I want to try something new. Something more live. So I’m running a 3-part live workshop that takes us on… A Time Travel Through Vintage Electronics. We’ll rewind the clock, dive into the tech of the times… (and study the very history of how things were broken and repaired has evolved) From the 1950s all the way to 2020s. It's still just an idea. The dates and times are to be confirmed. But if you're reading this, then the workshop hasn't yet taken place. So if you're interested and don't want to miss out, you can sign up here: menditmarkk.ck.page/6e8fbd9521

Like others are saying, I am 71 now, and have been an electronics audio service engineer from being a hobbyist at 11 years old and I still do the odd repair and restore old equipment, particularly valve (tube) amplifiers. Trust me when I say, you will not see a better all round technician than Mark. Simply the best.

@artsimannisto5659

4 ай бұрын

But why he hates the decks? This AiwA is a GEM. True dragonslayer,nakakiller. All these,660 and 770 and AD-F990 are wayy over average consumer decks. Simply slim design and all are screaming sweet 80`s design style.

@fretlessfender

4 ай бұрын

There are a couple others that do what Mark does, but he is definitely up there with the best!

@richardstaz721

4 ай бұрын

Mark is a specialist at the very top of his game.

@christopherking5320

4 ай бұрын

I also did an apprenticeship in Australia early 1970's era 2 years before we got color tv. Became a radio tradesman and repaired electronic/electrical and other white good items. Great to see this guy fix stuff, he seems to have a great knowlege of most things including RF alignment and mechanical repairs too!

@waynemasters8673

4 ай бұрын

You had me to 'the best'. Maybe I fell asleep by the time he did wow and flutter, signal to noise and tape head alignment. He is the best at putting a light hearted approach at electronic troubleshooting though.

We need more people like Mark to avoid dumping products in landfill.

@SuperHyperExtra

4 ай бұрын

Yes!!!!

@matthewpower3062

4 ай бұрын

Absolutely, because after watching the troubleshooting he had to do for this deck, I WOULD have chucked it in the bin!

@MorriSoft

4 ай бұрын

agreed. fabulous resource provided to us for free by Mark, by documenting these repairs. love his work

@Jonathan_Doe_

4 ай бұрын

Well, his videos kind encourage people to be braver about approaching solid state amp repairs. Well, me at least.

@ronbradshaw7404

4 ай бұрын

Yep! but THIS Aiwa really deserved to be trashed! what a piece o junk!

I'm absolutely lost for words. I've never seen such commitment in these recent times of 'economical repair'. What a find this channel was. Amazing work, such patience 👏

1:01:40 The compu brain system is for recording. The deck will automatically adjust the fine bias, the record level, and equalization (odd as EQ curve should be set by the tape type detected by the reed switches over the cassette shell). It'll auto rewind back to the starting point, ready to record! It's amazing it had Dolby C in 1982, and could detect if the recording was made with B or C encoding. Smashing motor rebuild Mark!

@mescko

4 ай бұрын

The EQ set by switches is a rough setting, exact eq varies by tape manufacturers. The 770 and 990 could cal some tapes that no others could do. Dedicated Reel-to-Reel deck owners will have their machines calibrated for specific tape brands and formulations.

@pietermol8508

4 ай бұрын

In many decks bias is adjusted to get flat frequency response, but that is actually not the right approach. Bias should be adjusted for maximum output and/or minimum distortion or a compromise between the two. Next, recording EQ is set to get flat frequency response (on PB). Only a handful of decks wehere ever designed this way. Apperently this is one of them.

@MikeDS49

4 ай бұрын

@@pietermol8508 That's really cool. I wonder how good it sounds.

@Nimboid-20

3 ай бұрын

@@pietermol8508 These decks had Dolby HX-Pro (a Bang & Olufsen invention), which adjusted the bias in real-time when the signal contained frequency components which could do part of the bias function. Hence it eXtended the Headroom.

@ianbenson7804

Ай бұрын

Everything online about this deck/model says introduced 1982, but somehow I'm finding that hard(ish) to believe. Everything about the design and aesthetic (including the flat control panel) screams mid-late 80's to me.

Im not an electrician but these videos are almost therapeutic to watch. Another great watch.

