Tascam Midiizer MTS-1000 Manual & Cables

[trancedental]

That is impressive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When will it be all finished, looks like a lot of work?

Back to our scheduled programing.............!

Should have posted this on here before but just to say on the faulty midiizer display screen, the "accessory 2 online & ready" message does not appear after the Tascam welcome message. Afterwards the usual timecode displays as normal.

Seems that something is wrong along the signal circuit from the Acc 2 serial D-Sub input on the lower bottom PCB onwards. Or maybe a software glitch? Wonder if there is a reset procedure on this machine?

 

[trancedental]

Taken a few pictures

1. My working Midiizer software version displayed on screen
C 1.22 M 1.21

BTW the faulty Midiizer software displays
C 2.00 M 0.00 ??????

2. Control PCB Middle showing the location of "C" chip marked "C 2.00"

3 Main Lower PCB board

4. Main PCB lower board showing "M" chip marked 2.00 & the nearby yellow SANYO battery

So the "M" chip in the picture above marked as 2.00 is the one displayed on the faulty Midiizer software version as M 0.00

Either that strange SANYO battery is gone or the chip is faulty?

Just going to test the battery for continuity now!

 

[trancedental]

Here's the type of battery which seems weak in the faulty machine & doesn't even make my meter bleep at all it reads .328 continuty........!

The battery in the working machine reads -1.0 AND bleeps!

I've swaped the "M" 2.00 / 1.22 chips (I'm assuming they are ROM chips?) around & that one works in the working machine and is displayed as normal "Accessory 2 is online" & the software version is displayed. And the buttons & lights all come on at power up & work when you press them!!!!

When I moved the other working "M" ROM chip to the faulty machine it resulted in the same problems as before.

So I need to get hold of one of these weird batteries, none available locally or online over here to try out

Sanyo Cadnica N-SB3 Nominal voltage (V) 3.6, Capacity (mAh) at 0.2C rate 90

This thread is becoming as long as one of those sweetbeats threads!!!!!!!

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

looks like a lot of work?

Work? Surely you jest...your the one tearing apart a Midizer?

 

[jpmorris]

So I need to get hold of one of these weird batteries, none available locally or online over here to try out

Sanyo Cadnica N-SB3 Nominal voltage (V) 3.6, Capacity (mAh) at 0.2C rate 90
This thread is becoming as long as one of those sweetbeats threads!!!!!!!

It would take a bit of adapting, package-wise, but wouldn't one of these work?

http://www.cellpacksolutions.co.uk/rayovac-varta/rechargeable/Mempac/mempac-batteries.asp

I've seen the three-pin ones often used for this kind of thing, on the Cheetah MS6 (which I had to replace to fix mine) and also on sideways firmware boards for the BBC micro.

 

[trancedental]

Cheers JPM I've sent them an EMail. Looks like they refurbish rare batteries as well?

I'm wondering do these batteries have to be recharged before use / installation, never come across them before.

 

[jpmorris]

Cheers JPM I've sent them an EMail. Looks like they refurbish rare batteries as well?
I'm wondering do these batteries have to be recharged before use / installation, never come across them before.

They trickle-charge, so generally it's a matter of keeping the machine on for a few hours and making sure it's regularly powered up to keep it live.

 

[trancedental]

Looks like this battery rechargable with a 48hr trickle charge current 3.0 mA? 500+ recharges in it's lifetime

https://us.sanyo.com/batteries/pdfs/cadnica_E.pdf

Maybe the midiizer has not been turned on in a while before I got it so the battery lost it's charge.

"Note: the sale of Nickel Cadmium batteries is now banned within the European Union except for cetain exempt applications such as medical use"

No wonder I can't find a replacement over here!

"When not under load or charge, a NiCd battery will self-discharge approximately 10% per month at 20 °C, ranging up to 20% per month at higher temperatures. It is possible to perform a "trickle charge" at current levels just high enough to offset this discharge rate; to keep a battery fully charged. However, if the battery is going to be stored unused for a long period of time, it should be discharged down to at most 40% of capacity (some manufacturers recommend fully discharging, or even short-circuiting), and stored in a cool, dry environment."

Might as well leave this machine on for a day or two & see if the battery recharges?

 

[jpmorris]

I think the replacement I got for the Cheetah was a NiMH battery, rather than Nicad.

 

[sweetbeats]

A bit OT on the slightly dated thread, but I';ve been trying and trying to find a jpeg of the back of an MTS-1000 to see what connections it has...

Can somebody just tell me what's there? What I'm wondering specifically is if the MTS-1000 can interface two slave atr's with a DAW outputting MTC.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

What I'm wondering specifically is if the MTS-1000 can interface two slave atr's

One ATR must be a Master and one a Slave. Both must have Accessory2 inputs/outputs(Serial I/F). These are Dsub15 connections, are a bitch to find, and you must have the pinouts(ask) to make DIY cables.

with a DAW outputting MTC.

The Midiizer also has Master T/C In and Loop out, and Slave I/C IN and Loop out. These are RCA connections.
fitZ

I doubt if BOTH ATRs can be used as slaves to a DAW. I know you can slave one ATR to a Master ATR, but I really don't know about slaving either to a DAW.

 

[sweetbeats]

Rick, thanks...that's what I needed to know. It's like my ES-50 then.

There was an MTS-1000 that was listed on eBay...looked to be VGC with oem manual for 150 bucks...gone already but as far as sync connections it doesn't do more than my ES-50...of course it does do a lot more feature-wise.

BTW I hear ya on the sync cable...I built a slave cable for the ES-50 to my 48 or 58 which is ELCO-38 to 50-pin cinch...

 

[Beck]

Cory,

Here's the back of the one I used to have. A pic of the cable pinout is further up in this thread. There is no easy way that I know of to make an ATR slave to a DAW with the MTS-1000.

