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Post by oldkid on Feb 13, 2020 5:16:50 GMT -7
Hey everyone, I'm trying to get my version 1 Teddy's servos going. So far, I haven't found a Teddy tape for a reasonable price in Australia and international shipping is a killer, so I'm trying to use this cassette adapter to play one of his tracks from my laptop. The adapter is stereo, though I did have to flip the audio channels (guessing they wired it back-to-front). Teddy plays the audio channel just fine; though, I can (very) faintly hear the control track playing when he's not talking - not sure if that happens with official tapes, but if the audio track is bleeding into the control track, maybe that could be a problem? So I let the sweet lullabies play for about 10 minutes while I carefully massaged his eyes and mouth, to no avail. His eyes are quite stiff but his mouth moves a little easier; either way, I can't hear that trademark servo sound on either of them. Does that suggest I'm just rubbing against stuck servos? Am I going to have to do some surgery or should I wait until I can find an official tape to test him with? Also, am I correct in my understanding that the version 1 Teddy doesn't have tape detection? I didn't notice any notches in the tape deck. Cheers EDIT: Wikipedia says the control data is on the left channel and the audio is on the right. So are the files on archive.org wrong and my tape adapter is actually correct?
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Post by sparkpikachu on Feb 15, 2020 13:47:43 GMT -7
Hi,
Before I start, know that I'm no expert but have worked on two Teddies with help and got them moving. I think finding an official tape is best. I'm not sure about the archived tapes online but am too scared to chance them. The servos won't make noise while you move them. If you do need to do surgery, it's not all that bad. There are youtube videos to help with that. You're right about the tape deck. I have both a first and second generation Teddy and the second has a switch in the bottom to recognize regular tapes. Yes, Wikipedia is right about the audio and control channels. That's all I can tell you for now. I wish you the best with your Teddy.
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Post by oldkid on Feb 17, 2020 5:56:37 GMT -7
Thanks sparkpikachu,
I actually got him going with some extra fiddling! The volume on my MacBook was important - 4 bars seems to be the sweet spot.
His animation isn't quite keeping pace with the audio. Not sure if it's due to the tape adapter quality, the audio quality of the file, the fact that it's being amplified on the computer before it gets to Teddy, or just old servos.
I guess the best way to confirm it would be to get my hands on an actual tape, so I'll keep my eyes open.
I let him sing for a couple of hours. The poor fella was probably sitting silently in a closet for two decades.
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