Ampex ATR-700 half track

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A Reel Person said:
That machine is a wreck!!!........... :eek:
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Yea, At first it looked real bad but that rust is mostly surface and away from the ekectronics. Here is a photo after removing the rusted parts and giving them a good wire brushing (Wire brush in my drill press at 4000 rpm) to remove the lose stuff. Then a few navel jelly - rinse cycles till the rust inthe pits was gone. Degrease and a coat or two of paint.

it cleaned up nicely.
 

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one more photo

Having gotten rid of the rust I cleaned the electronics and connectors. Pretty much having pull each sub assembly out for the task. The XLR connectors were losing their chrome plating so I trashed them. It takes me a long time to get around to ordering parts so who knows how long it will be before I buy new ones. (I've got a pile of 2sk170bl waiting 6 months on me to order 4 1g ohm resistors for my Oktava... but that is a differnet story)

Here is a photo of the front after just a little wipe down. Due to the history of this machine and the generally low prices for ATR700 I do not expect to resell it. I just would not feel comfortable putting it up on eBay without it really proving its self.

But that is OK. As some of you know I am more of an engineer/DIY type. SO I expect to get this this running using the existing internal balanced preamp then convert it over to use a (homebuilt) Jensen Twin Servo preamp with phantom power.

That would be more in line with the type of projects I like (OK, OK used to do and have not done in ages) which are live recordings of pipe organs.

Anyway here is the photo.
 

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evm1024 said:
.....I do not expect to resell it...
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I would not either.... but for a different reason. I would not (and never do in similar situations) sell it simply because the burnt passion and amount of work you put into it simply can not be repaid.

keep it.
...and keep it up. :)
 
It is playing....

I've been recapping the preamp board and in general cleaning and recaping the other boards one by one. A fes of the pots had some rust on them so I replaced them too.

Being me I created a half track "calibration" tape on my 32 and played it on the Ampex. (I don't trust the transport not to eat or write on my MRL yet)

In short I have playback calibrated to near 250 nW/m and I have been listening to some Pink Floyd on this deck. I am somewhat impressed with the ease of calibration. And having the record level switch allows recording or playback at 185, 250 or 370/320 nW/m all at the flick of a switch.

I've not listened for defects yet as that I am still finding and fixing the parts gone bad.

Some time soon I should have a few web pages available for this machine.
 
evm1024 said:
That would be more in line with the type of projects I like (OK, OK used to do and have not done in ages) which are live recordings of pipe organs.
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Check out this pipe organ EVM, it's in the Methuen Music Hall a town over from me I went a couple weeks ago. The sound in this place were amazing. I think it's one of the worlds biggest. Bad picture though, sorry.

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SteveMac said:
Check out this pipe organ EVM, it's in the Methuen Music Hall a town over from me I went a couple weeks ago. The sound in this place were amazing. I think it's one of the worlds biggest. Bad picture though, sorry.

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Thanks for the picture. This organ has an interesting history (don't they all!) You can read about it on their webpage. Here is the basic specs:

E. F. Walcker and Company, Opus 200, 1863
Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc., Opus 1103, 1947
4 manuals, 5 divisions, 84 stops, 115 ranks, 6,027 pipes
 
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I'm feeling good about the way this deck is coming along. It is playing and recording and in general doing what it is designed to do. I've not done a full calibration yet as that I am still changing caps and other odds and ends as time allows.

I've tossed the old chipped side panels and decided that White Oak would look nice. Here is a photo of the deck with unfinished side panels. Sorry about the bragging but I am very happy with it.

Ah, the image upload limit is too small so here is a link:

http://arafel.org/audio/atr-700/image/wip-1.jpg
 
evm1024 said:
Sorry about the bragging ...
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See no reason to be sorry at all. I'd say: "Go Back To Hell" To someone who reads a post about a great piece of gear being risen from the dead as "bragging". :D But I'm not a nice guy. :p
*********
Looks cool as blondy.
..btw, I forgot to mention, I do use "Wish You Were Here" album in various formats to 'test' sound quality of equipment. A little less often I use "Dark Side Of The Moon" and some "Kraftwerk" tracks. Tone generator also comes handy, but nothing shines as shine on as reference to my boned-in-and-out brains. :)
/respects
 
Hello, i'm new in this forum, i'm Fabio from Italy and a friend has given me an Ampex ATR700 in good conditions but there is a problem: the deck don't start to play and rewind, only forward. I opened the rear panel and i saw , in corrispondence of the buttons there is a little white pulley without strap. Can someone send me a photo of the back open to understand where I have to put the strap? Thank you!
 
Hi

I'll see if I can come up with a photo for you and some trouble shooting info. Till then I suspect that the little white pully is the tape counter. There should be another pully about 10 cm away. This is not important for tape motion.

Regards, Ethan
 
Yes, thanks, i saw the little pulley is only for the tape counter...and the problem stay here yet...i don't know if is only in the touch interruptors or in ahother place...without service manual is very hard...Someone have an idea? thanks
 
Me too

Hey, I just won an ATR 700 also.
I'm really psyched!
I too will want to get a manual so I'll work on it and keep you posted.
And, of course I will be keeping an eye on this forum string.

I'm also wondering if replacement heads are available for these machines and if so, how much they will set one back.
 
Vintage Texas said:
I can offer both operation or service section if you want;)
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Do you have a mic pot? I managed to break one of mine (100k if I recall correctly).

I'm in the slow process of photo copying my ATR700 manual. Might take a month but copies will have pullouts.

--Ethan
 
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