Clarion portable tape recorder

[crackle]

Has anybody got one of these tape recorders. It fits the description and size of this one on the Radio Museum. http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/gbc_clarion.html
It would seem to be made by GBC of Italy, however the chassis and plastic case are both printed with "Made in Western Germany".
I have uploaded some photos onto the museum but can anybody give any more information as to why it was made in W Germany and sold by an Italian maker.
Thanks
Mike

[brenellic2000]

These were sold under a multiude of brand names; GBC 'Clarion', Laskys' 'Phonotrix' etc. being just 2 British branded examples. The deck is Italian, I am pretty certain by Incis who made tape decks for many companies, yet Italy is not 'known' for many tape recorders!

They worked and as a cheap and cheerful, served a purpose!

Barry

[crackle]

Barry
Would you agree then that it is definitely the GBC version if it goes by the name of Clarion.
Mike

[braddeville]

Wow, that is a really attractive unit.

Were they many vintage portable recorders?

[ricard]

Originally Posted by brenellic2000

These were sold under a multiude of brand names; GBC 'Clarion', Laskys' 'Phonotrix' etc. being just 2 British branded examples. The deck is Italian, I am pretty certain by Incis who made tape decks for many companies, yet Italy is not 'known' for many tape recorders!

Are you quite sure it is Italian; it says 'Made in Western Germany' on the deck.

It looks very much like a Phonotrix to me, which is the original manufacturer, in fact the same manufacturer that manufactured the Trix line of model railways. The reason for the attempting this entry in the tape recorder market was the appearance of small DC (permanent magnet) motors in the mid-1950's, which also made DC-operated model trains in smaller scales (i.e. H0) possible around this time.

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/trix_phono_trix_2.html

[brenellic2000]

First attempt failed, so try again!

The true origins of these generic tapes deck are not fully known. Contract manufacturers such as Incis offered several designs though to be fair these basic designs were used by/tweaked by many companies (just as are 'standard' cassette, open-reel transport (many rim-drive) and radio designs). Just because it says "Made In...." doesn't mean to say it is 100% "Made in....".

There is remarkably little known about Incis, despite them making many designs for others - even those Italians I have spoken to know little about them. Scope there for full research!

But GBC is credited with introducing the 'Incis' deck to the UK market. As far as I know 'Clarion' was the GBC brand, but GBC did offer other basic models from other sources; they were not manufactures as such.

The German 'Trix' is not related to the British 'Trix' tape decks.

Barry

[crackle]

Hi
That is the main reason for this thread, to discuss other options. The general description, size of the case, sockets, spool size, at least one transistor (I cant see the other transistors with out major dismantling and bending of metal tags to take the chassis apart) match the information on the R&TVS service sheet for the GBC Clarion.
The "made in Western Germany" is stamped into both the metal chassis and the plastic case under the "Clarion" badge by the speaker.
The Radio Museum admin staff have picked up on the fact that it is similar/same as the Phonotrix model.
From the look of the construction it seems to be well made and with a regulated and governed motor should have sounded better than the some of the cheap plastic small spool tape recorders available in the early 60's.
This little set worked fine after a little spray of cleaning fluid on the open volume control and record/playback switches, even the original microphone worked.
Mike

[Cobaltblue]

Hi Mike

I posted some pictures of my Phonotrix back in Feb on VRAT
I can post some under Chassis pictures which do look to be the same as the Clarion.

It looks very different to this Clarion but inside the detail of the deck seems to be the same.

I have no idea who built it I had always assumed German.

Maybe we will all find out

Cheers

[Cobaltblue]

These are two picture I didn't previously post.

These are both of the actual deck.

Cheers

Mike T

[crackle]

Hi Mike
yes very similar deck, but I guess your's needs a seperate speaker. Are your play rewind controls just that single slider knob on the front. Where is your record/playback switch.
I wonder why they fed the tape onto and off the spools backwards. They claim the recordings are compatable with other tape recorders but I dont see how if the tape is backwards. (oxide facing you)
Mike

[Cobaltblue]

Hi Mike

From memory ( last played with this in 2004 when I took these pictures)

The front switch controls play and rewind.

The control on the side is the record switch.

Cheers

Mike T

[DOFFERY]

Confusing isn't it.

[DOFFERY]

Circuit

[roffe]

A different,probably earlier,schematic in this manual:
http://www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/Oldi...Phono-TRIX.pdf

[Gulliver]

I have the same Phonotrix as Cobaltblue and I have always believed it to be German. I forget the source but I have read that in 1955 it was the world's smallest consumer tape recorder and possibly the first fully transistor model on the market. At the time many portable machines had no playback amp and some even had clockwork motors.

It uses DC bias of course, but within that constraint it actually doesn't perform too badly.

Here is a video of one (not mine)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmnvuefq7C8&safe=active

[ricard]

This page (in German):

http://www.modellbaustudio-wilke.com...All-Pages.html

is a history of the German model train manufacturer Trix. Under the heading 'Sonstige Produkte' (Other Products) it says (forgive my translation):

"At the beginning of the 1950s the Trix company tried to capture new markets with small tape recorders (PhonoTrix). The handy, battery operated tape recorder was equipped with a separate loudspeaker and used the well-known Distler motor for the drive. In Germany the machine was not very successful due to the relatively high price (150,- DM)."

A Wiki site

http://deutsch.wiki-site.com:82/t/r/...bahn_3830.html

on Trix battery railway trains mentions something similar (translated):

"[ ... ] The German as well as the English battery railways were equipped with a newly developed electric motor by the Distler company. We're talking about a closed, cylinder shaped DC motor, which could be operated independently of the mains using normal 4.5 volt batteries. This new type of electric motor from Distler was state of the art when it came to power and economy, so that other manufacturers started using this reliable power source for their products. This motor found widespread use, in among other things tape recorders (Phonotrix)."

Finally, this page

http://www.trixexpress.de/phonotrix.htm

(which is the one I was looking for originally) is entirely devoted to Phonotrix, but seems to draw it's text from the the sources above.

[ricard]

Originally Posted by Gulliver

I have the same Phonotrix as Cobaltblue and I have always believed it to be German. I forget the source but I have read that in 1955 it was the world's smallest consumer tape recorder and possibly the first fully transistor model on the market.

As far as I know, the first completely transistorized tape recorder was the fairly rare and odd-looking Teltape:

http://www.br.de/fernsehen/bayerisch...eraete100.html

The designer later went on as a designer at Protona who manufactured the Minifon line of minature wire and later also tape recorders, primarily for covert use.

Admittedly the Teltape is rather unimpressive with its two-transistor amplifier, but it was nevertheless a first.

[crackle]

Thanks Guys, a lot of useful information there.

Mike