Has anyone actually ever done it?

[BRDTS]

I have acc2 cables and I also have copies and safety copies of the detailed wiring for both sides of the cable....thanks to Teac Montebello faxing the diagram to me in 1991....complete with a few handwritten notes.

I believe one page in the midiizer manual shows basic pinouts on a small diagram.

That being said, all my teac/tascam manuals/service manuals/promo stuff/cabling/and machines are in a crate in storage. Yes, I know exactly where. Yes, I plan to sort everything out sometime during 2022. When I locate the the pwmd5 diagram, I'll take a pic of it and send it out into the world.

I currently need a spare ats500 or mts1000.....I'll gladly give up one of my acc2 cables if someone hooks me up with either working model.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

I have a past client that brought me his second 238 and he says they they do work when you get the right cables. I can ask him more when he picks up the repaired 238 but he is not a technical person. He works in insurance. He did say he got the exact cable that were used for this purpose from someone. I have to contact wkrbee and see if he can supply the cable diagrams.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

If I can get the diagrams of the cables I might be able to make some up- I just e mailed Jim about it.

 

[Patrick Yeo]

I can’t believe my eyes this thread is active today!
I am very interested in syncing up a 488 and a 688 I have. I’ve also considered throwing a 238 into the mix when financially sound.
At the very least is a 488, 688 pairing at all viable?

Very cool of sky wave to look into making up a few of these cables.

tape on yall!

 

[BRDTS]

I just took a rudimentary look at the 688 and 488 pics.

688 has acc2, meaning it can probably slave via an ats500 or mts1000. Just depends on if the 688 menu shows an "ext sync" choice.

488 appears to have no synchronization capabilities connection-wise. It could possibly be master in a 488/688 setup using an ats500/mts1000.

But....it would be a considerable hassle in a couple of regards (plus the cost of an ats or mts) plus you'd lose one track on each machine to smpte.

These are cassette based machines right?
Smpte itself will likely really bleed into 2-3 trks and chaselock may be unreliable

As to the pw sync cables (acc2 cables), I'm going to try & sort out my various tape machines etc in storage next month. While I won't sell my acc2 cables, I do indeed have the detailed diagrams for the pinouts for each side. When I sort through everything and pull the folder with those diagram pics from Montebello, I'll put the info online. Or maybe direct to Sky etc.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

That would be helpful. many people are looking for these cables and if they are not too strange I might be able to make a few. The thing is I have a client here that might be able to test them for function once made- I do not have any of that stuff here. I basically just do repairs.

 

[Patrick Yeo]

Hey all. I managed to get all of the required equipment to pull this off much like other guys in this thread. (688, 238, MTS-1000)

any ability to make up some of these cables SkywaveTDR? I’m not sure if this is the needed image to make this up, but I came across this.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Of course but it is a good idea to run this by Jim who has more knowledge of these cables directly. If he says good then how many do you want and what length are they?
I sent an E mail to Jim and if he says OK we could try one.

 

[Patrick Yeo]

Sure sounds like a good idea. Actually in the back of the MTS-1000 manual there is a really good writing of the pin outs.
Thank you so much for your help and reaching out to Jim!
I believe 5 feet is a practical length. If it’s not too ridiculous maybe I could get a 10ft one for the rack unit. Two(5ft) one 10ft would be great! one for master 688 to MTS and the other for slave 238 to MTS. Will compensate fairly and am very appreciative for all of your help and knowledge.

 

[BRDTS]

I'm maybe a month away from pulling out my Montebello acc2 diagrams.

Off the top of my head, the mts1000/ats500 manual diagrams had a mistake or two, which was corrected via a Montebello service bulletin....which was what they had sent me (and I'll dig out). As I remember, a wire was incorrectly shown in diagrams...where one wire had to cross pins and another had to be completely to ground at one end but not the other.....something strange like that...that did reflect in the way my factory acc2 cables were wired (which I'll also pull out, unscrew the connectors and take pics etc.

At least there'll at last be verifiable, repeatable microscopic diagrams for building the amazingly secretive acc2

 

[Patrick Yeo]

A true tape hero! Hope you can find that!

 

[Patrick Yeo]

let’s go! This thing is MASSIVE!
So I gotta fix up my 688 and I’ll be pairing it with a TSR-8 which most likely could use some servicing too. Then some cables for it

Got a ways to go but I’m psyched!

 

[BRDTS]

As an aside, next time you power up the midiizer, quickly look at the screen to see if its version 2 eprom. In version 2, Montebello cleaned up some functions and also reprogrammed the midiizer to be able to arm 24 tracks (such as for msr24). Earlier eproms maxed record-arm at 16.

 

[Patrick Yeo]

Whoa!! I’ll keep a look out next time I power it on!

 

[BRDTS]

I have never seen such cables or had diagrams of them.

What's your contact info? I'll email the cable diagrams/service bulletin/pics of my cable internal connections.

I should arrive at that part of the Tascam pile in storage during the next couple of weeks.

Also, does this forum have a general area to post archive materials? After all these years, I've not noticed one.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

I have no control of this site but the cable you want is supposedly this one and Jim has told me that the one cable does need to be shielded.

The cable should not be that hard to make except for the lack of time here. The length was usually about 2 meters. dB15 connectors are not hard to get.

 

[Patrick Yeo]

Hey all! Any update on these? I have a guy local who may be able to help me but he doesn’t have the background of this forum and all the information shared hear-in.

Sending a pinch roller to terrys rubber rollers for my TSR-8 and gotta open up my 688 for a belt replace next (just did the tsr-8 today)

willing to compensate fairly for this rockin db15 cables!

 

[Patrick Yeo]

Brewed one up with good results! I used a 15pin VGA cable for the shielding and some solderless db15 ends to make my life easier.
Tested and working!
That is the pin out I used and it’s valid!

 

[BRDTS]

I finally pulled out my faxes from Montebello and my acc2 cables. Pin connections are indeed same as those printed in mts1000/ats500 manuals.

Additional faxes regarding mods to unshield various ends are to do with interfacing mts1000 (and ats500) with my umbilical cables to my if1000 .....that's where you run a master recorder and two slaves...one slave being the circa 1983-84 pre-acc2-serial design machines such as 8516, 8516b, ms16 etc.