Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

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robcook
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Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by robcook »

I am still on the hunt for a tape/data recorder to use with my Atmos via this lead - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LQAAAOSw ... -l1600.jpg

Price no object. Will need posting to Tenerife, Canary Islands, which I will more than cover the cost of. Not sure how easy/allowed it is to visit the Post Office at the moment with locksdown in the UK or wherever you happen to live.

C'mon, someone must have a spare recorder and want some lovely wonga!
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Dbug
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Dbug »

The problem is mostly that there's no guarantee that any tape recorder sent to you would be able to load the tapes you have properly.
robcook
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by robcook »

Dbug wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2020 8:35 pm The problem is mostly that there's no guarantee that any tape recorder sent to you would be able to load the tapes you have properly.
Not a problem. I have some original tapes but I'm not too concerned if they don't load. I need the data recorder to save and load my own work, so it should re-load anything I save, I reckon. And even if not, I'll still bear the cost.
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Symoon
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Symoon »

I may have already asked but - does it have to be on tape? Can't you save on your computer? (WAV file).
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Dbug
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Dbug »

Imo, your best bet is to use eBay, or a local equivalent (like the Spanish Todocoleccion), because I do have some tape drives, but I already had to pay the exorbitant shipping costs to get them to Norway, so to not lose I would have to sell it for an even ridiculously higher price :D

If you search on Spanish sites, search for "grabador", and you could find things like that:
- 34 euros - https://www.todocoleccion.net/radios-fo ... x183174693
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ibisum
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by ibisum »

Hey .. why not Cumana Reborn? Much better option than tape.

IMHO, you should go for mass storage, not streaming storage, in this Oric day and age. An Oric with disks is a whole level of computing that you may or may not have experienced yet - but once you do, tape just feels unpleasant and counter productive for anything but archiving.
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by robcook »

.wav files not an option at this stage because I want to do the programming, saving, etc. on a real Atmos. I want to ensure anything I write works 100% on a real Atmos.

I really don't mind covering the cost of using the services of a courier to get a recorder to me. I've looked all over eBay for a while and not found anything suitable.

Re. disk drives, that can follow - but I do want anything I write to be tape-friendly.
robcook
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by robcook »

Dbug wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:10 pmIf you search on Spanish sites, search for "grabador", and you could find things like that:
- 34 euros - https://www.todocoleccion.net/radios-fo ... x183174693
Thanks for that suggestions. Looks interesting. The recorder pictured however doesn't show any ports so I'm not sure if it'd connect to my lead.
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Dbug
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Dbug »

robcook wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:07 pm
Dbug wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:10 pmIf you search on Spanish sites, search for "grabador", and you could find things like that:
- 34 euros - https://www.todocoleccion.net/radios-fo ... x183174693
Thanks for that suggestions. Looks interesting. The recorder pictured however doesn't show any ports so I'm not sure if it'd connect to my lead.
There was a similar one sold last year, with photos that shows that it has both DIN and jacks:
- https://en.todocoleccion.net/radios-tra ... re_el_lote
We can even see that it has "COMPUTER Program Recorder" on it.

Also look similar to that one:
- https://www.ebay.com/c/844609263
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by robcook »

Many thanks for your time/help with the research, Dbug - much appreciated, and those recorders look interesting and probably compatible for what I need. I will take a closer look later today when I've woken up more.

Now my only concern is how I'd actually get the thing. Our lockdown here is very strict for essential travel only and I don't fancy being arrested on the way to/from the Correos/Post Office so I would definitely need anything to be delivered directly to my door. I'll have to look if the seller can do courier delivery, I think.

Thanks again!
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Symoon
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Symoon »

robcook wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:45 am .wav files not an option at this stage because I want to do the programming, saving, etc. on a real Atmos. I want to ensure anything I write works 100% on a real Atmos.
I've been using a PC as tape player for my real machines (loading/saving) for 25 years now, and it works fine.
Unless it involves some special routines you'd need to test on real tape, or tape engine management (stop/start the tape), in this case a computer will be useless indeed :wink:
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by robcook »

Symoon wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:28 pm
robcook wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:45 am .wav files not an option at this stage because I want to do the programming, saving, etc. on a real Atmos. I want to ensure anything I write works 100% on a real Atmos.
I've been using a PC as tape player for my real machines (loading/saving) for 25 years now, and it works fine.
Now that IS interesting. Can I ask what is your set-up? I assume you're using an external monitor with the Oric and simply replacing a tape recorder with a PC? I've got more spare, unused laptops than I care to admit and if I could use one of them as a replacement for a tape recorder then I'd be just fine and dandy with that! Sorry for being a noob in this respect but how would it work? Looking at just one spare lappy now, I can see it's got the ports I'd need.
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Symoon
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Symoon »

robcook wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:53 pm Now that IS interesting. Can I ask what is your set-up? I assume you're using an external monitor with the Oric and simply replacing a tape recorder with a PC? I've got more spare, unused laptops than I care to admit and if I could use one of them as a replacement for a tape recorder then I'd be just fine and dandy with that! Sorry for being a noob in this respect but how would it work? Looking at just one spare lappy now, I can see it's got the ports I'd need.
I sure have an Oric + monitor, and next to it a (now old) Asus EeePC (using XP).
Just install some WAV editor software (I'm using an old Cool Edit version but it's not free, Audacity is free, but there may be other free and good WAV record/players).
Just plug your lead to MIC and EAR plugs, and set your PC sound levels so you can record the "microphone" (can't go into details here, depends on computers, but googling will help), and just like it was a tape recorder, hit RECORD then CSAVE your files. You can instantly visually check if the sound level was high enough. Playback is piece of cake.

The annoying thing is now with modern PCs, they tend to have only 1 (or zero!) sound plug. I suspect you'd have to buy an external USB sound car then. And so far using Windows 10 to setup sound has been a real hell. Don't know if XP was really better or if I'm getting old, but so far to me Windows 10 sucks.

Also, try having the PC and Oric power on the same plugs, to avoid electrical differences. IIRC Dbug had a painful experience with that.
Last edited by Symoon on Thu Apr 02, 2020 2:28 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Dbug
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Dbug »

Just make sure that everything is connected on the same power plug/circuit when you connect the Oric to the PC.
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Symoon
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Re: Sell me a data recorder! Price no object!

Post by Symoon »

Dbug wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 2:21 pm Just make sure that everything is connected on the same power plug/circuit when you connect the Oric to the PC.
Lol, edited my message just while you were writing this ;)
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