Studer A810

[heideana]

Well, I didn't mean to, but the e-bay add looked really good and before I knew it I'd put a bid on an A810 and won it!  I think it'll fill-out my collection and I shouldn't be looking for any more machines.  At least for awhile... :)

If anyone's interested, there's another Studer A810 on Ebay that looks intriguing!  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=015&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=250111605640&rd=1&rd=1

[classicrecordings]

I was going to go for this one as well, but it didn't have 15ips.

David
http://www.classicrecordings.on.ca

[heideana]

I think that all A810's are capable of the 4-speeds and its a matter of setting switches and having the correct PCB card/panel or something like that; although I'm not sure of the cost of conversion. Both the A810 and A807 look like great machines...ATR is the only thing that can best them from I understand...

Mine's supposed to be here next Tuesday and I'm hoping its' in ok condition since it seems that fully-fuctional ones go for a lot of money.  Theoretically this one could come in for about the same total I've paid for any of my other machines and its' restorartion; which is a lot less then the $2500-$3500 prices that Filmco Studers' cost.  Hopefully there's not something hidden that's going to jack-up the restoration costs.....

Can anyone explain the uncal function on the Studers and Revoxes?  Do they provide direct access to the head's output or does the signal still go thru some internal electronics before it goes to the output?

Thanks...Hopkins

[beefman]

This just came up on the Studer list, good timing. From Martin Berner at Studer.

Thor wrote:

>The A810 has settings on the front panel for 7.5 and 15ips only.
>Are speed change panels easy to come by? Would we need a new sync card
>(are there cards at all in the 801/812, or is it all programmed in the
>units control CPU?)

No, as soon as the command 3.75 ips is enabled, the correct equ and the corresponding audio file will be opened. No other items or settings are necessary.

The old 2 speed selector panel (push button change over) needs to be exchanged with the newer version which has a rotary knob for speed change in case you need to have the 3.75 speed present all the time.

However, you are able to enable the speed 3.75 ips temporarily on your machine!
Then your Studer A810 has the possibly to run on 3.75 ips without any change of your speed panel! Any A810 has the possibility to enable all four speeds by DIL - switches! Be aware that for 30 ips a two pole capstan motor is necessary!

See Service Manual Section 4 page 4/41!
The following DIL Switches behind the command panel are used for speed
selection:
JS 9, JS 10 and JS 11:

To program the two speeds to the corresponding push buttons slow and fast set the DIL switches as follows:

Slow  Fast  JS 9  JS 10  JS 11
 ips     ips
3.75   7.5       0         0        1
3.75    15       0         1        0
7.5      15       1         0        0
15       30       1         1        1  (2 pole capstan required!)

With other words:
When you change the DIL Switch 9 to "off" and the DIL switch JS 10 to "on" your Studer A810 tape recorder will run at the low speed position on 3.75 ips and on the high speed position the speed will remain on 15 ips!
Of course now you have first to align the audio for the new selected speed 3.75 ips, since the corresponding audio memories are on the default values only!

This you may do easily if you just need the 3.75 ips speed temporarily! To prevent confusion with the labeled speed on the speed panel do not forget to change the DIL switches back to the normal position after the corresponding session at 3.75 ips is over!

Good luck

Martin

[heideana]

Kewl!  Its' the part of re-aligning things that's still beyond me....on the other hand, its' like being able to work on your car, so to speak..LOL!!!

[ironbut]

Kewl!  Its' the part of re-aligning things that's still beyond me....on the other hand, its' like being able to work on your car, so to speak..LOL!!!

When I was doing demos of the Tape Project tapes with my RS1500, several guys asked me how hard it is to work on a reel to reel. Just like the above, I said it was more like working on a car then a piece of audio gear. I got some funny looks from some of the 20 something guys. It wasn't till later that I figured out that for someone that's only had cars built in the 2st century, working on your car isn't something you can do. You Have to take it to a shop. Just another thing that 20 years from now, nobody will know how the hell it works!

[heideana]

Thanks to Angel Gentchev in Fremont, I now have my Studer A810 up and running!  It was pretty roughly handled by UPS on the way up from Southern Cal, where its' former owner lives.  It also took me awhile to get over the trauma and locate a few parts I needed to replace, namely a bent spindle and hum shield cover, before I felt comfortable turning it over to him for a check-up...

The good news it all is that Angel tells me the heads are in fabu shape with minimal use, as is the rest of the machine...someone is looking out for me!!!!  I was sure that I'd been taken in this deal, but the sellor was very ethical and refunded part of my cost and shipping.

Now that my 810 is up and running, I'm re-recording alot of tape collection, using the IEC EQ setting.  For good or bad, I've decided to start using IEC for 7 1/2 and 15ips....