I think that the reason the radio didn't come in clear is because it uses the wires in the headphones to act as an antenna. I've known a couple of walkmans that did that back then.
Just about any portable radio that only plays through headphones uses the headphone wire for the fm antenna otherwise you would never be able to carry it comfortably in your pocket.
Some of these walkmans used the headphones as an antenna. Because you are using the speaker, the length of wire is probably not 2 lambda and the FM reception might be drastically reduced from the external speakers.
sorry to be so off topic but does someone know a trick to get back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost the account password. I love any tips you can offer me
@Maximiliano Rowan thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process atm. Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
Awesome video! Gonna have to pick one of these up as well. The reason the radio reception was poor was likely the headphone cord is used as the antenna and your speaker has no long cord so it basically had no antenna to receive with. Also you might want to adjust the servo speed down since it sounds like your playback is running a bit fast. For a second I thought you got a time machine and got 13 year old Elliot to record your intro and outro!
That clicking sound is the little plastic gears underneath the flywheel running the belt (the ones that engage when you hit play ff or rew to turn the drive wheel
you might want to try some white lithium grease spray on the motor and gear spindles to help make it play more smoothly with less noise. You could also use some 2 part clear epoxy to fix the plastic too.
Awesome video! I just found a WM 20 for $5.99. When I tested it it wasn’t working and was bummed out that it would be a blown capacitor. But your video showed that the Walkman doesn’t operate without headphones plugged in and to my delight it still Works so all I need to do to is replace the belt. 🙂
Just picked one up for $5 at an estate sale. The radio works, but the tape player doesn't. Just opened it up, thanks to the help from your video, thank you so much! Wish I could post pics, but I'll let ya know when I'm done. There's definitely leftover black rubber sludge in the gears that I can see. Hopefully I can get it working again.
@HypocritesExposd Hello there! Yes I did 🙂 I was able to clear out the old gunk and replace the belt, good as new! There's hope if you can get it clean and the gunk hasn't caused other problems. Good luck!
Loving the walkman vids! Been looking at this model, hard to find one in good shape, but nice to see a repair video that I can reference when I do manage to track one down. Keep up the good work, and the walkmans coming, love this new interest of yours!!
This. Video help me repair one I found at a garage sale for 5$ which is crazy good for that price. All I had to do was replace the belt which was 2.00$ on Ebay. This guy rocks
Just picked one up "as is untested" and it still had a battery in it from decades ago. Got it all cleaned up and a new belt and it sounds fantastic! Putting the selector switches back in was a nightmare until I finally figured out the right way. Vid was a good help and what inspired me to look for one. Have a WM-EX5 on the way now as well!
Any tips On getting the switches back in place? I've got a WM-F10 apart and am currently waiting for a new belt to arrive. I was kind of surprised when they fell loose during disassembly.
@@toddbitikofer1205 it was super annoying, especially because one of my switches was broken in half and I had to glue it back together first. It has been a few months since I did it, but I do remember tweezers were involved. Thinking back to it though, I'd say maybe some tape on the outside that you can put the buttons through the holes and stick them in place
This thing was amazing in the ttime, I got the wm30 back then, still works, the whole thing about a walkman about the same size as a cassette case was unbelievable :-)
It has an FG servo capstan with a brushless DC motor. The speed holds accurately and the W&F is fairly low. I just worked on one and measured the wow and flutter at 0.15% RMS weighting, which is really good for any portable cassette unit. Some of them can be as bad as 0.4%. For reference, anything less than .1% is generally considered to be inaudible.
Glad you got one of these and did a video on it lol. I just got one of these in really good condition from a free pile at a estate sale and I need to take it apart and did not wanna damage it.
Great video! Bought new belt before I opened my F10 and found old one completely melted. Acetone cleaned everything up and new belt turns smoothly. Unfortunately, left side spindle only rotaes 1 revolution in either direction before it hits a dead stop. This stops thje machine when playing or rewinding. Looking at the circuitboard side, can see no obstruction. Any thoughts? Thanks again!
