Vintage Midas Recording Console - Recapping

[JohnRoberts]

I love the thumbwheel switches for track selection. So compact and easy to read.

Cheers

Ian

A friend of mine used thumbwheel switches in his one-off DIY console.  Only downside is you can send one strip to two buses.

JR

 

[analogguru]

Just curious: why do you consider them junk?

Michael

Did you ever desolder one ?  Chances are good, that the connection wire(s) will come off.  This shows the fragile construction of this caps.  Even Siemens knew this and offered this series later with additional
blue epoxy on the side.

The green ones are from the first series (early 70's), the "white" ones are from late 70's and on the right side you see the "pro" examples with the blue epoxy on the sides.

When you look at the cap from the side you will see that the connection wires are simply soldered to the film-pack.

And from the top you can see, that the film pack was simply cut and left unprotected - think about humidity.

Maybe its only me, but since more than 40 years I prefer the much more stable encapsuled Wima's (or similar caps).....

 

[anders]

Here is a mix of both Siemens and Wima, I guess. What are the two big yellow/black ones on the PR 003B2?

 

[analogguru]

Here is a mix of both Siemens and Wima, I guess. What are the two big yellow/black ones on the PR 003B2?

I can't see any Wima's.  The yellow ones on the lower module are Phillips, The "two big yellow/black" are (encapsuled) Siemens.

 

[ruffrecords]

A friend of mine used thumbwheel switches in his one-off DIY console.  Only downside is you can send one strip to two buses.

JR

Indeed, but why on earth would anyone want to do that? From the designers point of view, it considerably reduces the drive capabilities needed by the amp that drives all the bus resistors. If you already have 8 AUXes and AFL to drive a couple of extra buses is not an issue but having to design for the possibility that someone might decide to select all of 16 available buses just about triples the drive requirement

Cheers

Ian

 

[anders]

Are these switches still made or available? 2 or 3-way latching, for master and group modules - switching between group or tape monitoring ("A/B")

 

[Gareth Connor]

Lever switches: type BPO 1000.

It seems that someone still has stock:
http://www.partridgeelectronics.co.uk/19switches.htm

Not cheap, though, but then 1970's consoles never were

 

[anders]

Thanks, Gareth. Don´t need that many, though

 

[jensenmann]

If you post a rear picture of these switches I can check if the ones I have would fit.

 

[anders]

Hi Jens. I have (yet) no pictures of this switch, but i have seen them on several other Midas PR console from late 70s & early 80s.
The owner said they are working, but not latching properly - so I guess they are mechanically worn. Have you experience with the PR "in-line" studio recording recording console?

 

[pvision]

Those switches are available in latching and non-latching versions and oddities like three way, latching upwards and non-latching push downwards for PFL, etc

Inspection of the hardware may show what is missing or you may find they were not meant to latch

Nick Froome

 

[JingleDjango]

The console in the original post belonged to an acquaintance. I haven't been back to that studio since. However, you may find something helpful in this collection of photos and scanned documents from then:

http://gardensound.ca/Midas/

Best of luck.

 

[jensenmann]

The owner said they are working, but not latching properly - so I guess they are mechanically worn. Have you experience with the PR "in-line" studio recording recording console?

I have a Pro4M desk still in use, but I´ve never seen an inline version.
One hint for recapping: those PCB interconnection wires are very fragile because the PVC hardened. They will break if you bend the unscrewed PCBs too much. Be very careful. When I recapped my desk it took more time to repair those broken wires than the recapping actually did.

 

[anders]

Thank you all for contributing valuable help/info/advice  8). Time has most probably made some toll on this "in-line" console, too. OTOH, this studio desk has never toured, only moved/lifted a couple of times since 1978! Not surprisingly, the seller is very upbeat about the overall condition, being open about the few (known) faults. He is a great musician/producer/recording engineer - not that deeply technically adept, though. So I have to do some thorough testing. The high quality component choice throughout the Midas PR design probably makes them a sensible - and better - restoration candidate compared to many other brands. As for recapping, I probably shouldn´t bother to change anything else except the few electrolytic capacitors? 
BTW, those L/R master module monitor toggle switches are 3-way latching on-off-on, ref. description/schematics.
Anders