Highlighted in the center of the photo are two compound reels. Their segmented construction permits specialized control of the tape handling. For this they have internal clutches, springs and locking rings. These elements are shown in the dismantled reels in the upper two squares of the photo. Looking at the one upper left the toothed drive disk is sandwiched between the hub with the shaft and the round metal disk. Both have circular felt pads bonded to them. The shaft is six sided and the round metal disk has a six-sided hole in the center. When the reel is assembled the shaft and disk turn together against the toothed disk which is sandwiched in between. The felt pads act as a slip clutch and acts as a safety cushion when the tape is being transitioned from one mode to the other. There are four slots in the toothed gear and hub with the shaft. They are there so that an indexing collar can rise up into the slots from beneath and lock the reel solid parts together. This collar is shown bottom left. The reel works like this. During the play, record, pause, scan and stepping modes they are to allowed slip as needed. During rewind and fast forward the collar is raised up by a lever and the parts lock to gather for maximum driving power from the reel motor. These reels have no actual adjustment, after reconditioning if they can't meet specs they have to be replaced. There is one more item here to examine. In the lower photos are the brakes. They are the black pads attached to the swing arms. These are made of a special friction material. When they are pressed against a circular area under the reels it brings them to a complete stop. One side note, the dual pancake reel table has solid reels. Their characteristics are fully operated by the VCR servo electronics. They are adjusted electrically and don't use this reel design and brakes To find out how the machine knows when things don't go correctly click here. To go back to the previous page click here. ©Misterßetamax go to homepage