The thing that bugs me the most about this is that the rewind and fast forward seem backward to how I think they should work. This only plays right to left so to rewind you really have to fast forward which points to the right reel and to fast forward you press the rewind that points to the left reel.
Curious how the door hinges fit back together- never mind, when face down, the left side floats, only connecting to the baseplate where the right side fits into a small channel in the lid. Took a few tries. Man those switches are horrid
Update* I got it open, managed to pull out the old belt sludge (like 30 minutes later lol), and I got the main gear spinning!!! I'm so excited lol. I don't see any links to the belts you have for replacements. Can you share a link? Thanks!
Very cool. My very first Walkman (after a few no-name ones) was about between the size of the two you showed. I can't remember the model, because I was 16 and it was shiny metallic red. And it had auto-reverse, which made me immensely proud. Until it fell down the stairs, after that it only played one side of the cassette, either forwards or backwards. A lot of music sounds very ominous when played backwards...
Its kind of a stupid show-off thing about the device. Most people would have a tape in their walkman most of the time so the space savings would benefit no one. But, these all-metal walkmans have the look & Feel of an iPhone Max Pro Super Deluxe! They served the same purpose in the 80's!
for anyone who wants one of these im warning you theres only a few out there that work and the ones that do have huge price tags on them around over 150 dollars
Superb walkman that amplifies speaker looks like the one we had in our local pound shop the amp inside will drive much bigger speakers if you take them apart the ones i had the amp chip was mono and they sound fairly decent for what they are if you remove the internal speakers and connect something else i bought a few to mess around with.
I've found my dad's old one of these and it wasn't turning on and I scrubbed off some corrosion and the light came on but the gears weren't spinning but I was like cool I probably just have to replace the belt but then I opened it and the belt had completely melted so that was sad
Hi Elliott this is a nice Walkman my favorites are wm10 I have two of them still in the original packaging one was back from Genco a store back in the 80s I got one as a gift both still working condition both have new belts my go too Walkman is a wm F100 still working condition and with both battery clips I still use the flat battery which make it really compact
I have a WM-F30. It turns on but it needs a belt replacement and some cleaning. It can turn on without a headphone jack plugged in. However FM works best when it's in expanded shape, but only the left channel is audible. The right channel is super low on volume. Both channels low on volume in compact mode and the volume knob doesn't affect the volume when compact. Help
Great Vid, Elliot! Love that you're doing other types of gear. GB's are awesome but retro audio gear is equally awesome. One piece of constructive criticism, if I may... please normalize your audio. Your voice is well mixed but when the music bed kicks in at the 7:00 minute mark that is WAY too loud. That snare is nearly clipping. Luckily you attenuate the music when your voiceover kicks back in but my god man... I tend to put your vids on late at night and just at a loud-enough level that I can hear it but the other people in my house can't. On more than one occasion your music bed is way too loud and I quickly have to lower the volume before a baby wakes up. Beds are used primarily for time lapse or when there's no voice over to keep focus on what's going on (instead of your viewer just listening to an awkward silence) it shouldn't be so loud as to be in the forefront of the video. Anyways, love the vids... keep em coming!
Awesome refurb! I didn't see it in the video, but off camera did you have to clean up any belt "black death" residue? It looked like some was in the motor assembly and on the pulleys. Maybe you were lucky and the last guy did it for you then gave up?
Civilianbugle thank you! I like your picture too. I forgot to write it in my comment but try to use a pencil and write on the black part on the rubber pads. It worked on my nes controller. It lasts for a while
Gameboy0104 thanks for the advice and what i meant by water is that i get a cup of water and soap and i wash the rubber and let it dry fully and then try ima make a video on refurbishing it if i get it
A bloody lot, you'll have more luck with other models. These ones go for £100+ even if they're for parts on eBay, I'd recommend car boot sales you're guaranteed to find something.
