Tape Trail

Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats.

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Hiss problem (bias?)

Posted by Radionette on June 21, 2007 at 17:37:54:
I've got an old Radionette cassette deck (horizontal top-loading) which I've been using a lot recently (with the same cassette) for recording and playback. I have no manual. When I started using it, there was nearly no hiss at all. But the hiss seems to have been getting progressively worse, and it's now deteriorated to the point of unpleasantness. What could be the cause of this? Is the bias signal too weak? I've opened up the case and found three mini pots on one of the circuit boards. These pots are unmarked, and I have not been able to trace them back and determine their purpose. Adjusting them seems to have no audible effect (on tape speed or hiss or anything). What could be the purpose of these pots? Could one of them be a way to adjust the bias level?
Or is there any way to diagnose the hissing problem to determine whether the cause is a weak bias current? Thanks