Otari MX5050 REF FLUX switch on back...effect/use for the electronic alignment?

[miroslav]

I'm new to the Otari decks...and I'm trying to understand how the REF FLUX switch interacts with and/or during a basic electronic alignment process.

In the manual where they describe in detail the entire alignment process...they never once mention that switch on the back and if it needs to be used in conjunction with the alignment and choice of alignment tape flux and choice of blank tape flux.

IOW...

If I'm going to use an MRL 15ips-250nWb/m test tape to align the deck...and my blank recording tape is a RMG/Emtec 911...
...where/when does the REF FLUX switch come into play???

Should I have it set at the MID-250nWb/m position when using the 250nWb/m MRL tape?
Of course...my 911 can also be set with a high bias of 320nWb/m...so should I then set the back switch to HIGH-320nWb/m....even though I'm using an MRL tape that is 250nWb/m...?

Plus...the manual refers to the HIGH-320nWb/m setting as an "open circuit flux"....???

Just can't understand how that switch comes in to play relative to the test tape used and blank tape bias procedure...and the manual makes no mention of it.

Miroslav

[ironbut]

The SRL switch is just for the playback level of the machine. It overrides the output pot (sort of) and doesn't have any bearing on adjustments.
See page 3-7 of the operation manual for more.

[miroslav]

SRL switch...?
Maybe your post was for another thread...?

I was talking about the REF FLUX switch on the back of the machine that selects between:
LOW/185nWb/m - MID/250nWb/m - HIGH/320nWb/m

[ironbut]

SRL switch...?
Maybe your post was for another thread...?

Nope,.. just dumb! Just got lost in my own little world there for a second.
Sorry!

[miroslav]

Yeah...I get like that too...but it's fun being in your own little world...isn't it?! :-D

[sound signal]

I have no experience of Otari machines but my guess as to what a "reference fluxivity" switch would do is:

- Change the meter calibration so that the reference setting - say 0VU for a VU meter - reflects the reference fluxivity on the tape, both for recording and playback.
- Change playback gain so that the output reference level is the same for tapes recorded at different reference fluxivities.

Best regards,

[miroslav]

Hi George

Yes...you are right.

I found an older Otari manual just on "Alignment Procedures" for the BII/MKIII-2 decks, and in it there is much greater detail than I have in my ?Operations and Maintenance manual? for my BIII...but that older manual still applies to the BIII, and even the pots/switches in it are numbered the same as on my BIII for all the calibrations points.

In the detailed ?Alignment Procedures? they specifically tell you when to and how to use the REF FLUX switch during alignment?something that was not mentioned anywhere in my BIII manual.
Actually, the BIII manual leaves out a few important steps and the correct full sequence for proper calibration from A-to-Z.

I?m not sure where I got it that ?Alignment Procedures? manual?it was on some website that I ran across while searching for info on my BIII?but it sure cleared up a few questions I had about my Otari.