@BariLopesh

4 ай бұрын

Pretty sure he's not an electrician either 🤣

@JurgenVonS

4 ай бұрын

"therapeutic to watch" 👍

@RandyDaMan

4 ай бұрын

@@BariLopesh Yeah Im sure hes more than electrician. Couldn't find the right word. My bad.

@HansDelbruck53

4 ай бұрын

An electrician fixes the wiring in your house. An electronics technician fixes your electronic devices.

@BariLopesh

4 ай бұрын

@@HansDelbruck53 The correct terminology would be electrical engineer 👍🏻

Wish more technicians like Mark were around. 👍🇩🇰

@russgladstone432

4 ай бұрын

That’s an Understatement !!!!!

@johnbedell2376

4 ай бұрын

There is no money for a technician to make in repairing old equipment. The lack of readily available parts and the TIME required to perform the repair would scare most customers away. An unfortunate reality.

@sw6188

22 күн бұрын

@@johnbedell2376 Sorry but that's just not correct. I have been repairing electronics like Mark does (I also do professional audio and broadcast electronics) for over 50 years now and I am still doing it. People are still paying reasonable money to have their equipment serviced and repaired and if there was no money in it then I wouldn't be doing it still! I don't have too many problems getting the parts I need and I can complete most repairs in a realistic amount of time.

@sw6188

22 күн бұрын

There are - we're just not all doing KZread videos. I am too busy repairing to have the time to make videos as well.

@KP-nd3bx

22 күн бұрын

@@sw6188 but you have the time to watch Mark mending electronic 😊

An astonishingly knowledgeable electronics engineer who fearlessly tackles the most challenging problems with incredible enthusiasm. Mark clearly enjoys his work and is so compelling to watch. Genius!

Fearless technical repair genius. Can’t be more than a few persons in the world like Mark.

Mark your patience always amazes me.That and remembering where every little screw and small part goes.Fascinating.

This is the best Xmas special I've ever seen. Honestly, no joke. Love this channel, and Mark is a complete joy to watch at work.

@BariLopesh

4 ай бұрын

Zip his trousers up after you're done down there mate 👍🏻

@SCOTTYD2031

4 ай бұрын

Totally agree my friend.

@FUNKINETIK

4 ай бұрын

That's funny, just read your comment after posting mine... I asked Mark to give us episode 2 on Xmas day. : )

@jessiepooch

4 ай бұрын

@bari Grow up.

@lifeinsocialism

4 ай бұрын

​@@BariLopeshwoke up with a left leg?

This is by far most detailed repair job I haven't seen in long, long while. MOST IMPRESSIVE part was the motor repair WOW... I don't think hi-fi technicians were this good...well ever.

Can't believe I just sat through an hour of fiddling around with a cassette mechanism - and was enthralled the whole time! Love seeing the trial-and-error, as well as the odd mistake and rectification which is what I love about the channel. Total respect for the work and perseverance, plus the aptitude to work these things out. Great work as usual

I've been working in a repair shop for almost 29 years. I had zillions of those motors around. Dumped them all thinking they'll be available forever but something weird happened

@sw6188

22 күн бұрын

I still repair cassette decks and I get a friend who works at an electronics recycling centre to save these motors for me. He is scrapping electronics daily and when he strips something down with one of these motors in he puts it aside for me.

You have the patience of a saint, this is the most relaxing electronic repair channel on KZread.

Your patience is amazing. Most people would have shipped it back with a note saying it needs a new motor and not worth fixing. Great work.

As someone who has worked on quite a few decks now, I can say that the AIWA AD-F990 and AD-F770 are a bit of a nightmare. AIWA seem to have concentrated their efforts on the heads, transport, and auto-calibration, and left the rest to chance?, very constricted inside. Some decks really test our patience! I watched it all the way through - great to see someone wind the rotor windings from scratch - much credit to you Mark!

I really love watching your videos because, as a retired A/V technician from the 80s to the early 2000s, you work on a lot of the same kind of equipment that I did. I must have worked on hundreds of tape decks right down to rebuilding the cassette chassis, but I must say that I NEVER had to rewind a motor. I am THOROUGHLY impressed! Great video. I can't wait for part 2.

@davidkelly1414

4 ай бұрын

Likewise, I would never have gone to the lengths of rewinding the motor. Mark really makes it look so doable. He is in a league of his own - the electronic equivalent of Allan Millyard of the world of motor cycles .

