Help with calibrating a Fostex R8

[Fidelity Castro]

Hi,
I am wondering if someone can provide some advice.

I recently acquired a Fostex R8 and, being an ambitious young lad, I am keen to try my hand at performing all the necessary maintenance myself. Unfortunately I don't have much confidence in finding a knowledgable technician here in Adelaide (a smallish town in South Australia).. besides, I would rather do the work myself with patience and care than get some other amateur to rush through it and charge me hundreds of dollars just because it's "a lost art" or something.

I am aware I need to clean and demagnetise the heads and tape path. Beyond this my knowledge is pretty limited, but expanding every day.

I have found some great info on calibration from the Magnetic Reference Lab, but I guess I'm hoping someone on this forum might have had some more practical experience with the R8 specifically.

I know I need to record the tones onto tape (easy enough), and I know I need to make adjustments. But where physically are the adjustments made? Are there controls for this inside the machine somewhere?

Apologies if similar questions have already been addressed elsewhere on this forum.

 

[jpmorris]

Hi,
I know I need to record the tones onto tape (easy enough), and I know I need to make adjustments. But where physically are the adjustments made? Are there controls for this inside the machine somewhere?

The channel cards are in the bottom of the machine. I don't have an R8 myself, but I've seen its insides.
On the A8 there are a set of holes in the bottom to allow you to adjust it. On the Tascam '32 you have to open a flap, on the TSR you have to remove the bottom plate, and on the B77 you have to dismantle the whole damn thing unless you have the rackmount case.

 

[My Name]

Well for starters you will need to get hold of some equipment.

Firstly , and prbably most important, you will need to get hold of a calibration tape. They come in many varieties so you will need to find out what kind of cal tape you need. By the way, recording tones yourself will not help you at all!!!!

You will also need something that will read small amounts of voltage. A cheep multimeter is very unlikely to be able to read the small votages that are necessary for calibration.

and finally, you wilol need something to generate tone. Your PC and some suitable software will do the trick. Also you can use your PC and suitable software as an oscilliscope.

I know it sounds ominous but it is definitely worth learning and buying this gear coz fouy will learn a lot about your machine and you will save a lot of mony on setup techs....


Good luck

 

[Fidelity Castro]

Thanks for the comments. I've located the adjustment points, and feel pretty confident to do it once I have the tape.
I'll be back in touch if I run into any more trouble..
Cheers