Patch Me Up! Easily Connect Tape Recorders to Audio Devices

I love old vintage tape recorders, and I find I am not alone. E-Bay is filled with collectors madly bidding on machines that people find in yard sales and estate sales. Thanks goodness they do (the sellers, I mean) for they provide a great resource for these lovely old machines. I've even made a few friends when buying an old tape recorder or two. YouTube is filled with videos by proud owners and restorers of these machines. The tape recorders have little use today, yet still, we love them.

Many of these machines need repair, which I enjoy doing, but one problem I have run into is how to connect two tape recorders (cassette to cassette, or cassette to reel-to-reel or vice-versa and more) electronically and still be able to monitor the sound. A sticky problem is, what if one of the machines has no "line input"? Try recording an audio device with a microphone-- it always sounds terrible! The machines need to be connected electronically.

I solved this problem with two inexpensive components I got at Radio Shack. It's really a question of imagination and the creative use of patch cables!

I made a video of this and posted it on YouTube. I have put the link in the links section of this Hub.

If you are into electronics you may find this solution very simple and easy to implement.

Enjoy, and while you are on YouTube, check out my profile and other videos. Leave me a nice comment if you like the video! That's always encouraging.