Sanyo Micro Pack 35

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Micro Pack thirty-five.jpg

Sanyo Micro Pack 35 as well as the identical devices Channel Master 6546 and Westinghouse H29R1 are portable devices developed by Sanyo from 1964 with a special tape cassette format in which both tape reels are superimposed in the cassette.

device

The tape system was advertised as a "Civil Sound Camera" (~ 'noise camera for private users') . This advertising slogan was repeated 20 years later on the CONCORD model F-20 "Sound Camera" . The design of the housing and the controls of the Sanyo Micro Pack 35 were similar to a camera. The compact device had a greatly simplified drive for the tape. There was no capstan . Instead, the drive shaft of the motor protrudes into the inserted cassette between the two tape rolls, which were given a glued-on rubber covering. To move the belt forwards and backwards, the entire drive motor was swiveled to one of the rollers and pressed against its rubber coating. As a result, the tape speed varied with the winding diameter of the driven tape reel. The engine speed could be influenced analogously by the user via an external rotary knob. This made the device suitable for the child's first words, for frightening guests at a party and for sending spoken letters. Microphone and headphones could be connected. A loudspeaker was built in. The VU meter to control the sound for the recording was switched on as a battery control of the four mignon cells during playback .

cassette

The tape system came with clear plastic cassettes measuring 2.6 inches wide, 2.9 inches long, and 1.9 inches thick, which corresponds to the metric dimensions of 6.6 x 7.37 x 4.83 cm. The identical cassette for Channel Master was given the type designation: "Model 6595" and was supplied with 250 feet (76 m) of magnetic tape. The quarter inch wide magnetic tape was guided over inclined pulleys at the upper corners in the cassette diagonally past the open top. In the device, the sound head and erase head were mounted at the same angle . The analog sound recording was single-track per side of the cassette. The ends of the tape were marked with switching tape . A button for skipping the switching band at the beginning of the band was installed on top of the device. During operation, the cassette was secured against removal by another pin, which at the same time deactivated the roller brake.

market

The less satisfactory synchronization and the associated low frequency accuracy and the associated lack of music suitability contributed to the fact that the format , which appeared in the year after the compact cassette , soon lost its market share.

Web links

Commons : Sanyo Micro Pack 35  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Channel Master in Diversity Actions, Billboard, October 12, 1963, p. 52
  2. ↑ CP Gilmore: The PS Buyer's Guide to PERSONAL TAPE RECORDERS, Popular Science, Issue 125, November 1966
  3. ↑ a b c d Techmoan: Forgotten Format: SANYO Micro-Pack 35 Tape Recorder , YouTube, published on August 31, 2017
  4. ↑ 1964 SANYO MICRO PACK 35 / Channel Master 6546 , Audiomuseum.com, accessed November 5, 2016