 

[sweetbeats]

So the MTS-1000 won't function as a code-only master for the ATR (i.e. MTC from DAW [master] -> MTS-1000 <- SMPTE from atr [slave])?

I've been running my ES-50/51 and 58 this way in the past (though of course the DAW is outputting SMPTE code since the ES-50 only speaks SMPTE)...you might recall that there was a runaway slave problem with the 58 and it turned out that was because the ES-50 wants two transports connected, either ATR-ATR, ATR-VTR or VTR-VTR...I thought the MTS-1000 might have advanced beyond the that limitation...I'm looking for a second ES-50...with that I'd be able to slave two ATR's to a DAW master, all controlled by the ES-51 controller since it can control up to 3 ES-50's...

 

[kyaal]

So the MTS-1000 won't function as a code-only master for the ATR (i.e. MTC from DAW [master] -> MTS-1000 <- SMPTE from atr [slave])?

I've been running my ES-50/51 and 58 this way in the past (though of course the DAW is outputting SMPTE code since the ES-50 only speaks SMPTE)...you might recall that there was a runaway slave problem with the 58 and it turned out that was because the ES-50 wants two transports connected, either ATR-ATR, ATR-VTR or VTR-VTR...I thought the MTS-1000 might have advanced beyond the that limitation...I'm looking for a second ES-50...with that I'd be able to slave two ATR's to a DAW master, all controlled by the ES-51 controller since it can control up to 3 ES-50's...

Hey,
the Midiizer will work with a code only master, but i'm pretty sure the Midiizer hasn't got the ability to convert MTC from your DAW to Smpte.

I use my Midiizer for slaving a MSR-24 to Logic, with a Smpte .wav on one of Logic's tracks (or if using Cubase you could use the built in Smpte generator), assigning it to one of your soundcard analog outs.

Hope this helps

K

 

[Beck]

So the MTS-1000 won't function as a code-only master for the ATR (i.e. MTC from DAW [master] -> MTS-1000 <- SMPTE from atr [slave])?

I've been running my ES-50/51 and 58 this way in the past (though of course the DAW is outputting SMPTE code since the ES-50 only speaks SMPTE)...you might recall that there was a runaway slave problem with the 58 and it turned out that was because the ES-50 wants two transports connected, either ATR-ATR, ATR-VTR or VTR-VTR...I thought the MTS-1000 might have advanced beyond the that limitation...I'm looking for a second ES-50...with that I'd be able to slave two ATR's to a DAW master, all controlled by the ES-51 controller since it can control up to 3 ES-50's...

I think they were just geared for different purposes. The MTS-1000 came out in 1989, just a year after the ES-50. The big selling points with the Tascam MTS-1000 were remote transport control of decks like MSR/TSR and 238, and MIDI features on top of basic syncing. You could sync about anything, but the Titanic.

Well, the Titanic was thought to be unsyncable anyway, but that was way before SMPTE and it’s at the bottom of the ocean, so… um… we may never know. Makes ya stop and think though, doesn’t it?

What kyaal said is correct, and you can use any recorder... VCR, digital or another ATR as code-only master, but only using a SMPTE stripe like you have with the ES-50 and unfortunately you can still drive only one slave ATR.

Anyway, the main reason I still prefer the ATR as master and the DAW as slave is that when fast forwarding and rewinding the DAW responds to location cues almost instantaneously once you hit PLAY, as opposed to having to wait for a slave ATR to find its place.

So, another reason you might want to look into it is that the MTS-1000 will sync up two ATR’s and a DAW as long as the master is an ATR. This way it will work because the DAW follows MTC. The rub is the MTS-1000 doesn’t work with all Tascam decks.

In my case I only needed to sync one ATR with my DAW, so I sold my MTS-1000, as I get the whole thing done with a simple SMPTE to MTC box made by J.L. Cooper. Stability will be different from one system to the next I'm sure.

 

[trancedental]

The Midiizer is the master controling timecode & it adjusts the speed of both R2R recorders once they have been stripped with sync code to maintain exact sync. If one or both recorders slows down or speeds up the Midiizer brings them back to exactly where they should be regarding timing or location.

The Midiizer controls the recorders as long as both have the Accessesory 2 / D Sub cables connected as well as the normal RCA cables which carry the sync code. So the R2R recorders slave to the Midiizer & of course they chase & then sync up when you fast forward & rewind to exacty where the Midiizer tells them to!!!!!

MTC is generated by the Midiizer so you can slave the DAW to that easily enough. you can turn of the tempo map & use the one in your DAW for tempo changes if using MIDI or / loops.

If you only connect the RCA sync cables then the Midiizer only slaves to the recorders sync code like the usual sync SMPTE boxes

EDIT From just reading the manual you need the IF-1000 Parallel interace Unit to use the Midiizer with the Tascam 48 58 or other models & makes of R2R recorders plus a pair of interface cables, one for your exact machine & one between the Midiizer & the IF-1000!!!!!!!

 

[viking147]

backup batteries

you can get backup batteries here

sandman.com/pdf/page78.pdf

 

[Telharmonium]

Hi, I am new to this forum and I just had a MTS 1000 given to me, it was in use in a studio and seems to work fine but I haven't a manual and cannot figure out how to manage it. I realize this thread was started almost a year ago but if anyone has a copy of the manula in pdf would you mind sending me a copy.
Thanks
Martin

 

[sweetbeats]

cable questions

Hey, guys...trying to help out jjones1700 with this...

Referring to the pinout in this post, how important is that shield around the conductor from pin-7 to pin-7? You'd need a specialized cable OR use, like, balanced snake cable with individually shielded pairs to do it, yes?

What happens if you don't shield #7 and is it just more imperative on long cable runs?