Ampex MM-1000 Story...

Cory,

There is a photo that I want to see.....



















And that is the photo of Mrs Sweetbeats standing next to your Ampex with a smile on her face :D
 
Um...Right. Good point. I'd like to help you see that picture.

I'm pretty sure the odds go up of snapping that photo if I can find somebody that wants to buy my nice dead Tascam 58 with a parts deck, a host of new parts and a complete headblock...know anybody? heheh...
 
Okay. Most importantly, I found somebody to take possession of the nice dead 58. Haven't suggested the photo yet to the Mrs. But, there is potential.

Plus, we have some bites on our vintage upright "cabinet grand" piano we are trying to unload for free. It needs help but has a gorgeous sound. My point? The MM-1000 takes up slightly less space and so the net volume of stuff will decrease overall. Picture here we come!!

Seriously now.

I've had little time to even look at the MM-1000 ("Massive Matilda" as I've dubbed it...), but I have spent a little time (almost literally) climbing around inside and taking a mental inventory of what's there and the condition of the different components...this is the 8-track for me. Most things are in pretty good shape, just need cleaning up. I don't see corrosion anywhere so that's good. I've learned where some of the stuff that was not mounted is supposed to be mounted (namely one of the power supplies).

Thanks to David "thinbrownline" I have an OEM power cable coming. I was going to rig up a temporary but I decided that the first thing I want to do is isolate the 3 power supplies and scope those rails to make sure they are healthy and within spec before I let them power systems. So the step prior to that is to learn how everything interconnects so I can isolate the power supplies, and prior to that is locating a manual. Really, really sketchy to dive in without a manual. So to that end I now have (thanks to a couple Ampex List members) a copy of the Ampex Training Manual on the MM-1000. It is not the complete manual but it does go over the transport components and operation, the theory of operation, much of the maintenance stuff, and it has some parts lists and drawings and schematics. 73 pages worth. Still looking for a full manual, but this will get me going.

Something I learned:

The capstan shaft is belt drive, but it uses a mylar belt...where you get replacements I have NO idea...lookit the capstan assembly; the black thing hanging down is the motor itself and the housing to which it attaches is the belt housing and the shaft housing itself. Just massive:

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The upright rack I got with the $300 haul is an OEM Ampex rack (made by some other company) that matches the MM-1000 and was one of the options for holding the 8 additional electronics modules when ordering the 24-track model. So that's really cool...explains why the paint scheme matches the MM-1000 and everything. Here's a shot of an MM-1000-24 from the training manual with the optional rack...the system on the left:

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And this is kind of neat...a shot of the underside of the transport also from the training manual:

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Mm-1000.....

Man, now THAT'S what I would call a proper tape recorder!! I love those huge motors n' things.:D Wouldn't it be cool to someday build a proper wood cabinet for it, like in those scans? Say, Cory, is that Mylar belt still good or ...?:confused:
 
Daniel, not sure I understand what wood cabinet you are talking about...?

I'll know for sure if the belt is good when I power it up. For now I know that when I spin the capstan shaft by hand it drives motor, so the belt is there and does at least that much, but the truth will be told under load and at speed.
 
Hey Cory. You know that manual scan that you provided, figure 1-5? It looks like the MM-1000 is in a wooden console of some kind.

Also, isn't Mylar plastic? I wonder if it gets as worn over the years as rubber does or it's good for another decade or two.:confused:
 
Daniel, are you talking about the machine on the left, or the machine on the right? Mine is like the one on the left, and in either case there's no wood involved (except for the side panels below waistline toward the front of the console)...its all heavy-guage steel and is the same as what my MM-1000 is presently housed. ;)

I'll be looking closer at the belt but my guess is that it is mylar reinforced...a composite belt. Mylar does not break down like rubber. I figure they had to do that to keep the belt from stretching when the pinch roller is engaged...think about the momentary inertia on a full 14 inch eel of 2 inch tape. It is comforting to know that the MM-1000 transport (and hence the capstan belt) were field-proven on the VR-1000 quad video transport. The instructions for setting belt tension in the manual are very specific, and I figure that is a result of the fact that the belt don't stretch. Tension it too tight and it'll kill your bearings in a relative hurry.
 
