Revox B77 Counter
Bring your Revox B77 to a new visual and functional level with this high precision, microprocessor controlled custom OLED counter. It significantly improves the looks, the visibility and the precision of the count thanks to the high contrast and fast, high resolution OLED display. Unlike other solutions out there, it does not require installation of any additional sensors, or any sticky material on flywheels that might cause disbalance, vibrations and stress on bearings - it simply taps on existing tachometer (magnetic sensor based) electronics for detecting rotation and direction. By installing this counter you will get rid of the last two belts in your machine, and your deck will finally become belt-maintenance-free forever. There will be no stress torque anymore, however insignificant, on the right reel caused by belt pull from the old mechanical counter, and no more mechanical gears noise.
Counter can run in three display modes: "vintage" mode with four digits, and two high precision modes: one with 5 digits + animated dots indicating tape direction, and another with 5 digits where last digit counts from 0 to 5, both of them being 6x more precise than original counter. Modes are simply switched with a reset button, by holding it for 2 seconds. Both counter value and mode of operation are automatically saved to EEPROM on power off and loaded on next power on.
Please note that this is not a real-time counter as B77 hardware is lacking tape speed sensor, but a future update might include a software trick which could include a quasi real-time mode of operation. All future firmware upgrades will be lifetime free and are easily done through built in mini USB port.
Standard 1 year warranty included. Built on order by hand in Belgium.
For installation it's necessary to remove both front and back panels. Installation requires soldering one jumper wire on a tape drive control board. Once this is done, counter is removable/replaceable without soldering, simply by unscrewing two screws and disconnecting one connector. Display can be easily replaced simply by pulling it from the main board.
Video of the operation:
Installation instructions:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k-RMB6C0V_1dp7XUrv0R2TOapzjLLgghS6npdZPDTbk
