Command keys, Counter Mode, Char, Margin Reset

2 - Parts of the tape deck

NOTE

If the DATA dial is turned by mistake, either leave the tape deck alone for ﬁve seconds to cancel the operation, or press the STOP key.

2.4 Command keys

These command keys have two modes: the primary mode, labeled in white above the key, is the most common use for the key. The secondary, or shifted, mode is labeled in blue above the key, and is only operative when the SHIFT indicator [31] is lit (see 4, "SHIFT functions" for details of these secondary modes).

[20] COUNTER MODE

Use this key to cycle through the different tape counter modes available:

•ABS time— the absolute time as recorded on the subcode of the tape. This is expressed in hours, minutes and seconds. If the tape is at an unrecorded location, the tape counter will show all dashes.

PNO	MARG
ABS
0 0H 2 6M 3 5S0 9	6. 3 dB

•PGM time— the elapsed time since the last START ID which has been read from tape (the beginning of the program). If, when the display is in this mode, the tape is located to a point outside a START ID and playback restarts, the tape deck will be unable to determine the time since the start of the program and the display will show all dashes instead of a time value.

			PNO	MARG
PGM	0 3M	1 7S	0 9	6. 3 dB

•REMAIN time— the time remaining on the cur- rently-loaded cassette; to minute accuracy. Cas- settes from different manufacturers may vary slightly in length, resulting in different values being shown for tapes which are nominally the same length.

		PNO		MARG
REMAIN0	0 0 3	0	9	6. 3	dB
	M				dB

NOTE

In LP mode, the counter shows one second of tape time for every second of real time in the ABS, PGM and REMAIN counter modes. For example, after one hour’s playback or record- ing in LP mode, the counter will only show 30

minutes. Bear this in mind when you are using the LP mode.

•Tape Counter mode— no indication is given on the display of the mode, and a 4-digit number is used to show the tape position. This value is relative to a user-deﬁnable reference “zero” point (see

MARGIN RESET [22]).

	PNO	MARG
0 1 2 6	0 8	6. 3 dB

[21] CHAR

If characters have been recorded on the tape as a tape or program title, pressing this key will allow the tape deck to display these characters, scrolling across the display, as the START ID containing the title is played back. They will be replaced by successive title contents as they are read from tape. If characters are read from a START ID, the CHAR indicator will light in the display to indicate this. If no characters have been recorded on the tape, pressing this key will have no effect.

[22] MARGIN RESET

Pressing this key resets the margin (available head- room) to its lowest level of 40dB. Note that in some display modes, there is no visible effect when this key is pressed.

The margin is measured in 1 dB increments between 40 dB and 20 dB and in 0.1 dB increments between 19.9 dB and 0 dB.

If the time display is in the 4-digit tape counter mode, pressing this key will reset the tape counter.

[23] DISPLAY

Regardless of the current counter mode set by [20], this key is used to display other information. The options available, which are accessed by repeated presses of this key, are:

•Program number and Margin mode— where the current program number and margin in decibels are displayed:

PNO	MARG
ABS
0 0H 2 3M 0 8S0 7	6 .	3 dB

•Frames mode— where frames are displayed as well as hours, minutes, and seconds. The frames used are “digital audio” frames, i.e. there are 100 frames in every three seconds; 33 in the ﬁrst sec- ond, 33 in the next, and 34 in the third. The pattern then repeats itself.

ABS

0 0H 2 3M 0 8S _ 3 2F P 0 9

14 TASCAM DA-40