In article ,
Dave Baker wrote:
If he reduces the diameter of the flywheel and the flywheel is driven
by a belt then reducing the diameter of the flywheel will speed the
tape up.

If something is driven by a belt then it's a pulley not a flywheel! It
might well be a pulley that's attached to a flywheel but it clearly
isn't the same thing. So you clearly don't know for sure which bit
he/she is talking about either. Until he/she makes clear which bit is
being discussed, what it's made of, whether it's functional or
decorative, whether it contacts the tape or a belt or not we're all
****ing in the wind here.

It's quite common on tape recorders to have a flywheel as part of the
capstan assembly which is a cylinder in shape - and driven by a flat
rubber belt, so no actual pulley. On some, the motor driving this will
have a stepped shaft, and the belt moved from one to another to change
speed. No actual pulley on that shaft either. Sounds quite crude but works
ok in practice. Of course more upmarket machines will have a directly
driven capstan or capstans where the motor is driven by an oscillator etc
to achieve speed changes. But then this usually means separate motors for
the feed and take up spools too - so more expensive.

--
*The more I learn about women, the more I love my car

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.