Mission Improbable - Concord F-20 Sound Camera
- 00:03:27
- Graspr
Mission Improbable - Concord F-20 Sound Camera
Mission Improbable: 'I Am Concord!' This silly video is a 'tongue-in-cheek' look at the Concord F-20 'Sound Camera' reel to reel tape recorder that was popular in the 1960's. It is similar to the little tape recorders used in the TV show: 'Mission Impossible', hence the name of the video. The Concord F-20 is a reel to reel tape recorder with a rim drive (a motor spins against a rubber reel table to move the tape.) The video explains and demonstrates the drawbacks of a rim drive tape recorder, including speed instability and wow and flutter. The voice on the tape sounds very artificial, so as a 'Sound Camera', we give the F-20 an 'F'. However, this model is a bit rare today, and a collectible item, especially if it comes in the original box with the extra tapes and microphone. (Have you tried to buy 2 -1/2 inch diameter reel tapes lately? They were hard enough to find when this unit was in production!) What makes this machine so 'improbable' is that the quality and performance of this machine are so low, yet thousands of these units were sold in the 1960's - sometimes in high end audio stores! Perhaps it was the size, or look of the machine that made it appealing. Perhaps it was the TV show (also from that time period) that helped with sales because of the similarity of the appearance of the F-20 with tape recorders used on the show. Surely, the performance must have been disappointing. Concord did make better quality machines than this and had a growing reputation. Perhaps this F-20 was a good seller simply because of the Concord name. The unit featured in the video was bought at a yard sale for $2.00. The control switch was broken and the machine did not work. We repaired it so it is functional, but not particularly useful. We probably paid too much for it!
Graspr | January 19, 2009
