A blast from the 1980s...

[Richard_FM]

My parents had an APS camera, one good feature was being able to take panoramic photos.

[Spec-chum]

It's going back some 30 odd years ago, but I used to borrow books for my library studying video recorder repair. One book which the title I'm afraid is completely lost on me, but it was a USA publication, mentioned the film Raiders Of The Lost Ark was the first commercial VHS tape to have a stereo soundtrack. Cheekily the writer of the book made suggestions to hunt down a rental copy to do repair work on stereo machines. I'm not sure if that's fully true, or just applies to the states, but could indicate why it was a more expensive tape.

[G6Tanuki]

And here for your enjoyment/amusement is more festive W.H.Smith advertising from the 80s, this time focusing on their own-brand range of cassette recorders/players/portables....

[hamid_1]

Interesting to see the FM tuner "cassette". I wonder how popular it was, considering that Radio 1 , then Britain's most listened-to radio station, wasn't available on FM until the late '80s. In the 80s I turned down the offer of a Hacker Mayflower 2 FM-only receiver for £8 because it couldn't pick up Radio 1 (other than when they occasionally shared airtime with Radio 2 FM).

[Phil__G]

Can you still get replacement pinch rollers for them?

[Lucien Nunes]

The ad copy mentions the Disc camera having 'long-life Lithium batteries.' ISTR that the battery was not user-replaceable on many Disc models. The camera was supposed to be returned to a dealer as it required the casing to be opened and the replacements soldered in. The hassle involved possibly defined the useful life of the camera, and hence the format, regardless of its merits or demerits photographically. In 1984, we had just invested in a new family SLR, and there was no way dad would ever have sanctioned using a camera with less than 135 negative area. If I had been tempted or able to afford such a gadget as a Disc camera, even just for convenience for odd snaps, I am sure he would have laughed his head off at me.

As I was just entering my teens when this advert was in print, it's a time full of memories of discovering things and buying them for the first time. In the early 80s, I was starting to buy cassettes, both blank and pre-recorded, which often came from Smiths. I can remember the excitement of browsing all the different grades of blanks in their different liveries, touting various features and specs. As my dad pointed out, I was limited to ferric for compatibility with my basic portable recorders, but could admire the exotic stuff and look forward to using them when I got my first 'proper' machine. I stuck to the best I could afford, preferring quality over quantity. I would never settle for less than TDK D and never experienced the hassle that some of my friends had with cheap cassettes.

It was 1985 before I bought my first Walkman (From Dixons) and it was a genuine Sony although relatively low spec. It was reliable enough and the audio was acceptable, and experience with friends' own-brand models was sufficient to convince me to stick with the real thing. I traded up a year or two later to a better Sony with DD transport, eventually settling on Aiwa's flagship HS-J08 as I got seriously into audio. Having made (relatively, to a teenager) a huge investment in the Aiwa, there was an awkward period when I was so protective and fussy about it, I was very reluctant to clip it on my belt and actually use it on the move, in case it got knocked or scratched. It's still working fine and looking good in 2022 so it was a sound investment in the end.

I was an early adopter of both the ZX81 and the Spectrum, both bought from Smiths. By 1984 the legends were probably starting to wear off the keys. My experience with buying Sinclair products was fairly typical: The ZX81 was on back order and arrived a few months late with a non-functioning RAM pack. My first ZX printer had to be returned under warranty (although, to be fair, the replacement is still working fine in 2022).

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Lucien Nunes

As I was just entering my teens when this advert was in print, it's a time full of memories of discovering things and buying them for the first time. In the early 80s, I was starting to buy cassettes, both blank and pre-recorded, which often came from Smiths. I can remember the excitement of browsing all the different grades of blanks in their different liveries, touting various features and specs. As my dad pointed out, I was limited to ferric for compatibility with my basic portable recorders, but could admire the exotic stuff and look forward to using them when I got my first 'proper' machine. I stuck to the best I could afford, preferring quality over quantity. I would never settle for less than TDK D and never experienced the hassle that some of my friends had with cheap cassettes.

Interesting observations.... I acquired a genuine Sony Walkman from 'Rumbelows' some time around 1980, it was really expensive [I was a student and because my parents were deemed 'rich' I didn't qualify for a student-grant so was working as night-shift-cashier at a petrol station to bring in the money... the Walkman was a great accompaniment when sitting there for 45 minutes with no customers to serve].