@emanuelmifsud6754

4 ай бұрын

What a talented man you are Mark. To rewind a motor, definitely needs thinking and true understanding of electronics. As a former Physics and Electronics teacher I want to say, you are a pleasure to watch and a gifted and learned man teaching the teachers.

What I like about Mark is that he never ever is frustrated about setbacks... he is never tired... Winding that motor, I mean who of us would ever tackle that job?

@JonnyFix

4 ай бұрын

Me, if I had the gear LOL. As a kid I re-wound a miniature coil in the pickup of an old jukebox. That feeling when it actually played a record!

@ChrisGrahamUK

4 ай бұрын

@jonnyfix You're right. I rewound the motor of my parents teasmaid and the joy when it actually worked was fantastic.

@wheatonna

Ай бұрын

He's got a bit of Peewee Herman in him. So endearing, and a good example for all of us.

@fretlessfender

Ай бұрын

@@wheatonna yeah, I kind of agree... but Mark is a better person than that I think... Just look what he is capable of doing... you know... no need to play it down or something... I guess that's really it, he is a nice person with a lot of knowledge and a heap of skills. Let us learn from this guy...

The troubleshooting of the insulation being too thick on 1 side was elite level. Great job.

I used to do this in the 70s..but didn't have your sophisticated testing equipment. Great to see you repairing stuff..an amazing talent. Brilliant 👏 👏. Well done Mark. 👏

"I think Belinda's balls have dropped!" Nearly spat out my tea! It's always a good day when a new Mend It Mark video is posted. Thanks Mark, and merry Christmas!

@TheOptimod

4 ай бұрын

Yawn.. the old 'tea' line.....How original.

@davidjames5644

4 ай бұрын

@@TheOptimod We have a cynic in our midst! Who do you work for? The You Tube Comment Originality Squad?

He's really a man who loves what he does. Got to respect it!

That's a great repair on what was one of the best decks of its time and about as expensive as a Nakamichi (around 125,000 yen in 1982). The auto-selector for dolby B and C depends on a low frequency waveform that is added to your recording when made with this deck. As you are playing an original tape it won't have that signal, ie. you need to select Dolby manually. The compu stuff is used before recording and will adjust bias and level for the tape - you need a tape with the recording tabs in place for that to work. There is a very good chance your Aiwa deck is working 100% already.

I get so many tips from Mark's videos. The idea of using drill bits of various sizes to set things at the correct height is brilliant.

Brilliant Mark, from you getting electric shock in the intro and Belinda’s ball’s dropping and a beautiful tape deck….. what’s not to like 👍😍

ASMR electronics repair at it's finest! Thank you Mark for your cheerful attitude towards what seems to be everything. Very pleased to "know" you during these wildly difficult situations. You are indeed the epitome of grace under pressure.

@geoffedwards189

4 ай бұрын

Well written! And indeed I do enjoy the audio in Mark's videos, be it ASMR or whatever. Best wishes.

@69uremum

4 ай бұрын

Not ASMR, the emphasis of the video is on the repair and troubleshooting, not some girl who is whispering in a breathy voice...

@geoffedwards189

4 ай бұрын

@@69uremum Settle down there :) No-one is saying ASMR is the purpose of Mark's videos. It is simply a comment on the detail and clarity of the audio which all adds to the presentation. If Mark didn't intend it to be that way he wouldn't go the effort. It's great to be able to see and HEAR what is going on. I know that many viewers of this channel have no interest in electronics but enjoy the videos because of Mark's personality and because they are so well presented, including sharp AUDIO. 🙂

@mikemorgan4774

4 ай бұрын

I'll have my own fantasies thank you very much! LOL@@69uremum

I congratulate you friend because these days no one repairs equipment like this anymore, with a lot of dedication like that, congratulations

Can't tell you how much I enjoy your work and this particular episode, as I owned an ADF990 and 770 but the 990 back in the day could rival the Nakamichi Dragon, it sounded that good. You could really push the saturation points of cassette tapes without distortion. I used TDK MAXG's and later SONY super metal master tapes mostly.The Auto-Calibration system that you will be fixing next is uncannily accurate and makes this deck next level. I stopped using my machine with the advent of CDR and minidisc etc. I couldnt sell it on, so under pressure from she who must be obeyed, I ended up putting it out for the rag & bone man. It was working when I got rid. Now they can make over £1000 quid in good condition. I have to say I don't regret chucking it out for the money it would be worth, its just that seeing yours and others working and knowing how great they can sound, I miss my ADF990. Its unique and the best thing Aiwa ever made.

