The biotracer design has intrigued me. Either I haven't looked hard enough or no one has really reverse engineered the control loop on that. As it was a simple MCU can't be anything too complex and the electromechanical part looks to be similar to a hard drive head actuator. Could make an interesting DIY project.
I was having similar thoughts. An Arduino might handle it.
It really is a good idea, shame to let all that cool technology gather dust for the want of a controller.
Maybe we could use Spock's brain. 🙂
If I'm remembering correctly, the Biotracer's control loops were strictly analog, and the micro just did operational stuff like start/stop, cueing, IR remote etc. but I could be wrong - it's been a very long time.
Jeez now you got me curious. 'Scuse me while I trudge up into the chilly chilly attic with a flashlight, looking for a service manual.
Jeez now you got me curious. 'Scuse me while I trudge up into the chilly chilly attic with a flashlight, looking for a service manual.
Sounds too much like the part right before the monster gets another one. Did you make it back?
Found this online: https://www.vintageshifi.com/repertoire-pdf/pdf/telecharge.php?pdf=Sony-PS-X75-Service-Manual.pdf
Those Sony biotracers were just an attempt at competing with the Denon DP-xx models, which were another massively overdone and utterly complex way to play records.
And both brands had their numerous problems over time, too.
There are threads of confusion all over the internet about trying to get these machines back to acceptable running condition.
A couple of years ago, customer of mine handed me a Denon DP-59L (with owners manual) along with a "high end" Grace F9 cartridge installed, and told me to keep it.
It belonged to his brother, who passed away, and he didn't feel good about tossing it in the dumpster.
The DP was in absolutely flawless condition, not even dust on it.
The Grace F9 cartridge was re-tipped by Soundsmith with a ruby cantilever stylus assembly too, at a cost of $400 that I found out.
After checking and going over the TT, replacing a few caps, etc, it ran nicely.
But I didn't want that overblown expensive mess around, so I sold it over Craigs List and got $800 cash for the thing.
I could have gotten much more, the DP's were getting $1K in good condition at the time.
Let somebody else deal with any future issues that those machines are known for.
I like things simple, no need for all that electronic sensing and tonearm control.
Fascinated by the tech in the Biotracer, but I am happy with my old BIC. I do tend towards the simple when it does the job.
"The fancier the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." _Scotty
What gets me is how the simple way is lost once the fancy way comes along. Electric car windows, poof, the manual handle is removed. We live in an easily sprung trap. No electricity, we are dead in the water. In the event of a more than short term crisis, we won't be able to get gas either.
You seem to have a good handle on the vulnerability of society vs technology.
And that can help when things get rough.
The age-old attraction to "shiny things' goes back centuries, and has always been used to make the masses dependent on things.
So this current technology is the perfect drug, guaranteed to keep people fascinated, dependent, and spending money.
Mind you, I'm not strictly against convenience items, I just keep my brain thoughts under reasonable control to limit dependency on things.
I like to be as self-sufficient in life as possible.
And being that way, it gives me a comfortable feeling of "freedom", like a breath of fresh air.
A lot of people don't think twice about it, and wind up relying on devices so much, it effects their lives, and creates turmoil or worse, when those devices don't work.
Like any "addiction", dependency is like a drug.
If you allow it to take over or dominate your world, you'll always be at the mercy of it.
Absurd. They were not over complicated in any way to play a record. Mine was fully automatic , and could be programmed to play tracks in standard, or as is. There wasn't a limit to what cartridge to use either. Mine never had any issue playing low medium or high compliance cartridges either. Your post sounds more like you just felt like spewing bile on a product, and promoting what you used instead. I've never seen literature saying Sony emulated Denon's active tonearms either, although I did see something about JVC sharing their technology with Denon. I have to disagree they did it only because Denon had actives. You may as well claim Denon only made receivers because Pioneer made some, too.
As for problems, I got 35 years of trouble free operation from one I bought second hand for a quarter of what you paid to have your stylus retipped. I went for a more modest Project Debut and upgraded it, but I miss the automatic aspects of the old spinner at times.
Your posting shows me that you apparently took my post in a hostile way.
Now THAT is absurd.
And I never implied that "I" had the stylus of the Grace retipped.
Again, that's improper reading.
Because if you really read and understood my post, it would be clear that I was given the machine that way.
As for the Denon-Sony arm technology, look at the timeline of each product and understand the similarity, thus competition, instead of catching feathers from the air.
