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Author Topic: PCM-R300 Problem  (Read 6076 times)

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Offline nickgregory

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PCM-R300 Problem
« on: May 19, 2003, 07:42:02 PM »
My Sony PCM-R300, less than 100 hours on the heads has all of the sudden decided to just stop on playback.  No reason for this occurrence.  I have done what I thought was logical in repacking the tape in the deck, but it has occurred again.

Any ideas?

Nick

Jason B

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2003, 07:45:01 PM »
Does it stop playing at the same point each time? Does it stop playing when you play different tapes? Does it stop at the same point in these tapes as well?

-JB

Offline nickgregory

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2003, 07:50:15 PM »
Does it stop playing at the same point each time? Does it stop playing when you play different tapes? Does it stop at the same point in these tapes as well?

-JB

nope completely random in terms of where...I am thinking it is a tension issue since it does not appear to happen on all tapes

Jason B

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2003, 07:54:24 PM »
I had something similar happen to an old Sony home deck and it got worse and worse. It turned out to be a cracked gear...

-JB

Offline nickgregory

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2003, 07:58:23 PM »
I had something similar happen to an old Sony home deck and it got worse and worse. It turned out to be a cracked gear...

-JB

great....

Jason B

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2003, 08:06:42 PM »
I didn't mean to piss on your day man  :-\  :-\

I am sure that you are right about the tension issue. Besides, my deck was much older than the one you speak of. But, the symptoms sound familiar. It would stop in the middle of tapes, and would not play again until I ejected the tape, put it back in and hit play. It did this for about 3 or 4 months, then it stopped and jammed the tape in it and that was all she wrote.

Good luck to you!!

Offline nickgregory

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2003, 08:11:28 PM »
I didn't mean to piss on your day man  :-\  :-\

I am sure that you are right about the tension issue. Besides, my deck was much older than the one you speak of. But, the symptoms sound familiar. It would stop in the middle of tapes, and would not play again until I ejected the tape, put it back in and hit play. It did this for about 3 or 4 months, then it stopped and jammed the tape in it and that was all she wrote.

Good luck to you!!

no worries....I am going to unpack and repack the tape a couple of times and see what that does...hopefully that will fix it....if not, when does that SD recorded come out? ;D

Jason B

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2003, 08:23:21 PM »
Quote from: nickgregory link=board=11;threadid=2908;start=0#msg22719 date=

if not, when does that SD recorded come out? ;D
[quote

No doubt!

I have two tascam DA20 MKII's, and my Will Bernard tape from a couple of weeks ago will stop exactly on the 17 minute mark on one of them. The other, it plays all the way through, but on one of the decks it stops and gives me an error message.

I have really been thinking about ditching all DAT related equipment in leu of the SD HD box.

-JB

Offline Marc Nutter

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2003, 10:26:06 AM »
Hi Nick,

I saw this issue with so many R-300's, I finally started recommending other machines. I know lots of folks have had great results with the R-300, and I really likeed it as a machine in general, but the return/service rate was quite high.

Fortunately, however, Pro Digital does have a modification they make to the transport.  If your machine is not covered by warranty, you may want to contact Pro Digital and see what they can do.  If it is still under warranty, let Sony pick up the bill for whatever service they offer.

Sorry to have gloomy feedback.  

I hope this helps.

Marc

Offline nickgregory

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2003, 10:32:28 AM »
Hi Nick,

I saw this issue with so many R-300's, I finally started recommending other machines. I know lots of folks have had great results with the R-300, and I really likeed it as a machine in general, but the return/service rate was quite high.

Fortunately, however, Pro Digital does have a modification they make to the transport.  If your machine is not covered by warranty, you may want to contact Pro Digital and see what they can do.  If it is still under warranty, let Sony pick up the bill for whatever service they offer.

Sorry to have gloomy feedback.  

I hope this helps.

Marc

Not at all...thanks for the feedback all.  I will have to get in touch with Pro Digital (warranty ran out in Feb).  It is bizarre though, ran it through the unpack, repack process a couple of times, and it played perfectly last night...so it is likely a tension issue....will post back with info once I talk with Pro Digi....

Nick

Offline hippies

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2003, 09:56:14 PM »
as Marc says, it IS the dreaded R-300 Transport glitch.  without a doubt.  bought one of these a few years ago when one of my DATs went down...

mine was bought AFTER Sony 'swore' they fixed this problem.  they didn't fix the problem...  thing still sits here as a rewinder/ occasional dub machine.  (don't trust it)...  

been sorry ever since.

fwiw, mine went back to Sony twice, with no better results.  pretty typical picture of the R-300...

R-500 is a solid as hell machine however.  strange...

~S  
« Last Edit: May 20, 2003, 09:59:49 PM by hippies »

Offline wbrisette

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2003, 03:27:18 PM »

fwiw, mine went back to Sony twice, with no better results.  pretty typical picture of the R-300...

After I sent mine to Pro Digital, it worked fine again, they claim to put a different transport in the unit to prevent it from happening again. We'll see, but it has been over a year since I had it repaired and it's been a workhorse since.

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Offline nickgregory

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2003, 03:38:12 PM »
yeah, I just got off the phone with Paul at Pro-Digital, and he said the problem is absolutely common with these units.  He told me he would recommend the transport update, which would apparently fix this problem.  

Guess I will be sending mine off to Pro-Digital soon.

Thanks all for the input.

Nick

Offline nickgregory

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Re:PCM-R300 Problem
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2003, 03:47:40 PM »
Ok, just got off the phone with Paul at Pro-Dig and he did an overhaul on my R300.  Included activities were (to the best of my memory)

- Re-attaching (screws/soldering/etc.) the analong inputs/oputputs on the back since they were poorly connected originally

- Soldering the headphone connection circuit

- transport clamps added (apparently these are the things that cause it stop playing) - basically stabalizing the transport for the unit.  They also added some parts to the transport that will solve this problem.  From what they told me, the way this is solved is they take spare parts which were cut from the R300 in production (cost cutting), but were used in older units, and add them to the R300.

- a couple of connection points resoldered in the digital SPDIF chain that would have introduced digi noise

- a few miscelaneous solder points on the board itself.

Bottom line, cost me right under $230 to get these done, and according to Paul, it will fix this problem and any other problems that could happen with the R300.  

Just wanted to close out the discussion here, in case anyone was interested in the info.  And for what it is worth, Pro-Digi was as easy to deal with as anyone I have ever dealt with.  Very patient in walking through the problems and the fixes.  I would recommend them to anyone.

Nick

 

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