amstrad cpc464 tape deck loading fault

[demon007]

hi folks iam in need of a bit of help.

i just got hold of a old amstrad cpc464 with color monitor, its been in my mates attic for the last 18 years, it was boxed and working before tho so it wasnt that dirty looks brand new ish, the problem iam having is when i try to load a tape from the data recorder eg... press control and enter you get the run" press play on tape message and press play then any key it all starts working except i get no noise from the tape and no loading happens.

the data recorder or tape deck plays,stops,ff,rws and pause fine so i dont know why its not working, i already have tried cleaning the play head and opened the old gel up and had a look but theres no broken wires or anything that might be a
problem, if any one can help on this matter it would be a great

[ZilogMonkey]

First, welcome to the world of CPC! 

The tape you tried to load data from, is it an old tape stored together with the CPC?

If so the tape might be corrupted by time

Try using a blank tape. Rewind it and save a small basic program on the blank tape!

SAVE "myprog"

After this is done, rewind the tape again and validate the data by typing CAT.

If the filename is displayed on the screen together with its type and OK when the block completes, you then know that at least the tapedrive is okay!

If the tapedrive is okay, the problem with reading the old tape might be the alignment of the azimuth!

There is strangely enough not written much about this topic in the WIKI i found this however, the manual might explain how to ajust the azimuth!

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Azimuth_Head_Alignment_Tape

Have fun 

ZilogMonkey

PS. A problem could also be the rubber band in the tape drive, might need a replacement. I don't know if the rubber band in the CPC tape- drive gets corroded like the rubber band in disc- drives!

hi folks iam in need of a bit of help.

i just got hold of a old amstrad cpc464 with color monitor, its been in my mates attic for the last 18 years, it was boxed and working before tho so it wasnt that dirty looks brand new ish, the problem iam having is when i try to load a tape from the data recorder eg... press control and enter you get the run" press play on tape message and press play then any key it all starts working except i get no noise from the tape and no loading happens.

the data recorder or tape deck plays,stops,ff,rws and pause fine so i dont know why its not working, i already have tried cleaning the play head and opened the old gel up and had a look but theres no broken wires or anything that might be a
problem, if any one can help on this matter it would be a great

[demon007]

Hello and thanks for the warm welcome to the wiki and a speady reply i have tried typing out a small program to save with the command SAVE "TEST1" and it did actualty save to tape but, on the reload of the tape using LOAD "TEST1" it had the same fault no noise on playback i did have a go with screw driver to change the angle of the head but still no luck, only made small adjustment and marked the inards and screw with tipex to remember where is was so back at its factory preset, oh btw the CAT command didn't work either.

Is it or would it be possible to connect a mono line out of a normal cassette player or mp3 player straight into the tape read head wires? or hijack a working play head some how hehe:)

[Devilmarkus]

I would suggest a bad wiring between the R/W head and/or the CPC and tape electronics.
Best check these first. (And re-solder them if required)

[Gryzor]

Maybe I'm talking bollocks, but: do the read and write heads move together? If not, then maybe the read head doesn't reach out to touch the tape completely, but it can write fine?

[Bryce]

I'll resist the chance to say "Gryzor, you are talking Bollocks", ok I didn't resist it The read and write head is one unit, the shiny silver head in the centre reads and writes. The second off-centre head which is usually white or black plastic is called the "bulk erase head", this wipes the tape before it's recorded to, but doesn't actually write the data.

Bryce.

Sorry Gryzor, couldn't resist it

[Gryzor]

Good job resisting there

Ok, good to know, haven't really taken a look at a tape drive in maaany years now - all my 464s work perfectly...

Now excuse me kind Sir, gonna play some krakout on my Android phone

[demon007]

I would suggest a bad wiring between the R/W head and/or the CPC and tape electronics.
Best check these first. (And re-solder them if required)

so i take it there must be some power getting to the R+W head due to the fact that it writes to tape but wont read from it, is there two circuits one for reading and one writing or is it a mixed circuit?

[Devilmarkus]

Well, perhaps the plug between CPC pcb and tape drive is bad?
I don't know it's pins but I would check these all.
Perhaps 1 or 2 cables don't have connection?
If you have a multimeter, check these cables if they have connections to where they lead to.
Also check the backside of your CPC's pcb, if there are corroded contacts.

[Bryce]

Take a look at the diagram on this page: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/DIY_464_External_Audio_Socket , you can see the wires from the tape deck to mainboard and what their function is (ignore the red lines).

Bryce.

[demon007]

Take a look at the diagram on this page: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/DIY_464_External_Audio_Socket , you can see the wires from the tape deck to mainboard and what their function is (ignore the red lines).

Bryce.

thanks Bryce for the diagram most helpfull for the wire funtions, i take it the diagram shows where to solder the wires in red and what sort of wire was used in this mod?   

[Bryce]

The diagram shows how to add an external audio connection to the 464. I drew it up because someone wanted to connect a CD Player / MP3 Player to their 464. The wire you use isn't critical, standard 0.35mm Copper wire should be fine. The original circuit diagram (the grey bit) can be found here in the service manual: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Service_Manuals    or here as a seperate schematic file: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Schematics

Have you discovered the fault yet?

Bryce.

[demon007]

Not yet bryce, just been checking back here every hour or so to see what new info has been added for my problem, but thanks to you for adding  schematic diagrams for the tape deck and cpc mainboard, next week i will take it into work with me and get the maintenance department to have a look for me, hopefully they will fix the tape deck and solder the mod at the same time, there a bit more handy with a soldering iron than me and they have all the proper kit to check it.

ill post some info of the fault when i know what was wrong with it and may post a few pics or a modded schematic to show where the fault accured , time will tell thanks again

[Bryce]

If you have a multimeter or any other test equipment, then let me know and I can tell you what voltages to expect on each wire, that way you can trace the fault back to it's source.

Bryce.

[demon007]

i havn't got any testing tools, i dont even own a soldering iron so hence me taking it to work, the electrical maintenance engineers at work should be able to source the fault with the diagrams i hope anyhow, if not then ill get them to write down the voltages for each wire and get back to you for some more help