Daniel, are you talking about the machine on the left, or the machine on the right? Mine is like the one on the left, and in either case there's no wood involved (except for the side panels below waistline toward the front of the console)...its all heavy-guage steel and is the same as what my MM-1000 is presently housed. ;)

I'll be looking closer at the belt but my guess is that it is mylar reinforced...a composite belt. Mylar does not break down like rubber. I figure they had to do that to keep the belt from stretching when the pinch roller is engaged...think about the momentary inertia on a full 14 inch eel of 2 inch tape. It is comforting to know that the MM-1000 transport (and hence the capstan belt) were field-proven on the VR-1000 quad video transport. The instructions for setting belt tension in the manual are very specific, and I figure that is a result of the fact that the belt don't stretch. Tension it too tight and it'll kill your bearings in a relative hurry.

Oh, OK, I guess I must have been reading into that console diagram a bit too much but, yeah, I now see what you're saying. ;)

Man, that's mighty interesting about that belt and we could be in luck and no replacement might be necessary.:)

Is the belt easily seen and accessible?
 
The belt is only accessible from the top of the assembly, meaning you have to remove the capstan shaft and motor assembly to see the belt. See below...
 

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Oh, cool, Cory, thanks for the diagram. Looks like it's not a huge belt on a big fly wheel like some of the early machines that I've seen. That's a pretty ingenious belt design.
 
Yes. Stout design having the motor and shaft assembly mounted in one frame like that...here is another pic demonstrating the tensioning of the belt. It puts the size of things into perspective...I'm looking at the size of the adult male hand that is holding the capstan shaft. The thing is big. Keep in mind that the capstan shaft itself is about 3/4" or 19mm in diameter.
 

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boy those included manuals are coming in handy for all sorts of nice educational pics:) can't wait to see a pic with some lights on!
 
Progress

Got the 24V supply properly mounted; its the thing with the big transformer and the big can (which is an electrolytic cap :eek:) mounted below the control relay box (the thing with the whole mess of wires):

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Here is the console with the control panel removed. It doesn't look it but I took the shop vac to the machine to start getting it cleaned out a bit...getting ready to test the regulated power supplies:

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Here is the control panel...again, lift and pull the console side panels away from the console and then it is easy to get to the 4 screws that hold the control panel to the console...then disconnect the 2 really cool aluminum amphenol locking connecters and the control panel is free. Takes 2 minutes. The workshop has recently taken on additional duties as a tack room and hay barn for our two recent family additions...2 horses...this picture is an epitome of the home studio:

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Check this out...the deck plate is like an upside down shallow box made entirely out of plate steel that is at least 1/2" thick. My understanding is that it gets assembled and then milled, and then "relaxed" (heated so the metal can settle) and then resurfaced. The sides of the box are taller than my hand is wide:

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Ready to test the supplies. They came out good I think. I was worried about the 24V supply...feared that it was toast since it was unmounted from the console rack. Every rail had about 50mV of ripple but I think it was hash because the shop is full of old flourescent lighting.

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Look...all the meter lights and record ready lamps work. That is a rarity with these and a sign that it was maintained:

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Oooo...pretty lights on the control panel, and almost all work and I have spares:

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All the record lights work too:

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Here are two videos of the power up...the first part is the first run and the second one is part II after I figured a couple things out.

YouTube

YouTube

Bottom line? So far everything seems to work except the lifters, and the capstan seems to run with no load on the tension arms and I think its supposed to shut off. Still more testing to do, but so far so good. DO watch the videos...you have to hear the sounds this thing makes.
 
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Looks good man! (told you it wouldn't be long until we saw some lights:))

That's real nice that all the lights work except the one track ready switch, that's one thing that always encourages me about the general state of things when dealing with old electronics.

Hope the lifter situation is just a jammed linkage or a dirty solenoid, looking forward to the fix!
 
Thanks!

The lifter situation will be a little more in depth...linkage is operating nice and smooth. There's no power to the solenoid. That's actualy better in my mind because then the solenoid itself is hopefully still good. I've got the schematics and I'm banking on it being dirty contacts or a bad connection back in the control relay box. I think I really like these old machines because I like to be able to do everything to fix a machine but logic circuitry is just beyond me, and I've accepted that it always will be. There's too little time to devote to educating myself on that. I learned that with my Tascam 58 debacle. There isn't one IC on this whole machine. I'm comfy with that. And is it not amazing that this thing, which is around 40 years old that is a complex electro-mechanical device is even working to the capacity tht's been demonstrated thus far?

So I'll track that lifter issue down.

After that it will be running some tape through and seeing how the transport behaves.
 
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