If you dont mind doing the work to replace belts and clean it this model goes for 50 bucks, ofnyou want an easier one to work on the later f-100 models are the easiest and most durable they cost the same too on ebay
*Update 3* Does this Walkman have a tendency to melt belts? I received my new belt in the mail today. During the week or so I was waiting, I had found a rubber band that fit and worked as a belt in the mean time. Today when I opened it up, that rubber band had melted the same way the old original belt did. It was just sitting in my shop, which is temperature controlled. That rubber band had been sitting in my shop the whole time before I put it in, never melted. But as soon as it was inside the Walkman, it melted. Now I'm afraid to put in the new belt! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
dopeymetalbud these take extremely thin belts so it’s possible that the band you were using was slightly too large and rubbing on the board or backpanel or that channel to the motor causing friction heat? Run it with the back cover off and see if the pulleys are wobbling
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I think that the reason the radio didn't come in clear is because it uses the wires in the headphones to act as an antenna. I've known a couple of walkmans that did that back then.
elgigante2001 That's what I thinking too.
Even the NWZ series used them as attenas. They did that for a super long time
You can get radio antenas with headphone adapters
My phone (Samsung Galaxy a3 2017) uses headphones as an antenna as well
Just about any portable radio that only plays through headphones uses the headphone wire for the fm antenna otherwise you would never be able to carry it comfortably in your pocket.
Some of these walkmans used the headphones as an antenna. Because you are using the speaker, the length of wire is probably not 2 lambda and the FM reception might be drastically reduced from the external speakers.
Do more walkman stuff, this is interesting
sorry to be so off topic but does someone know a trick to get back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid lost the account password. I love any tips you can offer me
@Ryland Briar Instablaster ;)
@Maximiliano Rowan thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process atm.
Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Maximiliano Rowan it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thank you so much, you saved my account!
@Ryland Briar Happy to help =)
Awesome video! Gonna have to pick one of these up as well. The reason the radio reception was poor was likely the headphone cord is used as the antenna and your speaker has no long cord so it basically had no antenna to receive with. Also you might want to adjust the servo speed down since it sounds like your playback is running a bit fast. For a second I thought you got a time machine and got 13 year old Elliot to record your intro and outro!
Actually the antennas a ribbon inside the casette door reception was always that bad
The WM-10 uses the headphones as an antenna. That's why you had bad reception.
That clicking sound is the little plastic gears underneath the flywheel running the belt (the ones that engage when you hit play ff or rew to turn the drive wheel
you might want to try some white lithium grease spray on the motor and gear spindles to help make it play more smoothly with less noise. You could also use some 2 part clear epoxy to fix the plastic too.
Awesome video!
I just found a WM 20 for $5.99.
When I tested it it wasn’t working and was bummed out that it would be a blown capacitor.
But your video showed that the Walkman doesn’t operate without headphones plugged in and to my delight it still
Works so all I need to do to is replace the belt. 🙂
I know you had to input on what I'm about to say, but I love the colours on this
You must be building up quite the collection now!
Just picked one up for $5 at an estate sale. The radio works, but the tape player doesn't. Just opened it up, thanks to the help from your video, thank you so much! Wish I could post pics, but I'll let ya know when I'm done. There's definitely leftover black rubber sludge in the gears that I can see. Hopefully I can get it working again.
Q tips and isopropyl alcohol will clean that sludge right up
Ever get yours working? I just got one of these myself
@HypocritesExposd Hello there! Yes I did 🙂 I was able to clear out the old gunk and replace the belt, good as new! There's hope if you can get it clean and the gunk hasn't caused other problems. Good luck!
Loving the walkman vids! Been looking at this model, hard to find one in good shape, but nice to see a repair video that I can reference when I do manage to track one down. Keep up the good work, and the walkmans coming, love this new interest of yours!!
I appreciate the Walkman support! Means a lot! Good luck with yours.
