in the open

/respects

[Tim Gillett]

For RF Soundguy,
Since I was the one who suggested this azimuth business I guess I should follow it through!
I dont have a tascam 122mkIII with me but I think you have to remove the cassette door to adjust az. To remove the door, press eject and when the door's fully opened locate with you finger at the top inside centre of the door, a little plastic tab. I think you pull it up and the door swings away from the top and out.
Just adjust the azimuth on a tape with program on it. The centre head is the one but dont touch the right hand screws. There are two on the left (I'm looking at an old 122 head while I type) The lower is the correct one. The other is only for the record head so leave that alone.
Just gently turn it in small increments and you'll notice the treble getting better or worse. Just get it sounding crispest.
Hope this helps.
Tim

[Dr ZEE]

he's getting two-headed machine

/later

[Tim Gillett]

Sorry, Dr Zee is right. I thought you were getting the 122.

Dont turn the screw anticlockwise too far or the screw will get to the end of its threads and you probably wont be able to get it back in easily.

Also, dont overdo turning the screw. I heard of an overzealous user who wore out the thing by turning it repeatedly back and forth. They're probably not designed for repeated turning so just be gentle.

It's also possible to put a little light oil on the wear point of the screw , the thread. I've done this on machines where I had to constantly adjust the screw and have never had a problem.

As was said by somebody else, if the tapes were mostly recorded on the one machine or on machines with pretty correct azimuth, there will be few adjustments to make and they will be small. But it will make a difference to the sound!

Tim

[RFsoundguy]

Good points on the resale value with a hole in the door. I was actually going to get a replacement door if I decide to sell it.

I suspect that most of the tapes were recorded with some sort of portable cassette recorder. Obviously at some point they got someone who at least had a clue about what they were doing -- the last 80 or so tapes are all the same brand, high quality metal tapes, clearly labeled, etc. Those were all done at the same location by the same person so probably the same record deck.

Dr.Zee, thanks for the diagram. I found that in my manual and was pretty sure that was the screw, but it's nice to have confirmation.