Optimus STEREO MATE SCR-96 User manual

Cat. No. 14-1239
OWNER’S MANUAL
Please read before using this equipment.
STEREO MATE
SCR-96 AM •FM Stereo
Cassette Recorder
with Tie-Clip Microphone
A
®
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FEATURES
Your Optimus Stereo Mate SCR-96 AM •FM Stereo
Cassette Recorder includes a stereo microphone for
recording lectures or live music.
Other features include:
Automatic Reverse — automatically changes the
tape direction at the end of a tape side so you can
continuously play both sides of a cassette tape.
Tape Direction Control — lets you change the
tape’s direction at any time without having to eject
the tape and turn it over.
Extended Bass — gives you powerful, heavy bass
sound.
Tape Selector — lets you select the proper equal-
ization for normal or high-bias/metal cassette tapes.
Three Power Sources — let you power your cas-
sette recorder from internal batteries (not supplied),
standard AC power (with an optional AC adapter), or
your vehicle’s battery (with an optional DC adapter)
so you can listen to music almost anywhere.
©1999 Tandy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
Optimus, RadioShack, Stereo Mate, and Adaptaplug
are registered trademarks used by Tandy Corporation.
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Belt Clip — lets you attach the cassette recorder to
your belt for hands-free carrying when you are on the
go.
Automatic Level Control — automatically sets the
correct recording level.
Battery Check Indicators — show you the amount
of power remaining in the batteries.
Note: To listen to your cassette recorder in stereo,
you need a pair of headphones or amplified speakers
(not supplied) with a 1/8-inch mini-plug. Your local
RadioShack®store sells a wide variety of head-
phones and speakers.
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CONTENTS
Preparation ........................................................... 5
Connecting to Power ....................................... 5
Using Battery Power ................................ 5
Using AC Power ....................................... 8
Using Vehicle Battery Power .................... 9
Connecting Headphones or Speakers .......... 11
Listening Safely ...................................... 11
Traffic Safety .......................................... 12
Using the Belt Clip ......................................... 12
Operation ............................................................ 13
Playing the Radio .......................................... 13
Loading a Cassette Tape .............................. 15
Playing a Cassette Tape ................................ 17
Using Fast Forward and Rewind ................... 21
Recording ...................................................... 22
Recording from the Radio ...................... 22
Recording Live ....................................... 24
Tape Tips ....................................................... 26
Preventing Accidental Erasure ............... 26
Erasing Tapes ........................................ 27
Restoring Tape Tension and Sound
Quality .................................................... 28
Care ..................................................................... 29
Cleaning the Tape-Handling Parts ................ 30
FCC Information ............................................ 31
Specifications ..................................................... 32
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PREPARATION
CONNECTING TO POWER
You can power your cassette recorder from:
• Internal batteries
• AC power (using an AC adapter)
• Your vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket (using a
DC adapter)
Using Battery Power
To power the cassette recorder from internal batter-
ies, you need two AA batteries. For the best perfor-
mance and longest life, we recommend RadioShack
alkaline batteries.
You can also use rechargeable nickel-cadmium bat-
teries. These batteries and a battery charger are
available at your local RadioShack store.
Cautions:
• Use only fresh batteries of the required size and
recommended type.
• Do not mix old and new batteries, different types
of batteries (standard, alkaline, or recharge-
able), or rechargeable batteries of different
capacities.
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Follow these steps to install batteries.
1. Open the battery compartment cover by press-
ing down and sliding it in the direction of the
arrow on the cover, then lifting open the cover.
Caution: The cover is hinged. Do not try to
remove it.
2. Put the batteries in the compartment as indi-
cated by the polarity symbols (+ and –) marked
outside the compartment.
3. Close the cover.
When you turn on the radio or play a tape, one of the
three indicators lights up to show the amount of pow-
er remaining in the batteries.
Remaining
Power High ➜Low
BATTERY
Indicators Green ➜
F (full) Orange ➜ M (medium) Red L (low)
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When the red BATTERY indicator lights during oper-
ation, replace both batteries.
Warning: Dispose of old batteries promptly and
properly. Never burn or bury them.
Important: This product is capable of using re-
chargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. At the end of
the batteries’ useful life, they must be recycled or dis-
posed of properly. Contact your local, county, or
state hazardous waste management authorities for
information on recycling or disposal programs in your
area. Some options that might be available are: mu-
nicipal curbside collection, drop-off boxes at retailers,
such as your local RadioShack store, recycling col-
lection centers, and mail-back programs.
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Using AC Power
You can power the cassette recorder using a 3V, 200
mA AC adapter and a size H Adaptaplug®(neither
supplied). Both are available at your local Ra-
dioShack store.
Cautions:
You must use a Class 2 power source
that supplies 3V DC and delivers at
least 200 mA. Its center tip must be
set to negative and its plug must fit the cassette
recorder's DC3V jack. Using an adapter that
does not meet these specifications could dam-
age the cassette recorder or the adapter.
• Always connect the AC adapter to the cassette
recorder before you connect it to AC power.
When you finish, disconnect the adapter from
AC power before you disconnect it from the cas-
sette recorder.
!
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Follow these steps to connect the cassette recorder
to AC power.
1. Set the adapter’s voltage switch to 3V.
2. Insert the size H Adaptaplug into the adapter’s
cord, with the tip set to negative.
