The 108 memory locations for storing setups is a real feature of the APR-5000 series tape machines. The APR-24 manual alluded to this but did not provide any instructions.
I have the only APR-16 that Sony ever made, but it is essentially the same as an APR-24. My APR-16 is running firmware version 5.01.06.0.
It appears that there are a total of 18 total preset locations in the APR-16 (and presumably the APR-24).
We have been wondering just how far we can push the Sony APR-5000 capstan servo system, so we ran a few tests using an external oscillator feeding the reference port. Unlike Ampex, Otari, and Studer machines which use an external reference of 9,600 Hz; the Sony machines use an external reference of 19,200 Hz.
We found that the APR-5000s did not run reliably below 1.88 in/s — and that is achievable with a -50% varispeed already. It didn’t matter what the base speed was.
The APR-16 (cousin of the APR-24) did not run reliably below 3.75 in/s. But the good news was that we could bring 15 in/s down to 3.75 in/s using the external reference source. We were also able to run the APR-16 at 60 in/s, but takeup tension was a bit low.