Tag: 1530

  • Understanding Azimuth

    Understanding Azimuth

    Azimuth Head Alignment is one of my go-to tools when working on datasettes. It is not only useful for adjusting azimuth but also for datasette diagnosis in general. Unfortunately there is no documentation for it, so I decided to dig into how it actually works. How data is stored on the tape To understand Azimuth…

  • Datasette repair notes

    Datasette repair notes

    Commodore’s datasette is a robust little machine, and many of them still keep spinning. Furthermore, many of the most frequent problems can be fixed easily. This post contains my datasette repair notes, and will be updated regularly. Some numbers I have bought several lots of defect datasettes and it has been surprisingly feasible, if we…

  • Testing datasettes
    ,

    Testing datasettes

    Given the price tag, there is a limit to the amount of time you can spend on datasettes. Annoyingly, many of them come with minor issues like incorrect azimuth settings, dirty tape heads or defect drive belts, which mostly are easily fixed. But mostly isn’t the same as always. What “working” should mean In my…

  • Replacing the drive belt in a 1530/1531 datasette

    Replacing the drive belt in a 1530/1531 datasette

    Failing drive belts among the most frequent problems you encounter when servicing Commodore 1530 and 1531 datasettes. But when should you replace the drive belt and how do you do it? Commodore’s many datasettes As illustrated in Giacomo Vernoni’s eBook on the topic, Commodore produced an impressive range of datasettes for use with its range…