I'm a big fan of watch repair videos but this is on a whole different level. Hats off to you Mark. Well done 🙂👍🇬🇧

@TheOptimod

3 ай бұрын

Hats off??

Always a great day with "Giggles, the Technician". This is now a $3000 cassette player.

Looking forward to pt2. Amazed at your perseverance…..I would have given up long before. I’m not sure the owner is going to appreciate the bill the hours you’ve put in for the repairs🤣

Man, I second the other folks here saying how relaxing and nice is it to watch your repair work. Thanks for sharing it with us.

The best thing in my day, a 'Mark is back' video, nice one mate! They don't make transports like that anymore, just look at those flywheels! Would love a 3 head deck one-day. I think someone's been in there before. The first thing I noticed was that cables were not zip tied inside & the other mechanical 'errors' you picked up. 58:40 😂😂 Happy holidays Mark - another superb video :) thank you.

I could watch this chap all day. Pleasant through and through. Excellent camera work, and even better handiwork. Not to mention gobs of patience.

Este video debería llamarse "tengo inmensa paciencia" a la hora de cobrarle al cliente habría que mostrarle el inmenso trabajo que lleva hacer que estos delicados mecanismos vuelvan a la vida. Extraordinario trabajo. Felicitaciones

That capacitor pretending to be a resistor was a good one. That final rotation on the motor to allow more room was amazing.

Do electronics myself and this is got to be one of the best channels I seen. Just like people like this, he puts the work in and don’t cut corners. I know old tape decks are a pain and can spend a lot of time on them. Fantastic workmanship mate you do. Be nice to see the next episode. Try recapping one of these things it takes ages but if people want a full service it has to be done with all the other things too.

@sideburn

4 ай бұрын

I’ve fixed a couple Sony Walkman WM-F10’s. Just putting them back together is a frustrating challenge!

Mark, you have my undying admiration for your ability to resolve mechanical and electronic faults. I, like yourself hated working on those cassette decks and I didnt have your patience . Trying to reverse engineer a circuit board in the way you did would have sent my brain into meltdown. Another great video, cant wait for part 2, enjoy you Christmas

Rewinding these small electric motors is next level skills and persistence Mark, let alone the motor controller circuit reverse engineering. Top job as per usual.

Mark using his outstanding skills and certainly has the patience, well done Mark for another therapeutic video.

Mark, It's nice to see someone that's not afraid to restore electronic devices. Excellent attention to detail by adding Kapton tape to insulate the armature. That motor is now much better then when it left the factory.

I bought a new ADF-770 back in the early eighties. Loved it to bits especially how it would record a test signal then play it back to itself and adjust settings to make best record to suit tape used. Wonderful machine.

Just, simply, i cannot believe the patience of this guy🤯

😲 Wow! An Aiwa with a genuine Belinda Carlisle Circle in the Sand K7! Euphorically Euphonic! 👏 Bravo!

Great perseverance Mark, with gear of this age you never know who’s previously been inside & what extra faults they’ve caused. A 4 cups of tea repair 👍

Now I understand why Mark takes so long in delivering content to KZread. His work is meticulously outstanding. My favorite video to date. I would have thrown this tape deck against the wall at several junctures.... incredible job Mark! I appreciate your work.

@gribbler1695

4 ай бұрын

It's not his day job.

@Jammerk40

4 ай бұрын

Yes he does he is pristine!

@adalbertus777

4 ай бұрын

You are right, but it's not just about what he does to repair a gear. It's also about how he operates the camera and does the post-production. Just watch it again and pay attention to close ups, angles and so forth. I guess it takes quite much of extra time that Mark needs to spend to show us his great work in such extraordinary way.

"I think Melinda's balls have dropped" was an absolute spit take from me. Luckily, I keep lenz wipes handy! My poor laptop. Keep up the great work Mark!

what an amazing repair, I cannot think of anybody going through re-winding the motor and fixing all those nagging issues with the tape deck! Can't wait for the next one!

