Emi corder SM 205TW Clockwork Tape Recorder! (SHORT-SERIES)

In this SHORT-SERIES Presentation (last installment was 2018 I think!!!!) I show you a rare Japanese reel-to-reel tape recorder from 1959 (yes, the FIFTIES) that uses a clockwork mechanism as opposed to the typical DC motor.

This device is 5-transistor, DC bias, DC erase, with manual level control (no VU meter). The amplifier runs off 9VDC. Only one slightly leaky capacitor had to be replaced, even though it was good enough for the amp to still work nicely off all original parts.

Sadly, the original crank is gone, so I am using an M8 x 1.25 bolt with a ratchet to wind the recorder. For maximum wind you wind it with about 50 rotations (the max I have got it was 55, but once it gets hard to turn, don't push it!). It will run for a few minutes before petering out. One nice thing is that it can be wound "live", that is, wound while the unit is running. That way, if someone was recording a speech or something that went for longer than about six minutes or so, another person could be winding the machine to keep it running for longer.

Tape speed is 3 3/4 IPS. I did not mess much with the little speed control it has, as I have once, and when going to the max, it starts making a "clink-clink-clink..." sound and I was getting afraid I might mess up the mechanism, so I want to leave that alone.

According to an online source, the recorder's spring motor was manufactured by Garrard (known for record players) in England. So this Japanese machine has a touch of Britain in it.

P.S. If anyone knows more history of this model, please let me know. Another source claims it is "military", but I highly doubt that, being that this is NO where near anything MIL-SPEC.

Another thing of note is that the circuit board in this, although looking like a regular PCB on the component side, is actually not a printed circuit board. On the other side, it is point-to-point wiring with bare wire for some connections and component leads going to anchor points. The transistors of course are germanium, and thankfully, none of them were noisy.

This unit has a fast flutter in the audio thanks to the gear-driven design, but otherwise, the sound quality is rather decent. Sure, a little muffled, but still it has a pleasing tone with low distortion. The bass sounds pretty good, and there is little to no "DC bias 'S'". Treble response is there to some degree, especially noticeable playing back recordings of music from this on a different machine (sorry, not part of the video).

Fun recorder, and I LOVE the grey.

And the music, OBVIOUSLY, is NOT by me. It is by Twilight Ritual, amongst my most favorite bands of all time, hands down.

[ChicagoMillingCo.]

One of the coolest tape recorders I've seen on your channel!

[Spider_Rico]

It looks like it's built tougher than most of today's modern cars.

[tarstarkusz]

This is cool as shit. You should get it into full working condition. This is probably the coolest thing I have seen on your channel!!!

[EclectikTronik]

That must be an extremely early use of transistors.What a strange mixture of 100+ year old mechanical technology and what was then cutting edge electronics!

[clydesight]

I like how you feature unique recording devices on your channel.

You show off how much variety there is in magnetic tape technology.
This machine is a perfect example of a unique approach top a portable R2R machine! And I enjoyed watching your presentation.

Thanks.

[Moonlightshadow-lqfr]

I expected to hear terrible wow and flutter but was astonished how good it is.

[mjg]

Flutter is much lower than I thought it’d be. Pretty neat recorder!

[ctc]

Wow, a wind-up tape recorder?! I've never heard of such a thing, this is awesome!

[ggrxxn]

A beautiful machine and an excellent video, I enjoyed the dynamic camera angles. Keep up the good work 🤘🏻

[Fermiimplosive]

Niiice... Sweet machine man, sounds awesome. That's crazy that you only had to replace one capacitor, gotta love those old Rubycon's!

[oldradiosnphonographs]

Ricky that is very unique. A lot like my antique record players and 16mm cameras! Certainly a step up from your rim drive recorders of the time.

[SpeakerFreak]

That thing is unique, very cool! I assume this is very good on batteries. Well done!

[ScottGrammer]

Just subscribed. I was the one who commented about the Crown clockwork recorder. I'm still trying to find out more about it. This EMI is cool!

[steviebboy]

That is something I thought I would never see, a wind up tape recorder. the motor looks similar to that in one of my old gramophones.

[KRAFTWERKK]

I am absolutely amazed!! This is basically the Tape-recorder equivalent of the russian Zenit Quarz Super 8 filmcamera while all other super 8 cameras were electronic. Sure the only downside is the limited runtime till the spring motor runs out of mechanic power but the sheer idea alone is a sheer work of art from a engineering standpoint. I wonder how much room for improvement it would be if that thing would be reverse engineered and re-done with todays possibilities. Especially the whole kinetic energy harnessing to power the tapehead and perhaps even the speaker. Really love the sound of the crystal mic. Sounds like an AM broadcast recording so for voice this is totally good enough. Even the music bits sounded surprisingly good. I wonder how it sounds if played back on a normal Reel to reel. Probably reversed as the direction is different.

[amberolab]

Yours sounds really good for the small portable that it is. I have a spring wound tape recorder also. It's an Amplicor Magnemite Recorder. It needs some electrical work and a little rewiring but hopefully someone could get it working again. The motor does work well. And it takes 5"reels. And it also takes the miniature tubes.

[CoolDudeClem]

A CLOCKWORK tape recorder? I didn't know such a thing existed. I've seen record players with electric pickups and wind up motors, but never a tape reorder in the same way.

[sterlinsilver]

never even knew these existed- magnificent! does the battery power the speaker? or does the clockwork generate some sort of electrical charge of its own?

[LetswalkaroundGothenburg]

[]《 Absolutely Beautiful Presentation and sharing_ 》 []