tickoprint tp-46

[justin time]

I'm waiting for a vibragraph 100, but in the meantime, I picked up a tickoprint tp-46 at a great price. (maybe not so great after reading this)

Its quite clean, but there's a lot of static from the pickup to the machine. I have to turn the volume to max to here the watch ticking, but the static makes getting a printout impossible. The paper print dashes all over.

The other really strange thing is I get radio reception at times through the speaker. How in the world does that happen? Would the pickup wire be a good starting point for a fix? I took the pickup apart and all seems well connected and clean. I also thought I'd find a crystal or stylis of some sort in the pickup. Where might that be locted?

[Dr. Jon]

You are probably getting static because you are not getting enough out of the microphone pick or its pick up.

IF you live near a powerful radio station , like a few miles from a 50,000 Watt station, any diode can pick up a radio signal and amplify it. This suggests that your microphone may be working poorly.

[justin time]

[quote

IF you live near a powerful radio station , like a few miles from a 50,000 Watt station, any diode can pick up a radio signal and amplify it. This suggests that your microphone may be working poorly.[/quote]

Funny you mention that... My son told me he gets interference on his surround sound base unit at times. The source he feels. is the first aid station and firehouse a block away.

Would you know where the crystal is located in the pick up?

[Dr. Jon]

Mounting and connecting the crystal is an art. Once it goes, the entire unit need to be replaced. Watch pick ups are special. I have tried to replace watch microphones with cheap recording ones and it does not work.

A bad microphone is one of the pitfalls in buying a used timing machine. There are some people who specialize in repairing these but when I have got a bad unit I finally pitched it and bought another used one. Its usually cheaper than getting a bad one competently repaired. Unless you know the seller and get a money back guarantee, test before you buy.