Tascam 238 Syncaset | First Impressions, Tear Down & Repair.

My first impressions of the 238. This unit was sent to me for repair, as well as basic cleaning lubrication and alignment/calibration, signal path electrolytic capacitors were replaced on two of the eight amplifier PCBs to resolve low recording levels on two tracks. I wanted to get the unit back to the customer ASAP, hence everything being jumbled together in one long video!

___________________________________________________________________________________
TETRAKAN - Fix & Use Tape Recorders

Overviews; tear-downs; repair vlogs; techniques; tutorials; demo recordings...
...covering every cassette multitrack recorder ever made!*
*(eventually)
   / tetrakan  

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT I USE;-
https://kit.co/Tetrakan

I post exclusive content on PATREON;-
  / tetrakan  

DONATIONS are gratefully accepted via my BLOG, which also features written articles and FREE DOWNLOADS OF SERVICE MANUALS;-
https://tetrakansupermonobloc.home.blog/

I prefer to answer questions in the youtube comments where my answers can help more than one person, but if you need to share photos etc, you can message me via facebook.
  / tetrakan  
___________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
2:00 First impressions - front panel
5:21 Rear panel
8:09 Looking over the User manual
9:17 Source tape switching & insert button
10:55 counter units & TRT tape run time
11:05 External synchronisation
11:26 MIDI & FSK frequency shift keying
11:39 Tape sync & filter switches
12:15 Caveats regarding the recording of sync data
13:21 Computer control via SMPTE
1400 Serial port & bps rates
15:11 Tape speed vs tape run time etc
15:42 User pitch control
16:13 Rack ears - my thoughts on the format
16:49 Multi region voltage
17:23 Frequency response, Dynamic range & signal levels
17:45 Official accessories
18:05 skimming over the service manual
18:52 Trimpot locations
19:09 Contrast & compare build with 234 and 488
20:00 Deciding what to do next
20:37 First test
23:18 Shuttle control silliness
23:40 Results after adjusting playback amps
24:58 Aligning meters & testing record amplifiers
25:48 Remove upper case
26:47 Safety precaustions
28:11 Remove amplifier PCBs
31:16 Remove cassette player
34:34 First look at cassette mechanism
36:35 Access Idler tire & pinch roller for cleaning
40:09 Idler tire and pinch roller sizes
40:55 remove front panel & access shuttle controls
43:45 Access control boards, meters, counter switches etc.
45:34 Mother, power supply & rear switch PCBs
47:56 Replacing electrolytic capacitors on faulty amplifier PCBs
49:12 results of repair & conclusion