Muist admit, I never did much recording of cassettes; the only thing I would do regularly was to record John Peel's late-evening Radio1 show [back in the days when Radio1 only got onto FM in the evenings]. I'd use the same cassette over and over, record one night, listen to it the following day, use it again for the next night's recording... C120s and two separate recorders on timeswitches to get the full 2 hours of program. What was it that Scotch said in their ads, "Re-Record, not Fade Away!".

Most of my cassettes were bought pre-recorded, something which continued when VHS tapes came on the scene.

Cassettes were also my companion when I got my first proper-job measning a company-car with cassette-player and six-speakers as standard. I amassed quite a collection, being happy then to spend a tenner a week on tapes. Musical tastes change though and in the 90s I got a car with a six-disc CD-stacker, so my domestic "Wall-of-rust" cassettes were obsolete, got junked and I developed a new £15-a-week CD-buying habit. Again in the mid-2000s when I moved house the CDs didn't come with me...

In a way I miss the simplicity of the cassette; sure, it wasn't hi-fi in any way, but it was ubiquitous - you could pick up an album or two from the racks while you were waiting to pay for your petrol at Watford Gap services. Infuriating though, when your cassette-player decided to go into tangle-mode and digest your newly-purchased "Now That's What I call Music 15" tape.

[duncanlowe]

I would also have been in my late teens, and just off to Uni.

Cassette had become my world though I'd been vinyl till then. I remember the world of cassette options so well, and although most of mine are long gone, I still have a few. I do have one TDK, which I believe is known as a reference - MA version. The body is alloy with clear plastic sides. It did have a downside of being unfriendly to being dropped, so the plastic sides are cracked.

I didn't get my first 'walkman' though a JVC until later in the eighties. A JVC with 'built in graphic equaliser' (three band, ha) but actually sounded OK. I was reminded of this as it fell off my belt walking home from the pub, and broke the casette door hinge. Still played OK. Must see if it still does over 30 years later.

Back to the mid 80's when I first started getting reasonable kit. I was living in London (for a year, until I failed and transferred to Coventry). I wasted far too much time, going to Tottenham Court Road, oh and too much money I didn't have. It's all in the loft apart from the Aiwa amplifier that died, twice. Wharfedale speakers, Technics turntable, Teac cassette deck (a reasonably high end one with electronic control) that always had a bit of an offset on the record metering.

The Aiwa amp and Wharfedale speakers are an abiding memory. Bought them without really thinking about getting them back 'home'. The speakers are medium size, with twin bass drivers and a tweeter. The amp was slimline but not light, with a torroidal transformer for the supply. I ended up taking a cord out of my coat and tying it through the vent holes on the amp to put it over my shoulder, with a speaker under each arm. Not easy on the underground from TCR to South Ken. And the sharp edges on the vent holes did cut throught the cord once meaning my amp always had a bit of a dent on one corner! I hope the mental picture provides some amusement!

[joebog1]

I have a small collection of large format film cameras. ( 6 X 6 cm ). I still have about 50 rolls of film for them, ( one shelf in the fridge of course ) but nobody I can find processes it anymore. Of course I have the mandatory collection of 35mm cameras as well, and the film. Oh well.
As a kid I had a darkroom, but was only able to process b/w film.

Joe

[nickdoofah]

Here is the said WH Smith Personal Stereo in the ad!

A competent & very much cloned generic unit, it still works very well!!

[Hybrid tellies]

I have got an ITT Tiny 220 radio dating from around 1984 which is in very good condition and working very well. From the late 1980's I have a world multiband receiver with LCD display, Its a National/Panasonic RF B60L. Its in as new condition cosmetically and works well apart from an irritating intermittent cutting out fault which I am dealing with.

I also have our late Mother in laws Microwave Oven from 1983. Its a large Sanyo and was one of the first to have a push button digital control panel. We have owned it for over 25 years and has only gone wrong twice both times I have been able to fix it.

[G6Tanuki]

That own-brand WHS personal-stereo/radio doesn't look too bad.

Though there were some good Walkman-clones sold by the likes of Aiwa and Sanyo, there were also some truly horrible things foisted on an unsuspecting public. I remember one where the expected metal chassis for the cassette-mechanics had been dispensed with and instead the various parts were attached using self-tapping screws to moulded pillars on the brittle plastic case. Problem was, if you dropped the thing, the heavy motor sheared-off the plastic pillars leaving the motor with no supports.... Another one I saw used a metal spring-loaded rod running in a slot in the plastic case, with detent notches, to provide the playback/rewind/fast-forward control. The metal rod rapidly wore away the edges of the detents and once they became ramps rather than notches it wouldn't latch on playback any more.