I also would like to get one of this type but prices are ridiculous. Still it's worth keeping your eyes open as one will probably pop upeventually!
Or for cheap to they are like 700 to 300 dollar
This. Video help me repair one I found at a garage sale for 5$ which is crazy good for that price. All I had to do was replace the belt which was 2.00$ on Ebay. This guy rocks
I'm glad you brought it back to it's former glory!
Thanks for picking it up!
You're welcome!
Just picked one up "as is untested" and it still had a battery in it from decades ago. Got it all cleaned up and a new belt and it sounds fantastic! Putting the selector switches back in was a nightmare until I finally figured out the right way. Vid was a good help and what inspired me to look for one. Have a WM-EX5 on the way now as well!
Any tips On getting the switches back in place? I've got a WM-F10 apart and am currently waiting for a new belt to arrive. I was kind of surprised when they fell loose during disassembly.
@@toddbitikofer1205 it was super annoying, especially because one of my switches was broken in half and I had to glue it back together first. It has been a few months since I did it, but I do remember tweezers were involved. Thinking back to it though, I'd say maybe some tape on the outside that you can put the buttons through the holes and stick them in place
Just bought a broken one so thank you for showing me how to take it apart
This thing was amazing in the ttime, I got the wm30 back then, still works, the whole thing about a walkman about the same size as a cassette case was unbelievable :-)
I don't even own any tapes but I want one of these. The design of it is amazing.
I know right!
If youre going to get one i recommend getting an f100 model instead, little more simple to work on and less fragile
i think when it comes to old tech like this, dings and scratches are forgiven as long as the unit ACTUALLY works lol
Thanks to your videos, I've just ordered my first Walkman, the WM-F15.
I'm always in awe of your fantastic closeup footage, it can't be easy to produce.
Thanks! It's not easy and it slows down the whole process but it's worth it. Wspecially for comments like this!
It has an FG servo capstan with a brushless DC motor. The speed holds accurately and the W&F is fairly low. I just worked on one and measured the wow and flutter at 0.15% RMS weighting, which is really good for any portable cassette unit. Some of them can be as bad as 0.4%. For reference, anything less than .1% is generally considered to be inaudible.
Glad you got one of these and did a video on it lol. I just got one of these in really good condition from a free pile at a estate sale and I need to take it apart and did not wanna damage it.
Damn that thing is absolutely beautiful! I need one!
I always thought that the metal-body Walkmans looked excellent.
Great review..I did my own review a few years ago. These things are incredible for their time!
Great video! Bought new belt before I opened my F10 and found old one completely melted. Acetone cleaned everything up and new belt turns smoothly.
Unfortunately, left side spindle only rotaes 1 revolution in either direction before it hits a dead stop. This stops thje machine when playing or rewinding.
Looking at the circuitboard side, can see no obstruction. Any thoughts? Thanks again!
Oh yea, using medicine tab boxes to store those little screws and what not!!! Yea! I'll do that too.
Wouldn't the radio use the headphone cord as the aerial, a la mobile phone? This could also explain why it barely worked off just the speaker.
Nope, theres a small ribbon antenna in the door
I have a short somewhere and it only happens when the back gets put on. I believe it is the wire going to the battery compartment. Snagging
This is great stuff! Thinking of buying a walkman now after watching some of your videos
Now that is what I like to hear!
The thing that bugs me the most about this is that the rewind and fast forward seem backward to how I think they should work. This only plays right to left so to rewind you really have to fast forward which points to the right reel and to fast forward you press the rewind that points to the left reel.
Pretty sure this was top of the line when it came out.
I bet!
@@TheRetroFuture I had the WM10 in 1984. I felt pretty slick for a kid.
Yeah the reason why you didn't get much out of the FM radio, you need to use the headphone wire as an aerial :-)
Antenna is internal, its a ribbon inside the door
Awesome man! I have the same Walkman. Sadly my radio ribbon cable was broken. Actually am planning a Bluetooth mod.
