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Speccy 48k Earphone jack problem

MaccMacc
edited February 2013 in Hardware
This is odd, today I set up my rubber key as normal, headphone out of the tape player into the "ear" of the spectrum, started everything off but nothing, blank grey screen, then i changed it to the mic socket of the spec and im getting loading bars and its finding games, (not, however, loading them, tape errors after the lead in, and no loading sound), cant understand whats going on, any ideas?
Post edited by Macc on

Comments

  • csmithcsmith
    edited September 2010
    Macc wrote: »
    This is odd, today I set up my rubber key as normal, headphone out of the tape player into the "ear" of the spectrum, started everything off but nothing, blank grey screen, then i changed it to the mic socket of the spec and im getting loading bars and its finding games, (not, however, loading them, tape errors after the lead in, and no loading sound), cant understand whats going on, any ideas?

    I had this problem at the VCF in June.... Until I realised that my "tape recorder" was set too low. Whap'ed the volume up and everything was fine.

    There's very little in the tape input circuit of the speccy that could go wrong.

    So my money's on poor/low signal or dodgy cassette lead.
  • guesserguesser
    edited September 2010
    csmith wrote: »
    I had this problem at the VCF in June.... Until I realised that my "tape recorder" was set too low. Whap'ed the volume up and everything was fine.

    spooky... the exact same thing happened to me.

    The chuntey field was obviously strong in that marquee :)
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • MaccMacc
    edited September 2010
    ive got this tape deck whapped up full bore, not even a flicker. Fire up the toastrack and everythings fine, it aint the volume thats the problem here.
  • ZnorXmanZnorXman
    edited September 2010
    Macc wrote: »
    ive got this tape deck whapped up full bore, not even a flicker. Fire up the toastrack and everythings fine, it aint the volume thats the problem here.

    Just to make 100% double-shure.

    So, when the tapedeck is disengaged from the Speccy, are you able to hear sound from it (the deck) ? (if it doesn't have a built-in speaker try using headphones to make sure you can hear the sound)
  • MaccMacc
    edited September 2010
    nearly deafens me when i unplug the earphone jack, besides, its the same deck im using on the 128, lead and all, that works fine. Just seems odd that its accepting a signal through the mic socket, even if it doesnt work properly, at least it sees "something"
  • fogfog
    edited September 2010
    I bought a speccy also recently.. same issue..

    if you know it's not the tape deck .. or the lead to the speccy

    either re-tension the ear port OR replace it (on the one I have I think I have to replace it)

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/SpectrumRepairGuide/
  • MaccMacc
    edited September 2010
    cheers for that fog, ill give that re-tensioning a try, got to be careful though, every time i open her up my ribbon cable gets screwed, only today i cut off another inch, aint got much left to play with now, best be careful!
  • MaccMacc
    edited September 2010
    ok, im back from work and just tried re-tensioning the earphone jack, so far, so good! Just loading in Spindizzy now, looking ok so far!
  • fogfog
    edited September 2010
    I also did-in the keyboard ribbon when I opened the case.hehe

    I want to do the composite mod while the case is open , so didn't test if it works yet.. or I'd just get a replacement.
  • DirtymojoDirtymojo
    edited August 2011
    Got the same trouble with mine now. Tape recorder maxed and not even a squeak from the Speccy. It barely registers a signal from the tape. (You know sometimes, when you don't get the regular red/cyan border but you just get it flashing mostly cyan because it's quiet). Even made a new lead (mono instead of a stereo lead) and that made no difference. I've re-tensioned the socket and no change. It looks and feels secure on the board too. Any other suggestions?

    Jon

    PS. Issue 3B just in case anyone asks. ^_^
  • DirtymojoDirtymojo
    edited September 2011
    Update: got a second speccy and the same issue. Am going to try a different tape recorder. There is just no sound coming through to the spectrum at all. I get deafened when i unplug the lead from the recorder but it doesn't seem loud enough to be heard by the speccy. Read loads of stuff at http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=55093&page=1 and had a good giggle at how little the guy knew about using a spectrum. (sorry)

    Question though: does it mattere if the 3.5mm jack to jack is a stereo lead. I did make a mono one but that didn't work either. Just want tocheck the basics.
  • DirtymojoDirtymojo
    edited September 2011
    Tried loading the audio files direct from the headphone socket on both my Mac and iPod but still to no avail. Like all good geeks I did discover that I could get the alternating cyan and red border to change when I licked the end of the lead. Felt quite comforting actually as it tells me that something is getting through to the board.
  • DirtymojoDirtymojo
    edited September 2011
    Update... After trying the newish Sony tape recorder with both my speccys and having no luck, I tried a vintage Radio Shack TRS-80 tape recorder (oh, the memories) and my new speccy works beautifully with it. I realigned the heads and it loaded Moon Cresta first time. My old speccy is still deaf so suspect that my ULA is having a brahma.

    Can't wait for them to switch off the analogue channels so I can retune my Speccy back from the extreme end of the RF doohicky.
  • DirtymojoDirtymojo
    edited September 2011
    Oh, and it has to be a mono lead. Stereo just doesn't work for me.
  • PilsenerPilsener
    edited September 2011
    You can use a stereo jack if you connect "ring" to ground (sleeve).
    Or grounding the right-channel (red) lead.

    remote_hahnel.png
  • guesserguesser
    edited September 2011
    indeed, a stereo jack is identical to a mono jack but with the "sleeve" made shorter and a "ring" added. The mono socket in the spectrum contacts the "tip" and the part of the "sleeve" that has been turned into "ring" in a stereo jack. Because of this there is no ground connection when using a stereo jack. (unless you wire the ring and sleeve together as pilsner says.)
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • DirtymojoDirtymojo
    edited September 2011
    Cool, thanks guys. My lead was molded one and not like the mono one I made myself. I'm up and running now. It's the little things that have come along since we did this that have changed things. Anyone remember mono earpieces and radios under the pillow? Or tape recorders that don't attenuate the headphone signal for 'health and safety' reasons?
  • CrimboCrimbo
    edited February 2013
    Dirtymojo wrote: »
    I tried a vintage Radio Shack TRS-80 tape recorder (oh, the memories) and my new speccy works beautifully with it.

    Using a vintage tape recorder the solution??

    I cannot seem to load using the split ear/mic cable. The screen border just alternates from red to cyan per second.

    The speccy can save the file to tape okay (I believe because it shows the blue and yellow stripes).

    I followed the steps in Chapter 8 Part 20 pp.163-164 of the +3 manual :p

    I recorded the save via my laptop's MIC socket and then played it back after...
    LOAD ""

    ...but the speccy just displayed an alternating red and cyan border :cry:
  • CrimboCrimbo
    edited February 2013
    Crimbo wrote: »
    Using a vintage tape recorder the solution??

    I cannot seem to load using the split ear/mic cable. The screen border just alternates from red to cyan per second.

    Don't worry guys... I can verify it is the tape player that counts.

    I plugged the earphone jack of the cable into a hi-fi tape player, pumped up the volume, and then at last the speccy picked up the signals...

    ...though I haven't had a successful load yet.
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