Real-Life Communication
A customer drives his car into the shop at the back of your stereo
store. He is hearing garbled sounds when he plays cassette tapes. At first,
he thought it was because his tape was old, but when he tried a new cassette,
the sound did not improve.
It's been a while since you repaired
a cassette player. These days, it's all about digital music. But cassette
players are still out there, and they need servicing too, especially since
they're getting older!
You suspect that the cassette may have a dirty
tape head, which is the mechanism that contacts and reads the tape in a cassette
player.
The customer is intrigued by electronics. He asks if he can
stay and watch as you troubleshoot his car cassette player. You don't mind.
As you work, he watches over your shoulder and asks lots of questions
about the repairs.
You consult a manual so that you can explain the
problem to your customer. This is what it says:
How
to care for tape heads:
The defective tape head might be dirty,
out of line, worn or magnetized. Check for a worn or magnetized tape head
when high-frequency reproduction is poor.
Clean the suspected tape
head with alcohol and a clean cloth. You can buy magnetic head cleaner at
most stores that sell magnetic tape or players. Make sure the brown tape oxide
isn't over the tape head openings. Don't use a screwdriver blade to remove
hard-packed oxide from the tape head. Use the end of a pencil eraser or a
plastic rod. A dirty tape head might cause weak, distorted or no sound in
one stereo channel.
Garbled music might be caused by improper tape
head alignment. Locate the azimuth screw (the screw that adjusts the angle
of the tape head) alongside the tape head. The azimuth alignment can be made
with a cassette that contains piano or string music. Turn the azimuth screw
until the high-frequency reproduction is the loudest and the clearest. Never
make tape head adjustments with the tape near the end.
(Excerpt from
Troubleshooting and Repairing Audio Equipment by Homer L. Davidson.)
Here
are the questions your customer asks you:
- What type of instrument should you use to clean oxide from the tape head?
- What kind of sound will a dirty tape head produce?
- What kind of sound may indicate improper tape head alignment?
- How do you know when to stop turning the azimuth screw when you are adjusting
the tape head alignment?
How would you answer your customer? Prepare a response to each of
your customer's questions.