Two old Philips.

[kirstyd]

I saw these two standing next to my neighbours bin .As she was in her garden i asked her if i could have them she said yes .When i asked her where they came from she told me that she is having a loft conversion and that they were found under layer upon layer of loft insulation.She moved into her house in 1976 and that they must have been up there already because they were not hers and she had no knowledge of them.I have to say before we go any further i have only ever owned 1 tape recorder that i still have [a Fidelity Braemar] that was a Christmas present around 1969/70 On getting them home i decided to just power them up and see what happened well after fitting some makeshift belts i got them to work so i have spent most of the day cleaning and lubricating both machines and they are working very well .Both machines do everything they are supposed to and the sound quality is far better than the old fidelity [shouldnt really call it old as i am sure both of these machines are older than it] What i would like to know is what the switches in the last two photos do try as i might i cant work it out

[kirstyd]

Hi all
just wanted to ask another question .The recording indicator on the small machine is permanently lit is this correct ? I only ask because on the Fidelity it only lights up when in record mode

[TonyDuell]

I am pretty sure the larger machine is an EL3549. This is one of the few machines you will come across that has the (very slow) 15/16 ips tape speed. It's not a bad machine, I have the EL3534 which is essentially the stereo version.

There's a power-off position between each pair of speeds (on the right hand metal lever control). Use that rather than just unplugging the machine, it lifts the driver idler away from the motor spindle and prevents it getting a flat spot.


The switches you mention I think are used to enable the autostop circuit in the appropriate modes. The automatic stop is triggered by a metal foil on the tape shorting parts of the tape guide which is why you may not be able to get the switches to do anything.

I think many Philips machines did power up the recording level indicator all the time. I am sure I read a book or user manual that said that after switching the machine on wait for the recording level indicator to light up before doing anything else.

[paulsherwin]

It's normal for level indicators to remain lit.

Great find! Those are good machines.

[reelguy]

I'm quite fond of these older Philips recorders especially the larger one.
I think I have one somewhere here.
Good to know you managed to save them from the tip.
Peter W....Reelguy.

[kirstyd]

thanks guys the larger machine is a EL3549A the smaller one is a EL3548A