Retro Tapedeck as controller for Volumio

kohlivie · April 8, 2017, 2:27pm

I love the haptic of the old tapedecks. The Klicking-Sound when press Play,
Noise when FF/REW. And especially, the backlight db meter

So i will adapt an old Tapedeck as an Controller for a Volumio Player.

Functions of keys/switches:
Play -> Play
FF -> Next title
REW -> previous title
STOP -> Stop

REC Volume -> output volume

some switches -> 2 to 4 fix Playlists

The Tape should turn, but with a dummy cassette.
Play, forward and rewind should work

Maybe the status of the Volumio should also be readout constantly
and should so controling the motor control for play/stop

Hardware Volumio:

Raspberry Pi 3
Hifiberry DAC+ Pro

Hardware Controller:

Arduino Mega2560 Rev 3

The hardware controller will communicate via some gpio boards
with the volumio software.

misc hardware:

power supply 5V/12V
adapter for correct level

for the final version, the tapedeck should be something like
a Fisher CR-5122 or a Nakamichi, JVC, Marantz, …

For the first tests, i got a Yamaha K-300 for horrible 12,- euro

i will post here the progress of my project, maybe someone is interested too

Andreas

kohlivie · April 8, 2017, 2:52pm

I got the Yamaha K-300 very cheap, because it doesnt work.
the seller say, lights lit, pressing Play make 2 seconds Sound, then stops
he mean, that maybe a belt is broken.

ok, so i disassemble the tape and find out, what happens with an 30 year old rubber belt:

it does not got hard and break, it goes LIQUID!
total crazy and a hard Job to remove this black sticky mass

on the Picture you can see the main belt, an aprox 5mm wide belt

kohlivie · April 8, 2017, 3:56pm

i remove both heads, i dont need them in the future
the belts where replaced for testing with simple rubber rings

next step was to find out, how the 2 Motors and the 2 Solenoid switches work.

and then to control the 2 Motors and Switches for loading/playing the tape

was easy:
the main Motor turns always in the same direction.
activating Switch #1 and turning Motor brought the heads to tha tape.
then the Motor only drive a small pin against the rubber roller to Transport the tape

activating Switch #2 and turning brought Bach the head unit to start Position