Capehart Reel-to-Reel

[Don Moose]

Found a nice Capehart console today, AM/FM/Phono/RtR - all mono.
2x12 + 2x3 for speakers, but only one OT for the pair of 6V6s.
Seems to be about a 1950.

The reel-to-reel is missing at least one drive belt - Play and FF go, but no Rewind, and it won't go into record - do I need a tape to get it to do that?

My church needs a reel-to-reel to transcribe some old sermons, and I think I can make this one go, but need a little guidance. The googles show me some hints, but no details yet.

Mr. Capehart invented the jukebox, sold the patent to Wurlitzer and continued to make some pretty nice high-end gear (whole-house systems with multiroom speakers and remotes (the size of a shoebox, cabled) to the central closet full of changer and amps) before selling to Farnsworth, then IT&T, then becoming pretty much a joke.

[Enzo]

You probably do have to have a tape in the sensor to go into record. How else whould you know if you recorded anything anyway? Isn;t there a tape sensor to shut it off when the tape trails out?

This might be a fun project, but if you are transcribing material for some sort of archival purpose, I might suggest using a better machine. I bet someone you know has a reel in their basement studio or project room.

For that matter, you might contact a local recording studio or one of the places that transfer films. They would be set up for it, and would likely process the sound to clean it up in the bargain.