Do WH Smith still sell audio stuff? I suspect not [it's ages since I have been into one of their larger branches; the smaller railway-station-type branches of Smiths never sold their audio stuff anyway]

[G6Tanuki]

Here's yet another 'period' WH Smith ad - featuring the personal stereo of theirs, and packs of TDK tapes.

[knobtwiddler]

Originally Posted by Phil__G

Can you still get replacement pinch rollers for them?

There is a firm called 'fix your audio' who sell decent rollers. You need to get the calipers onto the old one, measuring ID / OD and width. You then need to find something similar at FYA. That's what most people are doing, with good results.

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

Do WH Smith still sell audio stuff? I suspect not [it's ages since I have been into one of their larger branches; the smaller railway-station-type branches of Smiths never sold their audio stuff anyway]

Nothing own-brand any more, but quite a few items on offer, many of them by Crosley whose quality these days has now and again been touched on in the forum.

https://www.whsmith.co.uk/electrical...ing/audio/?p=3

We've no branch in Fakenham, so it's a few years since I set foot in one.

The personal cassette player vogue drew in all manner of manufacturers back in the day. The only such device I've ever had is a basic Roberts one, bought by me just a few years ago but appearing to have seen very little use. Couldn't call the blue and black plastic casing robust, but it works tolerably enough: no doubt its original price will have been somewhat inflated by the Roberts name.

Paul

[electronicskip]

Originally Posted by G0HZU_JMR

I've still got my old 1980s Sony Walkman. It's been in a box in a cupboard for about 30 years. I just checked it is still there. It says WM-F22 on the front. I remember that the FM radio sounded really good on it and it has norm/CRO2 tape selection for cassettes. It was much better than the cheaper clones available at the time.

I have the Sony sports walkman (bright yellow) .
Cant believe the price they fetch nowadays to be honest.

[The Philpott]

I remember the 15 exp. disc cameras being derided by young and old alike (the same comments arose from both the playground and the dinner table) It seemed to be trying to fill a gap that didn't exist.

I personally started on 127 Brownie, then 126 Instamatic. It did appeal to be one step behind the 110 and 35mm 'competition' since it piqued people's curiosity.

Incidentally i've just found 127 film on analoguewonderland's website!

Dave

[Catkins]

Originally Posted by nickdoofah

Here is the said WH Smith Personal Stereo in the ad!

This is a photo of the "Computer Compatible Cassette Recorder" shown in the top left of the advert.

The only thing that differed from a normal cassette recorder was a switch on the left side, which switched from "Normal" to "Compute Mode On". Just a gimmick really.

But it did work well, and it still works (just tested it). I used it with a Sinclair Spectrum 48K.

[duncanlowe]

Originally Posted by Catkins

This is a photo of the "Computer Compatible Cassette Recorder" shown in the top left of the advert.

The only thing that differed from a normal cassette recorder was a switch on the left side, which switched from "Normal" to "Compute Mode On". Just a gimmick really.

But it did work well, and it still works (just tested it). I used it with a Sinclair Spectrum 48K.

Now that reminds me of my first computer a VIC20. Falling out of fashion so I could finally afford my first computer, from Debenhams. Could't afford the dedicated cassette deck. So did some pretty rough stuff with a schmidt trigger 4000 series chip and was gobsmacked whe it made a standard tape deck work. It was also a lead in to my first job. At interview I talked about exactly this. The interviewer gifted me a spare commodore cassette deck (ex PET) as well as giving me the traineeship.

[Richard_FM]

Originally Posted by Catkins

This is a photo of the "Computer Compatible Cassette Recorder" shown in the top left of the advert.

The only thing that differed from a normal cassette recorder was a switch on the left side, which switched from "Normal" to "Compute Mode On". Just a gimmick really.

But it did work well, and it still works (just tested it). I used it with a Sinclair Spectrum 48K.

My parents bought a WHS data recorder for our Acorn Electron, which had a few bells & whistles which made things easier to operate, like being able to fast forward & rewind with the sound on, which made finding the beginning of a file on tape. It managed to work well through all the time we had it, but was disposed of by my parents in a clearout!