Sony TCD-D8 DAT Walkman no longer fully loads tape cartidge.

[Rev. 11D Meow!]

I've hunted all over and find decades old information on this being a
typical problem for this unit, but cannot find the parts &
instructions on how to fix it.

I Have The Tools

Anyone familiar with this situation on these units, so I can get mine
working again, please?

In the interim I bought their PCM-M1 in mint condition to get going
again, but it'd be really nice to get my old tried & true TCD-D8
running again as it's in pristine condition other than this failure to
load.

Thanks

[N_Cook]

If its like the D3 or D10 then no rubber bands to perish, direct motor
drives. First suspect would be the cassette detect switch bent or
corroded. If motor tries to work then perhaps its failure of the
multi-poles of the motor, they are so close together they jump and
"fuse" , whatever the terminology is. End result is loss of poles and
loss of torque or failure to turn more than part of a turn

[Rev. 11D Meow!]

From what I've read it's something to do with the need for a slightly
reshaped cam of som e sort.

This is all I find on the problem'.
Actually this place Has Everything to do with these Sony DATs in one
place, pretty much.
http://www.rockpark.com/d7

BTW this http://www.rockpark.com/d7/8_build.txt can be found REALLY
PROFESSIONALLY MADE for $45 at Core. I'd be stuck at the finding the
7-pin plug part.

For some reason the article about the D8 having DAT cartridge load
problems is not on this page as I thought it is. argh & drat

whoop, found it again, but it's like way gone by now...
http://www.libermansound.com/repair/dat.php

argh

[Rev. 11D Meow!]

ok, this is way fun, actually, for old-times "WHAM THE TV AND IT'LL
WORK" days refreshment.

IT WORKED!

The unit successfully loads the DAT cartridge afte 5 "Distinct Opening
& Closing of the Loader Door. Then WHAMMING IT PERFECTLY PARALLEL with
the desktop three times...
et VIOLA!

SHE WORKS!

Oh No

That isn't the problem after all.

The cartridges now load okay, but Play does not do anything but...
LOAD {flashing}
0H00M00S shows and the LOAD process is over.

The one person suggested pressing Record Then Pause to do something or
other, so let's try that, eh.

UnLoad Tape
slam the gizmo one more time for effect
Load Tape
Hit Rewind LOAD flashes then the unit stops as it is at the beginning
of the tape.
Press FF and it tries for a few seconds then stops at the same set of
zeros.
Press & Hold FF and it does the same thing.
Press Record and it says TAPE PROTECT, oopsy
UnLoad Tape
{there's no label on this tape so it is probably FRANK ZAPPA LIVE AT
THE KINGDOME OR SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT TODAY!}
un-latch write-protect on DAT tape thingy
put it back in and it says LOAD for a second then all zeros as that's
where it was last time or something
Press Record
nothing happens
Oh, Wait, Press Play to begin THE ARMED RECORDING thingy
er, uh, no it's press Record & Play at The Same Time, oopsy
AH HA moment WRITE shows up for a second or two then the tape
transport STOPS and we are still at all zeros tape time.

hmmmmmmmmmm

what now, bloss?

[Gareth Magennis]

"Rev. 11D Meow!" wrote in message
news:77ekna5llo2mbprqb...@4ax.com...

I used to repair DAT's years ago. Even then I wouldn't fix one of these
unless I had to, they were and are a nightmare.

Partly due to the fact that they have a miniature head, meaning you have to
wrap the tape around a load more of it than the 90 degrees a normal head
requires.
And being kind of small, they were kind of a bastard to work on anyway.

Typical DAT problems are dirty or broken Mode Switches. These tell the
machine what position the transport and loading mechanism are in. Or won't
if they don't work properly.
You can sometimes clean these with switch cleaner.

Other common loading problems is the loading mech not getting the tape quite
far enough when trying to wrap it round the head. This can be due to worn
or dry sleds and runners. Careful lubrication might help.
You can sometimes clarify whether this is the problem by trying to give them
a helping hand whilst loading - sometimes you will be able to push them
fully home.

But there are all sorts of other mechanical things that wear, lose their
lubricants, and were just not designed well in the first place.
It's usually a combination of many many different things being not quite
right any more.


If you want a DAT that is very easy to work on, get a Panasonic SV3700 or
3800.


Good luck.



Gareth.

[Rev. 11D Meow!]

Thanks, Gareth, it appears it's some sort of cam wear on this thing in
the loading mechanism which causes grief. Sitting for over a decade
certainly couldn't cause this wear, though, is what I am hoping...

It was working 111% when last used and put away carefully.

for a really long time.

I am surprised it powers-on at all, actually, much less this
replacement PCM-M1 which is plowing through the 33 DAT cartridges I
never got around to mulling over to the Archive drives.

The CORE cable I bought that does 7-pin Sont DAT communications hooked
to a single grounded line to one specific pin out to a RCA plug
coaxial S-P/DIF connector into the M-Audio M-Track Plus input of
similar ilk, though the signal level mismatch does not appear to be
any problem whatsoever as CORE explains on its site.

YAY

all these ambient tapes with occasina Harley-Davidson engine noises
AND the crows.

That's pretty much it on these archive tapes.

What a joy to spend another thousand dollars on what would probably
cost $20/tape to get transcribed.

But Now I Have The Equipment To GO RETRO again still...


DAT ROCKS!