hi everyone New member here from Melbourne in Australia. I recently inherited a few old boom boxes and portable audio bits and pieces which rekindled my interest in some of my childhood tech and have since then been restoring some of the pieces. What a great site with heaps of great resources. Nice to meet you all. Drew
Hi there T-Ster Some quite rare pieces for Australia as my relatives went to Asia each year and always purchased toys over there. These models were never sold here. First up is a Sharp WQ-561 Circa 1985 in red. Twin cassette, one deck auto reverse and line in, graphic Eq and metal tape support. This has required new belts although the previous were still functioning albeit stretched. A Sanyo MS340k which is a mini boombox with auto reverse cassette and offboard power supply so it's basically a Walkman with speakers. This had a totally seized mechanism in that you couldn't even open the tape door or press any buttons and the belts were totally gone. The mechnism took about 8 hours to get right and it now runs albeit with a little wow and flutter which I've been unable to resolve (perhaps mismatched belts or unhappy motor). This model seems quite rare and I've had no luck finding a service manual and only found one or two on eBay. There was also an 80's handheld tv and two 60's portable radios in the box. It's been fun playing some old cassettes. Drew
I'll probably start a thread about this but does anyone know much about the Sanyo. I absolutely love it, it's tiny compared to the Sharp and the tape mechanism is so tiny and complex and it sounds great for its age. I've really struggled to find anything about it though. Thanks Drew
Thanks for all the welcomes guys. The sharp is very dear to me as I used to gaze at it longingly on the counter at my great uncle and aunts when I was six years old and would visit them with my parents. They always had the awesome gear from overseas I could only dream of owning - I've still got tapes recorded on this unit from it by my uncle when I was 7-8 years old. It's been in the family since new and when he passed away I figured it warranted rescuing as it has a lot of nostalgic value. I think he would be happy it's running again.
HI Andrew Welcome to S2G forum That Sharp mini looks beautiful. I have a weakness for red boomboxes/ walkmans
I don't, can't even recall if I've ever seen this model at least on pics, a very nice little machine from Sanyo, thanks for sharing, mate.. Can I borrow your photo to share with my hobby pals?
Some more pics of the sharp for anyone interested. When I got the sharp it's keys for the tape mechanisms were quite spotted and dirty and I had to use autosol to clean them up, otherwise it was easy to clean and required little maintenance. New belts and a good lube of the mechs and a deoxit of the pots will hopefully see it work well for the next few years. It's a nicely made unit and quite modular. Drew
Hi Drew, Also in MEL. Walkman and Pioneer silver gear from the 1970's is my thing. Welcome aboard. Brian
