Greetings from Havana, Cuba

Hi, guys. I have been looking at your site for some time but couldn´t make my mind to enter. I don´t feel I may be helpful to your community.
But when I saw somebody talking about the very first model of R2R I ever put my fingers on (and inside) I couldn´t resist the urge to write, so now I am aboard.
I always have been a tape fan, and have at home more tapes than I can really ever use. (My wife is not aware of that). Now am repairing my old Akai 630D. My gear is not anything great, but is what I have.
I am very upset at seeing sometimes kids (and a few grownups also) breaking vinyl records and electronic tubes for fun, or unwinding cassettes and VHS and making a mess with the tapes. Well, there must be a little of every class of people in the world...
If I had things my way, I would keep and try to repair at least one of each model of equipment I can find. Maybe the next life.
At my work place I keep a small "museum" of old open-reel and UMatic VTRs (not the subject here, I know) and several R2R machines. Now am looking for a way to improvise a belt for my linear tracking turntable.
I am very glad to find your interest in everything audio and specially "out-moded" gear, and love to see you using it side by side with modern equipment.
I will stay around for the little use I may be of.
Ricardo Miranda

hello and welcome!

RJMiranda said:

.....
I am very upset at seeing sometimes kids (and a few grownups also) breaking vinyl records and electronic tubes for fun, or unwinding cassettes and VHS and making a mess with the tapes. Well, there must be a little of every class of people in the world...

Ricardo Miranda

Click to expand...

Welcome:

Is there a lot of old audio gear in Cuba? Tube gear too?

If you want to talk about the video side of things, this site has a cousin called www.videokarma.org, which is all about all things old and video related. It's interesting to see someone from Havana, I was there as a tourist earlier in the year and it's absolutely unlike any other place I have been... very cool.

Hola Ricardo, es un gran gusto darte la bienvenida a AK!!

Hello Ricardo. I spent two weeks in your country last year, and was treated like family wherever I went. Glad you're here.

And the old cars were fantastic!

Welcome to AK.

Hiya! Welcome.

Enjoy the wonderful world of AK!

Greetings Ricardo
Welcome to AK!
-Bob from San Fancisco

Welcome!

As a car guy, I've always watched your country with amazement, at the ingenuity that is used to fabricate parts to keep older cars running. No surprise that we might observe something similar with vintage audio.

The tape unwinding and record smashing days here seemed to be late 80's.

Anyhow, welcome!

bs

Welcome to AK!

Nice t'have ya ! Welcome !

Welcome to AK Ricardo!

A hearty Welcome from the Black Forest to Cuba!

Welcome!

Welcome.
While you may long for gear you don't have , there are many outside of Cuba who would love to search for vintage gear in Cuba. The fantasy outside of Cuba is that the gear continues to run or is inventively patched together as old cars in Cuba are.
Many would dream of finding vintage Ampex tape gear or something similar.

We are happy to have you join the AK community. We are sure you can contribute as well as learn.

Mi socio, bienvenido a AK. Soy un compatriota tuyo que vive en Puerto Rico desde los 60s.

welcome here

Greetings from Cuba, Illinois, Ricardo! Havana, Illinois, is about 20 minutes from here. I also want to see old equipment and media revived and protected as long as possible. As long as it can be listened to it and somebody might be able to get some use/pleasure out of it.