Curious how the door hinges fit back together- never mind, when face down, the left side floats, only connecting to the baseplate where the right side fits into a small channel in the lid. Took a few tries. Man those switches are horrid
Nice! I used to own one of those. One of 2 Walkmans I owned back in the day.
I found a WM F10- II at a flea market yesterday for $7. It looks good cosmetically, but I think it needs a new belt and need some corrosion treatment.
mine came with 50% of the screws missing, do you know where I can buy replacements (not broken walkmans on ebay)
good video elliot,gave me the confidence to buy one one and try and repair myself,failing that be prepared for an email begging for help!
Dump the battery terminal in catsup over night. It removes rust almost as well as a commercial rust remover!
Is that electric relaxation I hear playing
Can’t believe you put that belt on with all that goo still in the gears man.
love that intro do it with all new video's
I just recently obtained the same model and color, mine was dented as well but overall good. And I even had the battery clip!
This Walkman just fascinates me!!!
Update* I got it open, managed to pull out the old belt sludge (like 30 minutes later lol), and I got the main gear spinning!!! I'm so excited lol. I don't see any links to the belts you have for replacements. Can you share a link? Thanks!
Wow what a cool Walkman!!!
it was almost in perfect condition to start with :p
Hmmm Bacon Soda...
Bacon soda is best soda!
Very cool. My very first Walkman (after a few no-name ones) was about between the size of the two you showed. I can't remember the model, because I was 16 and it was shiny metallic red. And it had auto-reverse, which made me immensely proud. Until it fell down the stairs, after that it only played one side of the cassette, either forwards or backwards. A lot of music sounds very ominous when played backwards...
Awh! Somewhat great story! Sad ending.. good memories tho
Its kind of a stupid show-off thing about the device. Most people would have a tape in their walkman most of the time so the space savings would benefit no one.
But, these all-metal walkmans have the look & Feel of an iPhone Max Pro Super Deluxe! They served the same purpose in the 80's!
Walkmans use the headphone cable as an antenna so that little speaker thing isnt going to pick up radio very well.
Not on the f10 and f100 models they have a ribbon antenna inside the door
for anyone who wants one of these im warning you theres only a few out there that work and the ones that do have huge price tags on them around over 150 dollars
I wanted this Walkman so bad when I was a kid
Now just remember to take out the batteries of the units you are going to store for a long time. :)
Indeed!
Love your walkman vids,really informative.
Cheers squire!
Superb walkman that amplifies speaker looks like the one we had in our local pound shop the amp inside will drive much bigger speakers if you take them apart the ones i had the amp chip was mono and they sound fairly decent for what they are if you remove the internal speakers and connect something else i bought a few to mess around with.
Recently found a mega duck lot on eBay with 4’games for 60$ best ebay find ever
The wm-f10 is so cool it sad that they cost a lot of money and I hope I can get one in the future.
I've found my dad's old one of these and it wasn't turning on and I scrubbed off some corrosion and the light came on but the gears weren't spinning but I was like cool I probably just have to replace the belt but then I opened it and the belt had completely melted so that was sad
Hi Elliott this is a nice Walkman my favorites are wm10 I have two of them still in the original packaging one was back from Genco a store back in the 80s I got one as a gift both still working condition both have new belts my go too Walkman is a wm F100 still working condition and with both battery clips I still use the flat battery which make it really compact
Tuners are variable capacitors.
Looks near mint! I find Alot at thrift store but not then that condition! Nice one brother
I have a WM-F30. It turns on but it needs a belt replacement and some cleaning. It can turn on without a headphone jack plugged in. However FM works best when it's in expanded shape, but only the left channel is audible. The right channel is super low on volume. Both channels low on volume in compact mode and the volume knob doesn't affect the volume when compact. Help
Классный плеер я еще своего детства не видел только обычный толстый плеер стерео и др
Ironically the same day you posted this video, my belt for my original wm-10 arrived
Hell yeah! Get it fixed?