I love the grinding noise as the machine unwinds the wire! 😊

Well done, I admire your patience! The computer controlled bias circuitry only comes into its own during recording I think. You put a blank tape in, set it to record, and it makes a test recording, plays it back, and works out the correct bias setting by itself. I wouldn't expect anything on there to light up during playback.

@rosemeyer1939

4 ай бұрын

This! It's time to download the user manual....

@mescko

4 ай бұрын

Not just bias, but level *and* equalization, many 'auto tuning' decks didn't do EQ. This and the 770 can calibrate to some tapes that no other machine could.

The AD F990 is indeed worth a fair bit being the flagship model. Great video👍

I used to have an AIWA F990! This brought back some memories, thanks so much, Mark.

I really enjoyed watching this epiode. Ending the year on such a high note with a quality Japanese tape deck overhaul is pure gold. Two part cliffhangers are as fitting of the 1980's as the tape deck.

You are definitely one of the fastest growing electronics repair channel I've ever seen. I think it's your ability your presentation and most of all your cheery disposition despite being British haha! I love your channel Mark. You have motivated me to actually desolder sliders from my boards and clean them properly not just spray and pray. Thank you for your videos

Having the knowledge, skill and dexterity you have is one thing, but Lord, the patience you have is staggering. I love to repair things too, but you are next level. I owned two Aiwa F-770 in the 80's, they were extremely good machines when working, and I have to say, reliable too, but when they eventually failed, they both had the same motor or motor control problem. I didn't investigate back then because things were moving toward Sony Mini Disc, (which I loved). Thanks for your video, really inspiring.

nothing stops this man Mark what a man to have around when things don't go to plan.

Great Video Mark, still got an ADF 990.... The Compu Brain system is for recording, put a blank tape in hit start and it will record various test tones while it adjusts the bias,cal and eq. then it will stop and rewind all setup for the perfect recording, just have to set the REC volume 😎

"I think Belinda's balls have dropped." That was a good one.🤣

@IlBiggo

3 ай бұрын

It might be the first time I've heard him crack a "dirty" joke. Unexpected!

@HansDelbruck53

3 ай бұрын

@@IlBiggo That's not "dirty", just suggestive.

Also, the amount of moving parts , and disconnecting and un screwing - It's no wonder people can't be bothered . But It's design and build has to be admired and respected

Had an Aiwa similar to that, threw it in the bin four years ago. I don't miss it. Simplified my life!

Amazing Mark ! You have the patience of a saint.

You Sir are on a totally different level. Bravo.

Whats interesting with this is that the unit is clearly high-end, but it also looks like someone has been in it before and didn't do nearly as good a job as Mark 👍 it must have taken ages (in real time) to have worked through all the issues. Excellent fault-finding/diagnostics. Really enjoyed the bit when Balinda was running slowly, and the comment Mark made too; I woke up laughing about it this morning 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@croolis

4 ай бұрын

It also looks like it was produced in small numbers and Aiwa never got round to optimising the rat's nest of cabling!

The mechanical and lever overlay of those cassette meghanisms boggles my mind. ,and then the application of servos, relays and control mechansims to control all the functions.,and the sheer gritty determination to NOT GIVE UP. Incredible.

Truly impressive to watch. No matter how hard and carefully I would try, something this complex would be irreparably broken in about 10 minutes. You have the patience and skill few possess.

Hello Mark. I still have 4 of these in the studio. The buttons you don't know are just to auto calibrate the deck. You insert a new tape, push the calibrate button, and the Aiwa will do al the bias adjust automatically. It generates a tone, monitorizes it, make the necessary adjustments, and once finished, it stops and rewind the tape to the beginning, ready to record. I also own a Nakamichi 1000, but I love this ones. Great video, as always, BTW!.

@beograd07

4 ай бұрын

don't you have to set recording on pause before you press that calibrate button? These auto calibration functions were a bit dodgy on some brands on early 3 head decks. Only after 90' they become more accurate and reliable. IMO the best ones were on Technics and Sony top models in mid 90' before the CDs took over. Especially since after 90' a lots of fake brand cassettes flooded the market and this auto calibration function could fix most of them. Double capstan would help with the low quality plastic magnetic media carrier in the cassettes to reduce W&F.

