Tascam 244 Story…

  • Thread starter Thread starter sweetbeats
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cjacek said:
Cory, Dave: So nice to see the old faces again still posting. I occasionally lurk, for account of a busy life. Cory, fascinating 244 story (so far ;) ). I still fondly recollect our conversations and the help that you gave my 244 (among others). Lovely machine indeed. Dave, it's been a long time, still recall being amazed at your collection and listening to your 244 / 388 productions, so nice to see you too again. What a wealth of knowledge and contribution you guys have left behind.
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Daniel! So good to “see” you! Dave too!

Hope you are well these days!

Do you still have your ATR60-4HS?
 
I'm doing okay these days Cory, haven't really done much with my stuff for a while, most is in storage, including the ATR60-4HS :D
 
Cory, sorry if this was answered before but how exactly do you remove that pin from the pinch roller assembly to remove the old pinch roller?
 
cjacek said:
Cory, sorry if this was answered before but how exactly do you remove that pin from the pinch roller assembly to remove the old pinch roller?
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Hey, Daniel…if the 246 is the same as the 244 (is the 246 what you’re working on?), and it likely is, the pin is press-fit into the carrier, and needs to be driven out and pressed back in. It’s not a super-tight fit. I typically use a precision mini driver bit set, pick a small hex bit that’s smaller than the pin, put the bit in the handle so I have something to hold, set the pinch roller on its side on something like a hex nut with pin centered over the hole of the nut so when I drive the pin out there is somewhere for it to move, place the precision mini driver bit at the other end and gently tap the driver handle with a plastic mallet or something, or I’ll place it in a small bench vice to press it out. The driver bit will get it started but won’t be long enough to drive the pin far enough to get the roller out. I should have something dedicated to drive it the rest of the way but I just tap on a small Allen key or something like that. Don’t drive the pin all the way out…just enough so the roller will clear. Reinstall is the reverse of the above only you don’t need the hex nut…bench vice is helpful here. Sometimes I’ll use a locking adjustable wrench I have (it’s like a crescent wrench/vice grip combo tool). I should probably do a video of this sometime. What are you installing in place of the original roller?
 
Thanks Cory, I wonder if something like this would work too (it has a height adjustable platform too):
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0CQC7D9DV/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=AXNK5ME4JRG50&th=1
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That’s actually a really cool setup, but I’m not sure there is enough height available between the work surface and the pin driver because you need at least the radius of the pinch roller, and I think that’s greater than watch band thickness, unless the deck is height adjustable?
 
Oh I see…the deck is height adjustable…but I can’t find any spec on the height adjustment and whether it will accommodate the pinch roller dimensions…
 
I might just get it to try it out, it's fairly cheap. In the photo below they try to show how low it can go I suppose (indicated by the blue). I wonder if that's enough clearance. Also the slots on the side (for the punched out pin) look wide enough. If it has enough force and the tips don't break, we might have something there.
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The concept is definitely great. I looked at some others and you’re right, they are really affordable. The 244 and 246 roller is 12mm in diameter, so the distance from the deck to the centerline of the driver pin needs to be 6mm. The roller pin is 2mm in diameter. Again, it’s not a super-tight fit, so the pin press doesn’t have heavy work to do. I think it’s worth a try, I just wish I could verify the “throat” of the press device and none of them I looked at share this spec and I can’t find manuals for them either…which…probably also doesn’t share the spec. I like the one you found though because the chassis of the press is plastic which will be non-marring, and the entire deck raises and lowers so you don’t have to fidget with balancing the roller assembly on the edge of a small round table, etc.

Daniel, what are you doing for a replacement roller? I cannot recommend the Athan rollers highly enough. They are better than stock, more precise and stable and will last longer than rubber. I don’t expect you’ve read this but I had a thread on cassette pinch rollers and part of the outcome of the exploration was coming to conclusion that the edge track issues on the many 8-track cassette machines I’ve owned or worked on over the years were likely caused by the pinch roller, even though it presented as serviceable. I think they all could have been resolved by getting the Athan roller…found that even vintage rubber rollers that were still in good physical condition were slightly conical in shape, which causes the tape to get slightly pulled to one side of the tape path, and with the 8-track machines, of course, since the tracks are so extremely narrow, that causes significant performance issues with track 1 or track 8. I recently sold a 238 I refurbished and I used an Athan roller (Athan didn’t make a 238 roller but I collaborated with George and they now offer it) that had the typical edge track issue. Athan roller went in and *boom* problem solved…first 8-track cassette machine I’ve been able to dial in all tracks to factory spec with stable performance. The Athan rollers have new precision mini roller bearings and a brass core for damping of mechanical noise and precision operation. I put one in my ATRMX-64, have one for a 244 and one to put in my 122-B. I don’t trust the quality of the aftermarket replacement rollers…no verifiable manufacturing standards, and these things matter with these small rollers; small imperfections may cause wow/flutter issues, etc. I’ve used one in another 238 I worked on and while the edge track issue was improved it was not resolved. The very worst option is the replacement “tire” option where you just get a small rubber doughnut, somehow remove the original rubber from the roller core and slip the doughnut on. You get what you pay for. Maybe this is fine for a general service dictation machine or something but for high-speed cassette multitracking or cassette mastering it just makes no sense. I’d also trust a refurbished roller from Terry’s Rubber Rollers, but I haven’t checked in with Terry in a long while and I’m not sure if he’s still as active. A refurbished roller from Terry would be less costly, but also isn’t an all-new assembly like the Athan roller with the brass core and roller bearings with precision bore. Anyway…diatribe over. :)
 
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Cory, much thanks for the detailed info. I definitely will consider it. How about the idler tires and belts, where did you buy yours?
 
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Cory, how did you remove that retaining ring around the idler shaft (photo below) without scratching anything. Can't recall how I did it, been many years.
DSCF5637.webp
 
Ahhh yes. So I usually use a mini precision flat-blade screwdriver bit to carefully sort of spread the retainer where it splits, and as I rotate the bit it lifts one side up and out of the groove…and I can kind work the rest of it out. I keep my index finger of my other hand over the top of the retainer to prevent it launching to parts unknown. Hope that helps.
 
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