ross@RUTGERS.EDU (01/11/90)
After reading some discussions on this group concerning voice
activated tape recorders, I purchased a SONY 747V which I am
using with my SONY ICF 2010 receiver. So far I am very happy with
this unit, but have the following questions.
I purchased the recommended cable (from the 747V documentation)
which is a cable with attenuator. It works fine when I connect from
the ext speaker output of the 2010 to the mic input of the 747V. This
also allows me to adjust the volume of input to the tape. But when
I tried connecting from the tape output of the 2010 to the 747V, no sound
ever reached the recorder.
Has anybody ever had success using their tape output on the 2010?
Do I need a different cable? Would the quality of my tapes be improved
by using this output as opposed to the ext speaker output? I think I
did see it mentioned in the manual that the output volume of the tape
output couldn't be adjusted. This might interfere with the voice activation
with a weak signal.
Thanks for all insights.
--
--- Andy Ross ---Will Martin <wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL> (01/11/90)
The "tape" output jack on all the Sony radios I know of (2001, 2010, 2002/7600d/2003) is at "mic" (microphone) level. You don't require any attenuation between that output and the "mike" or "mic" input on any tape recorder. Therefore, you don't need the special attenuating cable for that connection; use just a plain ordinary cable to link the two jacks. (Note: it seems that not all 1/8th" mini-plugs work well in the Sony radio (and I suppose other products, too) jacks. I hae several different brands on the patch cords I made up, and some work better than others. "Working better" means they make good solid contact, don't pop out if the radio is jostled slightly, and click into place when the barrel of the plug body hits the side of the radio. Ones that work poorly slip out easily and sometimes don't "click" into solid contact. The moral is to try different brands of cables or plugs [if you fabricate your own].) Having the "tape" output be at "mic" level instead of a higher "line" level is actually a good thing and a feature of the Sony radios. This is because it is far easier to find cheap cassette recorders with a "mic" jack input than those with a "line" level jack. Thus you can use the Sony tape output to a wide range of tape machines; I use mine to feed everything from a $20 GE recorder (and, for that matter, a $4 garage-sale Panasonic) to a fancy Teac reel-to-reel deck. (On the latter, the microphone jacks are on the front panel and have their own level controls, so it is a snap to plug in a shortwave for long-term unattended taping; if the output was at line level, I'd have to get access to the rats-nest of wires in the back and unplug some regular connections, or use a special attenuator of some kind.) Sony did the right thing when they standardized on mic-level tape outputs. You CAN find *some* models of ordinary cassette recorders that have line-level input jacks, and of course all cassette decks for hifi use have those (rear-panel only, though, on them). But they never were as common as the models with mic-level inputs only, and it is harder now to find that kind of machine at all, given the rise of Walkman-style cassette machines. So just use a plain cable and save the attenuating one for some other application in which you want to feed a higher-level signal into your Sony tape machine mic input. Regards, Will Martin