Naked Continental 101 -Norelco Vintage Tape Recorder

The Norelco Continental 101 vintage tape recorder dating from approx. 1964 is documented in this video along with "naked" views of the internal workings of the machine. It was advertised as a "professional quality" portable tape recorder, and sold in the amazing price range of $79 to $129! Considering that many full size stereo reel to reel tape recorders sold for about the same price (i.e. Emerson-Telectro, Webcor, Estey tape recorders, etc.) with many more features, it seems that Norelco had a very high opinion and expectations of the Continental 101 vintage tape recorder. As vintage audio, it deserves to be cataloged for historical reference due to its quality and rarity.

This unit was found in the trash. It had battery leakage and some water damage. Some of the rubber drive parts had actually melted (a common complaint with vintage electronics - they didn't always use quality rubber for the parts) and were replaced with plumber's "O" rings. One special feature was the use of a rubber belt to control both rewind and back tension when in the record or playback mode. This belt has been stretched beyond operational limits and was replaced temporarily with a rubber band (not the best solution, but it did restore function to the machine).

Although touted as a "professional quality" machine, the Continental 101 vintage tape recorder only ran at 1 -7/8 ips, a very slow operational speed notorious for poor high frequency response. Not surprisingly, the amplifier, even as vintage electronics, was only rated at: 80 - 8,000 HZ, a specification that today would be considered ludicrous with today's technology.

The machine ran on 6 "D" batteries and weighed 7 pounds making it one of the heaviest portable vintage reel to reel tape recorders around. Part of this is due to the weight of the batteries, but admittedly, some weight is from the heavy capstan flywheel, which helped ensure a very accurate tape speed.

The Norelco Continental 101 was something of a pioneering machine however. It is very possible that the research and development that went into the design of the tape recorder was later adapted in the first Norelco cassette recorders, which also ran at the slow 1- 7/8 ips speed. The hi fidelity response was greatly improved as the cassette recorder gained acceptance and blossomed in the garden of technology, so much so that such machines are still widely available today.

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The video is intended for educational purposes and historical reference. The vintage reel to reel tape recorder is NOT FOR SALE.