However, to me, it looks like you had so much seething hatred of the post, it fogged your eyes.
I use my IPhone a good bit, handy device. When I was driving an Uber in Charlottesville, I was constantly stopping for pedestrians. Maybe I'm just old school, but when I was a a kid my mom taught me to look both ways. These collage kids cross the street without looking, their noses buried in their phones. Waiting for a table in a restaurant, no one talks, they are mesmerized with their phone. Bad thing, not necessarily.
I'd like to see a reality show where the participants have everything they want except phones, and the internet. Last one standing wins the prize.
Ya know, I would survive without "electronic help" in my life.
After all, I did before, right?
We have to focus on being self-sufficient, without being so damn dependent on stuff.
Like I said before, I'm not against technology, but you need to "keep a healthy balance" in your life, and allow for if and when something happens.
To me, that's being smart.
I certainly don't want to be at the mercy of big tech for living my life.
Shame that modern society has allowed themselves to be so dependent.
Used my phone once this week (had to charge it) to arrange the passing on of some of the stuff that I have that I will never use.
In the late 1970s (starting Sept 1975) I attended the University of Toronto. There were no cell phones. The campus is bisected by St George St, and there are a coupe of intersections with street lights where there was a lot of pedestrian traffic when classes changed. When the light was red large groups of students gathered, waiting, noses buried in books or deep in conversation. I realized that if someone at the front took a half step off the curb, they would all start to go and walk in front of vehicular traffic. Nothing new.
The perceived invincibility in the minds of undergraduate students is nothing new.
I have to say, the Biotracer is a cool idea and most of them worked long outside their expected operating life. It's all well and good to call something "overcomplicated and unreliable", but they're absolutely ancient now.
I picked mine up because it had a Shure V15 IV cartridge on it, and the seller didn't realize what they had. I knew the microprocessor was cooked when I bought it, but I had some illusion of making a profit off it. Well, the whole thing is sitting in my attic, cartridge still on it, two years later. If someone else comes up with an Arduino fix for it, then I may apply it to mine, but I just don't see why it's worth sinking much time into.
Others feel differently. To me, it's just an old turntable. Most people would say the same thing about the MXP2900 that I've sunk hundreds of hours into now- "just an old broadcast console". One person's trash is another person's "Hey, that thing could be super cool if I waste 500 hours of my life on it!!!"
I have to say, the Biotracer is a cool idea and most of them worked long outside their expected operating life. It's all well and good to call something "overcomplicated and unreliable", but they're absolutely ancient now.
I picked mine up because it had a Shure V15 IV cartridge on it, and the seller didn't realize what they had. I knew the microprocessor was cooked when I bought it, but I had some illusion of making a profit off it. Well, the whole thing is sitting in my attic, cartridge still on it, two years later. If someone else comes up with an Arduino fix for it, then I may apply it to mine, but I just don't see why it's worth sinking much time into.
Others feel differently. To me, it's just an old turntable. Most people would say the same thing about the MXP2900 that I've sunk hundreds of hours into now- "just an old broadcast console". One person's trash is another person's "Hey, that thing could be super cool if I waste 500 hours of my life on it!!!"
I hope these people that store turntables, tape decks, etc, in their attic have the sense to know that after years of summer heat, those things stored are now in wretched shape.
Lubrication, rubber, dries out and turns to crap, cartridge cantilever suspensions dry up and get hard, all sorts of jolly good things happen after years in attics.
Lubrication, rubber, dries out and turns to crap, cartridge cantilever suspensions dry up and get hard, all sorts of jolly good things happen after years in attics.
Well put it this way, if I thought it had a real chance of ever operating again, it would be in a more climate-controlled environment. Aside from the cartridge (which I accept should be in a better location, but at present I don't have a better place for that kind of thing), I consider it to be of minimal value.
Of course I know that Wisconsin winters and summers are horrible for whatever is stored up there, but everyone has their own priorities when it comes to equipment. The idea of taking the cartridge off and sending the rest of the turntable to e-waste has crossed my mind more than once (usually when it's in my way). The whole thing is heavy and big enough to not be worth the effort to ship.
Of course I know that Wisconsin winters and summers are horrible for whatever is stored up there, but everyone has their own priorities when it comes to equipment. The idea of taking the cartridge off and sending the rest of the turntable to e-waste has crossed my mind more than once (usually when it's in my way). The whole thing is heavy and big enough to not be worth the effort to ship.
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