Sony TC-50
This is the Sony TC-50 cassette recorder. This unit came out in 1968, and was the smallest cassette machine produced at the time.
This model is famous as it was the model chosen by NASA to be taken aboard the command module of the Apollo moon missions.
There is a strong possibility this unit has actually been used by NASA, but not apparent in the pictures. The units used by the Apollo program (there was more than one) had a metal sticker on the front with operating instructions, as well as a special serial number stamped. The jacks were taped to make then unuseable. Velcro was affixed to the rear of the unit to facilitate the machine being stuck to the wall in the microgravity environment.
I have acquired two TC-50's. One was found at an estate sale back in 2007 or so. It was in very good cosmetic condition, but the motor had a problem that I made worse when trying to fix (it was my first attempt at a TC-50 repair). Later in 2013, I went to a now out-of-business place called "The Black Hole" in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Ricky's Web Pages
"Once you label me, you negate me." --Søren Kierkegaard
Welcome to Ricky's Web Pages. Here, you can find online showings of vintage tape recorders. I have over 200 tape recorders in my collection. Most are cassette tape recorders, but also a very good number are reel-to-reel. Portable types are my favourite. Also other oddball and lesser-known formats are shown.
Also (future?) on this site is my mechanical pencil collection, spanning about 300 units.
Also (future) a few electronic projects are shown.
You can also check out my YouTube channel called "CassetteMaster".