@fichambawelby2632

4 ай бұрын

@@beograd07you are right. Must prepare it to record putting it into pause, then press the auto calibration button. The ones I have used to work very well adjusting the tape; remember, Aiwa was a Sony brand…

@artsimannisto5659

4 ай бұрын

soon i got two of these adf-770 and same autodata exeter they got. Way over average consumer level,these series are. And what a recorders,better than naka.

@artsimannisto5659

4 ай бұрын

aiwa was better than sonny. Only after sonnys bought aiwa away. It kicked sonnys ass very painfully,hahah.@@fichambawelby2632

@beograd07

4 ай бұрын

@@fichambawelby2632 I did not know that. I always wondered who was behind Aiwa. Thanks for the info. I knew most of the decks were using Sony dolby chips and only logic control chips would be locally made (like Nakamichi in some of their decks). And if Sony designed this deck it is a surprise how many connecting wires are inside. Sony is known for a very neat design. And this was obviously one of the Aiwa's top model at the time (1982).

What an amazing demonstration of troubleshooting skill, repair ingenuity, and fabrication expertise. Fantastic work!

When my grandmother passed away 18 months ago, my dad and his siblings sold her and my grandfather's house they had lived in since 1958. In the garage was my grandpa's GE 35351A stereo on his workbench. My grandfather passed away in 2008. I was told I could have the stereo and when I gathered it from the garage I discovered it had been plugged in and running, just with the volume knob all the way down for who knows how long. I bought the official repair/service manual off eBay. One day I will get to cleaning and restoring it. I also bought a second one off eBay in case my grandfather's had a part or component not working on it. I have no real/formal electrical training so I enjoy watching your videos. Shows how much knowledge and expertise you have. I hope you find what is going on with those lights. Excited for the next episode.

Beautiful work! I love these tape decks. I did similar work (hobby) on my AD-F660.

The Aiwa AD-FF90 is a stereo cassette deck with Dolby B/C and HX-Pro noise reduction, it was introduced by Aiwa in 1982 with a recommended retail price of USD ... US$ 595,00

@mescko

4 ай бұрын

Over $1900 today.

I repaired in the past hundrets of tape decks. But Dude, what you do is real crazy, rewinding such a small motor. I never saw this before. Chapeau!

That’s a very impressive skill set. If this was a treasured item of mine, with sentimental value, I’d be absolutely delighted having seen the effort and expertise that you’ve already put into this.

Спасибо тебе, Марк, за твои видео! Мне нравится их смотреть. Я восхищаюсь твоим терпением, оптимизмом и находчивостью!

This is an extraordinary work! Fantastic repair! Can’t wait to see the rest. How we hated to work on these back in the day because the boss wouldn’t allow the necessary time to do real troubleshooting. Aiwa where insanely complex and just like in your case, we had to disassemble everything to get access to most parts. Then you had to reassemble before testing because these units had flimsy framings. They almost all had parts soldered on the back of the pc boards. (Often done in shop with Aiwa mod service bulletin)

Hello Sir, I really love to watching your videos because I have been an electronics audio service engineer from being a hobbyist at 15 years old and now I am 48.

Good thing a lot of people watched this to make it worthwhile! That was expedition level repair.

Amazing dexterity and unbelievable patience. What’s not to admire in Mend it Mark?

Wow, looks very complicated inside! Going to enjoy this next hour watching you sort things out :-)

What an epic. Perfect Christmas watching. Brings back happy memories of fixing my first proper cassette deck.

Excellent work, congratulations, unfortunately my English is not that good, but I don't need it to follow a man who is passionate about his work. I like watching you because I see quite a few tools that I could never get my hands on since everything I do is amateurish. Keep up the good work so that the younger ones can learn as well. Of course, it goes without saying that the repair and restoration of old machines always has a special relationship for us elders.

Mate you have quite some patience... I did wonder at the time if you'd put the motor in the right way around! 1:00:22 "Oh dear, I think Belinda's balls have dropped": kwality belly laugh! "Capacitor police" LOL!

@pghcoyote

4 ай бұрын

This was my proposed comment exactly. Always requires a lot of patience when you have to disassemble and reassemble the same thing umpteen frustrating times. Thanks for the Belinda time stamp!

