The Original Tape Recorder (realistic model CTR-39)
I still have the original Radio Shack tape recorder and tapes
that I purchased for use with this machine. The transformer was
shot. Wires were broken and the case was held together with masking
tape. I threw it away. At this moment I am using a bench
power supply that I have handy to power the tape recorder. It still
mostly works, but badly needs a new belt for the tape drive. The
original belt slips badly. Even with the slipping belt I've been
able to read old tapes and write and read new ones. I'm on the lookout
for an appropriate replacement belt or a way to create one, which should
make running the machine vastly easier.
Tape Recorder Update 12/29/2005
I pulled the old tape recorder out again and used a trick I recently
learned in dealing with a jamming HP Laserjet printer. I simply wiped
down and cleaned the slipping belt with acetone. This seems to have
helped quite a bit and I'm no longer looking for a new belt. The auto-stop
feature still doesn't work, which could be related to the loose belt but
I'll leave that for some other time.
Tape Recorder Update II 12/28/2006
To my surprise I found that realistic CTR-39 model tape record I
had, was occassionally listed on ebay. I found one that included
the box and purchased it. This gave me an original "wall wart"
power supply to go with my old recorder. However the most
interesting aspect of this
ebay purchase is that I found that the power supply was not included as
part
of the package with the original unit. It was purchased as an
accessory. The bad news is that auto stop didn't work on the new
unit, either.
I spent some time digging into my older unit, and discovered how
the
mechanism worked. Turns out that a lot of force is needed to
operate
the autostop mechanism and the old belts and rollers inside the unit
are
not up to the job. During this process I tried replacing the
main drive
belt with a plain rubber band. It worked great, but other belts
and
rollers slipping inside the mechanism prevented the auto stop mechanism
from
working. Maybe someday, I will again try to debug this the
autostop mechanism..