3. Insert the plug into the cassette recorder’s DC3V
jack.
4. Plug the adapter into a standard AC outlet.
Note: Connecting the AC adapter automatically dis-
connects internal batteries.
Using Vehicle Battery Power
You can power the cassette recorder from a vehicle’s
12V power source (such as cigarette-lighter socket)
using a 3V, 200 mA DC adapter and a size H
Adaptaplug®(neither supplied). Both are available at
your local RadioShack store.
Cautions:
You must use a power source that
supplies 3V DC and delivers at least
200 mA. Its center tip must be set to
negative and its plug must fit the cassette re-
corder’s DC3V jack. Using an adapter that does
!
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not meet these specifications could damage the
cassette recorder or the adapter.
• Always connect the DC adapter to the cassette
recorder before you connect it to the power
source. When you finish, disconnect the adapter
from the power source before you disconnect it
from the cassette recorder.
Follow these steps to power the cassette recorder
from your vehicle’s battery.
1. Set the adapter’s voltage switch to 3V.
2. Insert the size H Adaptaplug into the adapter’s
cord, with the tip set to negative.
3. Insert the plug into the cassette recorder’s DC3V
jack.
4. Plug the other end of the adapter into the vehi-
cle’s cigarette-lighter socket.
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CONNECTING HEADPHONES OR
SPEAKERS
To listen in stereo, you need a pair of headphones or
amplified speakers with a 1/8-inch plug. Your local
RadioShack store carries a full line of headphones
and speakers. Insert the headphones’ or speakers’
plug into the cassette recorder’s jack.
Listening Safely
To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines
when you use headphones.
• Set the volume to the lowest setting before you
begin listening. After you begin listening, adjust
the volume to a comfortable level.
• Do not listen at extremely high volume levels.
Extended high-volume listening can lead to per-
manent hearing loss.
• Once you set the volume, do not increase it.
Over time, your ears adapt to the volume level,
so a volume level that does not cause discomfort
might still damage your hearing.
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Traffic Safety
Do not wear headphones while operating a motor ve-
hicle or riding a bicycle. This can create a traffic haz-
ard and can be illegal in some areas.
Even though some headphones are designed to let
you hear some outside sounds when listening at nor-
mal volume levels, they still can present a traffic haz-
ard.
USING THE BELT CLIP
The belt clip gives you hands-free carrying conve-
nience. Attach the clip to the cassette recorder with
the supplied screw and turn the screw in the direction
of the LOCK arrow.
To take off the clip, turn the screw in the direction of
the RELEASE arrow.
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OPERATION
PLAYING THE RADIO
1. To hear monaural sound through the built-in
speaker, set E-BASS to SP ON.
Note: When you use the built-in speaker, you
cannot emphasize low frequencies with E-BASS.
To hear stereo sound through headphones or
amplified speakers, set E-BASS to OFF
.
2. Slide TAPE/RADIO to RADIO. One of the BAT-
TERY indicators lights.
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3. Slide BAND to the desired band. Slide it to FM
STEREO for stereo sound on FM stations.
Notes:
• The AM antenna is built-in. Move the cassette
recorder to improve AM reception.
• If you connect a pair of headphones or ampli-
fied speakers, fully uncoil the headphones’ or
speakers’ cord for the best FM reception.
• To improve reception for weak FM stereo sta-
tions, set BAND to FM MONO. The sound will
be monaural, but reception should improve.
4. Rotate TUNING to select a radio station.
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5. Adjust VOLUME to the desired listening level.
6. To increase the bass, slide E-BASS to ON.
7. To turn off the radio, slide TAPE/RADIO to TAPE.
LOADING A CASSETTE TAPE
You can use the recorder to play normal bias, high-
bias, and metal tapes. However, you can only use
normal bias (Type I) tapes for recording.
Note: Your recorder comes with a block of foam to
protect the cassette recorder’s mechanism during
shipment. Remove the foam before loading a tape.
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1. Take up any slack in the tape by turning the cas-
sette’s hub with a pencil. Do not touch the
exposed tape.
2. Slide OPEN in the direction of the arrow and pull
up on the compartment door to open it.
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3. Insert a cassette into the door’s tape guides with
the cassette’s open edge facing up and the full
reel to the right.
4. Close the cassette compartment door.
PLAYING A CASSETTE TAPE
1. Slide TAPE/RADIO to TAPE.
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2. Slide TAPE/OSC (oscillator) to NORMAL for nor-
mal bias cassette tapes or to METAL/HIGH (PB)
for chrome or metal cassette tapes.
3. Slide DIRECTION to FWD to play the side facing
out, or to REV to play the reverse side.
METAL NORMAL
HIGH(PB)
TAPE/OSC
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4. Set the reverse mode switch to choose the auto-
matic reverse option:
One-Time Playback ( ): The cassette
recorder plays one side of the tape, automati-
cally reverses the tape’s playback direction,
plays the reverse side of the tape, then automat-
ically stops.
Note: If you set DIRECTION to REV, the cassette
recorder plays only the reverse side and stops at
the end of that side.
Continuous Playback ( ): The cassette
recorder alternately plays each side of the tape
until you press STOP .
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5. Press PLAY. One of the BATTERY indica-
tors lights, and the tape begins to play.
6. Adjust VOLUME to the desired listening level.
7. To increase the bass, slide E-BASS to ON.
8. To stop the tape, press STOP.
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