Muito inteligente e perfeccionista parabéns 👍👍👍👍🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

What a marathon! It really doesn't help when someone else has been in there. Your persistence is amazing. I'm sure you will nail it in the end.

Mark, you are an unbelievably skilled electronics engineer. Pure joy to watch your videos.

For anyone wondering why analog tape decks went extinct, watch this video! Blimey! I say good riddance!

@MeriaDuck

23 күн бұрын

They don't make them like this anymore, for good reasons. That must've been one expensive unit to produce, no matter how cheap the labor. Quite the journey to follow!

@raulgonzalez139

12 күн бұрын

Show me 'new' electronics that will work great after 40 years. And I have lower F660 model working and sounding nicely.

@markscully2342

11 күн бұрын

I used to have an adf990 (I think) they were one of the best cassette decks available when they came out!

@EasyTigerAl

3 күн бұрын

My tapes and players are outlasting my CDs and CD players!

Mark, I have watched all your videos in 3 weeks!!! I'm addicted to your job and need more videos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark you have the patience of a saint to mess around with the deck mechanics.

Brilliant, loved this video - your fault finding, perseverence, slills and attention to detail are excellent. Dare we hope for a part 2 before the end of 2023? 🙂

impressed beyond words. So few have technical savvy like this not to mention the patience. Thanks for the experience of watching you work.

Mark, you are an honest to God genius! I think you will find the "automatic" light will flash for a short time until the deck works out the correct Dolby setting, or you can just select it manually. The "Compu Brain" system (known as DATA on later models) is to automatically select the correct level, bias and equalization for the loaded tape during recording, so would only light up with a blank tape when you press the "Compu Brain start/reset" button as it goes through its automated calibration process. And yes, these things are worth a mint!

"Belinda's Balls have dropped"!!! That made me laugh out loud Mark, thank you!!! What a marathon this fix is turning out to be, can't wait for episode 2..

Fuseable resistors, and caps that look like resistors. Always something to learn here. Sweet work!

@mescko

4 ай бұрын

It took me a minute before I remembered they started using capacitors with the same form factor as resistors. Most resistors use four colour bands to identify their resistance. Notice at 33:38 the capacitor has five colour bands. I can still figure out resistor values from the colours but never memorized the cap colour coding.

Exemplary excellence ! Repairing that motor and rewinding was fascinating . Quite a journey unravelling the other problems. Well done !

What an excellent content for this guy (me) who was working in his first real shop when these came out new, oh the headache these use to give and the patience it taught me.

Well done Mark. Tape decks are amazing but a real Bugger to fix. Great video.

One day I watch the video - wow. Now I'll have seen it all. Nothing will surprise me anymore. Another day, another video - wow... Now nothing will surprise me... And that's how it is almost every time this talented man repairs something... I also tinker with my old hardware, amateurishly, so I am well aware that what I see on the screen as easy and simple is beyond the reach of the cosmos for amateurs like me. Respect to the Master.

I MISS AIWA!! They made good stuff, and I enjoyed my Aiwa walkman, and compact stereo.... In the 90's

Thank you! 😊 Great video. I have an Aiwa F660 which looks almost the same from the outside. I haven't opened it yet. I bought it used sometime in the 90s at a local hi-fi store. It was a GOOD deck. Used almost daily for years. After a few years of inactivity and storage, the cassette no longer ran, the motor did sound like it was running, so the belts are at least at the end. Now I'm waiting for the time to work with that. Which I think is with "A PIECE OF ART from Japan", because I think like this ❤. I also believe this video will be very helpful for me and hopefully others too. Thank you for the video, which honestly shows what the repair of those old (and sometimes even newer) devices is sometimes. I am a Radio and TV mechanic by training and my hobby is always fixing, sometimes something small. I've never done that for my job. I'm looking forward to the sequel to this video.😊❤.

@artsimannisto5659

4 ай бұрын

Yes i got two this lines, 660 and 770,and one is coming from states soon-a 770 also. This AiwA line is a gem. Total keeper.Superior tapepath system,once u got it right. Belts are critical to be right.

Brilliant video. About 6 months ago I changed the two main belts on my Aiwa AD 660 machine. That was tricky enough - I can't believe the problems you had to sort out on this machine Mark - well done!