General Calibration question... with a digi-002?

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poopchute

poopchute

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I am about to embark on a full alignment and calibration of my TSR-8. I have everything I need except a Multi-meter. I have one. A "Victor VC9805A" But Im not sure if it goes down low enough to do the Bias.
Anyway, I believe that my record head is off a little. So I want to use winscope. But Im wondering if I can use a Digi-002 to connect it to the computer. If I can, what settings do I want. Or does that not matter?
 
Aww man. I screwed it up big time. Anyone know where I can find a professional calibration service?
 
What did you "screw up" big time? The zenith is fixed on the TSR-8 and the wrap and azimuth is semi-fixed so it is hard to screw it up big time...and yes you should be able to use any A/D/A converter such as the Digi 002 to winscope to do your azimuth.
 
Turns out I didnt screw it up that bad. But I do have some questions about my MRL tape. It says Multifrequency Calibration Tape at 0 db. But it also says that its 250 nWb/m. But isnt that +3? I dont understand how it says 0 and +3. Im probably confusing the two and they are not the same thing like I think. So Im reading the whole article that explains how to set your machine to whatever you want +3 +6 or whatever. If I have some Quantegy 456 but plan on using ATR in the future I should probably want my machine set at +3 or +6. So according to the article I should be setting the rep level to -6 right?
 
It's all about the baseline.

IIRC, 250 is +3 over 185 nWb/m. If you want to do it that way, you'd use a 185 nWb/m tape and calibrate the machine so that it reads +3.
However, it's simpler to just get a 250 nWb/m and calibrate it so that the machine reads 0.
 
So if I wanted my machine set at +3 I would take that MRL tape and set it so the rep level is at -3? If I wanted +6 I would set the rep levels to -6?
I wish there were more videos of people doing alignments on youtube.
 
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I have a question about the program Visual Analyzer for PC. Its a great piece of software. But it doesnt seem to come with any instructions. First off, is there a way to measure the db of whatever Im piping into my digi-002? And the same for if I wanna send a signal or tone. Many times in a calibration tutorial they will mention that you need to send a 1000 Hz at (-10 dBV) But from what Im seeing there is only a way to turn up or down the sound by a percentage. Im sure Im just missing it.
 
I hate to ask. But I have figured out how to get Visual Analyzer to produce a -10db tone for me. But The question I have is, how do I know that the tone is really -10 db? If I turn my overall output up or down wont that change the -10db tone Im trying to make? Probably wont get an answer and Ill be back in a day to explain that I figured it out. Anyone wanna save me another day? Beck? Are you still around? I know you could answer this for me off the top of your head...
 
You set your voltmeter to AC volts, start the tone and trim to get 0.316VAC RMS. That equates to the -10dBv you are looking for. This won't work so well if the meter isn't true RMS reading...and ideally it should be acurate over the audio band (20Hz~20kHz). Unfortunately your Victor meter is neither true RMS reading but is also not rated for audio work (only acurate from 40Hz~400Hz).
 
Thank You sweetbeats...
Apparently the MM the Beck had listed a while ago, the RadioShack 22-811 doesnt seem to do True RMS. And Apparently neither does mine. But what Im wondering is. can I use my Victor MM to calibrate the Voltmeter on Visual Analyzr?
 
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Well, it'll work, but if it is not an RMS reading meter it won't give you acurate measures. And if it is not rated for audio it also won't be acurate especially at frequencies over 1kHz.

I bought my Fluke 87 for $70 and spent $20 on a rebuild kit for the LCD. Its rated for good accuracy from 20Hz~20kHz and is true RMS reading. I wouldn't use anything else than something of that spec after working with a meter that was only rated to 400Hz...how far off will it be? I don't know, but I'm picky and I just didn't like the idea of reading "0.316V" at 10kHz and having no idea if it really was "0.316V". I remember doing a direct comparison when I did end up getting the Fluke but I don't recall how big the difference was but it was significant.
 
Im actually wondering if I borrowed a True RMS Multimeter. One that didnt quite have the 20Hz-20kHz range, Can I use that to calibrate the Voltmeter on Visual Analyzer? Cause that would be the cheapest way for me. And if I can actually get the Voltmeter to calibrate on Visual Analyzer then I can do just about everything from there, except the MRL stuff.
Would that work?
 
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Where'd you get the frequency spec? Did you find the manual?

That should work fine, though for a little bit more I'd be getting a Fluke, but that should work just fine and I wouldn't sweat the 40Hz lower limit...there's not much if any need to calibrate below that anyway as the TSR-8 LF knee is about that anyway.

Keep in mind that you want the meter not just for setting teh output level to the PC, but also for attenuating levels on tones from your tone generator. If you are using a computer-based tone generator that is absolutely okey-fine but you'll want to set the levels of the tones to 0.316VAC coming off the 002, so you need it both ways. A true RMS DMM with a audio bandwidth spec is an indespensable tool for calibrating analog tape machines as well as for general repair and troubleshooting around the studio.
 
Is it me or are the Fluke 87's not being made new and sold anymore? All I can find are 87 III's and 87V and those are all over 200 bucks new. I tried calling my local Home depots, Menards, Fleet Farm and none of them have Fluke brand.
 
The 80-series are still being made but 87V is the current model. Yeah...they are more $$$ than I recall. Mine's an 87III and, like I said, got it used for $70 and did the repair on the LCD.

Poop, you're fine with the one you are getting so long as the frequency range is related to AC volts accuracy. What I mean is that if it has a frequency counter function, just because it can count up to XkHz doesn't mean it is accurate to that frequency when measuring voltage.
 
Okay...

Just looked at the manual for the Klein MM2000...as far as what's on paper that should work just fine.
 
Thanks sweetbeats, I'd give you some positive rep but I already did before and it wont let me... :)
 
poopchute said:
Thanks sweetbeats, I'd give you some positive rep but I already did before and it wont let me... :)
Click to expand...

I'll give him some for ya'. I need to spread it around anyway plus posting in this thread lets me mark it so when I need some help with my 3340, I'll be able to find the specialists.
 
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