Revox A77 open reel machine

Call these guys....

Won't be cheap...but unless you want to make some (wouldn't be hard) they're the best source.

IIRC the brake bands look like a thin layer of cork.

BTW have you already tried the simpler fixes, such as cleaning the bands with alcohol?

On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:07:59 -0500, Donald Has Frothed:

JM Technical Arts

313 Rembrandt Dr. Old Hickory, TN 37138 Telefon: 001 615 754-8323 Fax: 001 615 754-8314 snipped-for-privacy@cs.com

--
Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker, June 2004

COOSN-266-06-25794

Not on the A77. They are very thin metal bands. There is a cotton like lining on the outside of the reel motor's rotor where the band rides.

If one were ambitious it would be possible to fashion some out of nylon carton banding.

Tip: The brake bands on this machine are prone to resonating (creaking, groaning) when the reel slows to a stop. An easy remedy for this is to apply some thin foam mounting tape to the outside of the band to damp vibration.

Scroll down for a look at the brake assy.

The advertisement is right: You CAN find it on eBay!

I'm surprised that there aren't parts still available for the A77 since it is still being used in radio stations all over the US.

bands for

please

~db~®

Surely you're not serious? The A77 is a domestic machine that is at least

25 years old. And is hopeless to edit on so never the choice of radio stations. Studer are the pro side of Revox and made many suitable 1/4" machines that were common in radio - once - but all the stations I know now use DAW based systems.

--
*Rehab is for quitters.

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Not around here. It is digitized to a hard drive, edited, and stored in their automation systems. They have thrown out all of their R-R, cart, and cassette tape machines. Their turntables are gone, replaced by a couple CD drives. The large audio boards are gone, replaced with a multiple channel sound card and software. This trend started over 10 years ago.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

The Studer/Revox A77 R-R tape deck is 40 years old. It was introduced to the market in 1967. It was available to radio stations before it was sold to the public.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

One of the primary functions of a 1/4" machine in a radio studio is for editing, and the A77 is hopeless for that. Studer already made suitable pro machines so I really can't see why they'd have aimed it at radio stations. Fine machine though it is, it simply isn't suitable. I suppose it might have been used for office listening given it was one of the few domestic machines that took NAB spools. But that's not really radio use.

As to tape still being used, MiniDisc was a good and cheap replacement for that before computer based systems became the norm.

--
*The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

The stations that I saw it in used it for portable use, in the field to record raw reports. then the tape was edited on the studio machines for broadcast. The first ad I saw for the A77 was in a broadcast trade journal. When cassette recorders were improved to an acceptable level, the portable r-r machines went into a closet.

Some of the A77 decks were modified to use in crude '60 & '70s automation systems. They were loaded with one hour tapes to run all night. The timer switched from one machine to the next, and the tapes were made, then duplicated by a programming service. Some of the services rotated the tapes along a circuit, so they were pretty well worn out by the time they were returned. A friend of mine has about

1000 10.5" and 7" reels that he's dragged home from a number of stations he maintains. he also has a lot of 30 minute records from syndicated programs from that era.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Good grief. They must have had strong reporters. ;-) And you could guarantee a mains supply in the field?

Things like the Uher Report were industry standard R-R machines for this use - battery operated. Or Nagra if better quality was needed.

Seems strange to go down that route when there were makers producing the exact equipment for this sort of use.

--
*Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let him sleep.

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 12:27:12 -0500, ~db~® Has Frothed:

Maybe some use them but I know many that went to digital and at least one a friend of mine works for that uses Sony Vegas on a Windows Xp platform.

--
Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker, June 2004

COOSN-266-06-25794

Oh, yes, I am serious. Not my choice for tricking out a professional studio, nor for a home machine for that matter. I have edited enough quarter-inch audio tape to stretch from here to Mars and back. Won't argue that the A77 is probably the worst open-reel deck for that job. And portable? In name only. But in the small town stations where I started out, state of the art was often trumped by state of the budget

And, as you guys aver, digital rules. My po>In article

,

used

machine that is at least

the choice of radio

made many suitable 1/4"

all the stations I know

~db~®

I am talking about things like recording a high school ball game for later broadcast, where a tech, or even the chief engineer went to the site to set up, and tear down the equipment. You live in the land of the government funded BBC. in the US, most stations were privately owned by an individual, or it was a family business.

Sure, for 15 minute or less interviews, where you didn't have to stop and change the tape.

Used A77 were available, and the engineers loved to tinker. Money spent on studio equipment wasn't available to fix other things.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Maybe, but their local radio stations had shoestring budgets.

But the A77 was an expensive high end domestic machine. Weren't there some cheaper but more robust home grown makes - Ampex, etc? In the UK, Ferrograph tended to have that side of the market sewn up.

I'm just curious - I'm an A77 fan. I have two including an HS one. And a Dolby SR unit for use with them.

--
*Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.  

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I have a MK1 A77 w/stainless steel faceplate that's been completely rebuilt and updated by TM technical. Sound quality is just amazing. Better than my Otari. But still a PITA to use....I wish they hadn't made them so compact.

Yup. They are capable of very fine sounds.

Which is why I expressed surprise about them being used professionally. Perhaps Studer deliberately made them so awkward to avoid pinching sales from the pro side.

--
*Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.