Please forgive my ignorance (and help me not to be)

[nate_dennis]

I've never really been able to find a detailed description of all the parts of a deck. Please check me to see if my understanding is corect.



In lower end decks, one motor drives all moving parts, but in higher end decks, each spool or moving part has it's own motor.

Right or Wrong?




The capstan is a metal "arm" that actually engages the tape (be it the "gears" in a cassette or the tape itself on an R2R.)

Right or wrong?




The pinch roller is a rubber wheel that puts pressure on the tape to keep it tight against the capstan.

Right or wrong?




The capstan belt is what causes the capstan to turn, in turn driving the tape through the transport system.

Right or wrong?




The capstan, pinch roller, capstan belt/motor, are collectively reffered to as the transport system?

Right or wrong?



Ok, I know I've asked a lot, and I know it's basic. But I want to know how my gear works, not just how to work my gear. Thank you for all you have done to help.

 

[Blue Jinn]

What may help more is to locate a service manual for an open reel deck. I found the service manual for a Fostex 80 online easily enough. I don't have the link handy, but it came up quickly enough on a google search. Service maual not owners manual. That is a pretty basic machine with belts etc. So that may answer a lot of your questions. You are right on everything, except I don't know of a decent machine that has only one motor. I would n't call the capstan an arm more like a spindle.

Also, some machines have direct drive rather than belts. The 80 has three motors and three belts. THe OTari 5050 I have has three motors, no belts.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

I've never really been able to find a detailed description of all the parts of a deck. Please check me to see if my understanding is correct.



In lower end decks, one motor drives all moving parts, but in higher end decks, each spool or moving part has it's own motor.

Right or Wrong?

On lower end cassette decks, especially the ones with mechanical keys that you need to press to play, stop or wind the tape, yes; often one motor will run all of the mechanics of the transport via a series of gears or drive wheels, along with belts to get all parts moving in the correct direction and at the right speeds.

On more advanced cassette decks, such as the ones which have electronic buttons to engage the play, stop and winding functions, there can often be two or more motors used as well as solenoid pistons which can do things like electrically move the heads toward the tape to play or record or move them away in the fast winding modes.

On open reel to reel decks, many older consumer, home use only machines that were mono or plain old stereo, a similar one motor system could also be used just as are on lower end cassette decks only are the parts including the motor, would be on a larger scale to deal with the heavier reels of tape that they would need to move.

On almost all higher end consumer and professional open reel to reel decks, a three motor system would be used where the supply and take up reels would be via direct drive motors and the capstan would be driven by the third motor either directly or by a belt driven system. Direct drive systems though are generally preferred because there are no belts to wear out and need changing.

So the right or wrong answer you were looking for is a bit more complicated then a straight yes or no answer. You were on the right side of the idea though.

The capstan is a metal "arm" that actually engages the tape (be it the "gears" in a cassette or the tape itself on an R2R.)

Right or wrong?

Wrong.

The capstan is a stationary rotating shaft that makes contact with one side of the tape and together with the pinch roller, which squeezes up against the other side of the tape, work as a team to pull the tape past the heads at the chosen speed that the recorder is designed to run at. This principle is the same for cassette decks and reel to reel decks. The pinch roller usually is the part that is on a swing arm so that it can be moved in and out of the way when you need to fast wind a tape or remove the tape from the cassette or open reel deck.

The pinch roller is a rubber wheel that puts pressure on the tape to keep it tight against the capstan.

Right or wrong?

Correct!

The capstan belt is what causes the capstan to turn, in turn driving the tape through the transport system.

Right or wrong?

Correct! So long as we're talking about a belt driven capstan and not a direct drive capstan which again, requires no belt.

The capstan, pinch roller, capstan belt/motor, are collectively refereed to as the transport system?

Right or wrong?

Incorrect but close!

All of the collective parts of a Deck that contribute to the job of moving the tape are called the transport. This would also include the power supply and circuitry employed to electronically control the movement of all the parts.

Ok, I know I've asked a lot, and I know it's basic. But I want to know how my gear works, not just how to work my gear. Thank you for all you have done to help.

You're welcome!

Cheers!