Yep. Now I just have to wait on the screws. Hopefully they come today. If they do im gonna make a vid.
Love these refurb videos! Keep it up these are awesome!!
Really enjoying the walkman vids keep it up!
Thanks!
Great Vid, Elliot! Love that you're doing other types of gear. GB's are awesome but retro audio gear is equally awesome. One piece of constructive criticism, if I may... please normalize your audio. Your voice is well mixed but when the music bed kicks in at the 7:00 minute mark that is WAY too loud. That snare is nearly clipping. Luckily you attenuate the music when your voiceover kicks back in but my god man... I tend to put your vids on late at night and just at a loud-enough level that I can hear it but the other people in my house can't. On more than one occasion your music bed is way too loud and I quickly have to lower the volume before a baby wakes up. Beds are used primarily for time lapse or when there's no voice over to keep focus on what's going on (instead of your viewer just listening to an awkward silence) it shouldn't be so loud as to be in the forefront of the video.
Anyways, love the vids... keep em coming!
My radio for the wm-f10 ii dont work, any ideas on how to fix?
Great video! I just wonder how you put it together since aligning the buttons is almost impossible for me ... I gave up lol
Lol. I went through the same thing. It took me an hour.
What speaker you use with that walkman?
Awesome refurb! I didn't see it in the video, but off camera did you have to clean up any belt "black death" residue? It looked like some was in the motor assembly and on the pulleys. Maybe you were lucky and the last guy did it for you then gave up?
Yeah there was some under a piece on the motor. Struggled to get it all off though.
Old electronics dont age well even if left sealed!
Where did you find it can’t seem to find a working one anywhere
I have a wm f15. Its loud too. Do you know if a wmf15 belt will work with the f10?
What was a high end model? I thought that was their flagship Walkman at the time.
Hi had one 1984 sony Walkman. Which had fm Radio. I used to listen to wham- make it big album tape on it.
I love that album
Hey man. Awesome video I have one of these WM-F10 and it’s so killer. But It needs a tune up. Do you do repairs?
Link for new belt?
if you get more walkman can you do a comparison in sound quality?
Does the one you link in description come in stock or was that the only one?
Hey um i have a gameboy color and the buttons dont work and i know its the rubber and i dont have any rubbing alcohol so can i use water to clean them
Civilianbugle no don't do that! Go to a store and get 91 to 99% percent!
Gameboy0104 ok thanks also cool name and picture
Civilianbugle thank you! I like your picture too. I forgot to write it in my comment but try to use a pencil and write on the black part on the rubber pads. It worked on my nes controller. It lasts for a while
Gameboy0104 thanks for the advice and what i meant by water is that i get a cup of water and soap and i wash the rubber and let it dry fully and then try ima make a video on refurbishing it if i get it
Civilianbugle Civilianbugle oh I thought you meant the circuit board! You should try the pencil method before you wash the contacts
Is their a way I can change the speed on the WM-F10?
Yes, there is a tiny screw in pcb for motor speed and you can adjust it.
Austin Evans just did a video on this
FYI: RUclips automatically unsubscribed me somehow! Damn you RUclips.
Good work buddy
Next time CLEAN all the pulleys from damaged belt pieces!!! My god......
The clash!!!!
Please do more Walkman stuff
It need earphones wire to work as RF antenna
That's easily the nicest looking Walkman I've ever seen. How much do they go for?
They are really rare to find working and are crazy expensive. Good luck getting one !
A bloody lot, you'll have more luck with other models. These ones go for £100+ even if they're for parts on eBay, I'd recommend car boot sales you're guaranteed to find something.
If you dont mind doing the work to replace belts and clean it this model goes for 50 bucks, ofnyou want an easier one to work on the later f-100 models are the easiest and most durable they cost the same too on ebay
*Update 3*
Does this Walkman have a tendency to melt belts?
I received my new belt in the mail today. During the week or so I was waiting, I had found a rubber band that fit and worked as a belt in the mean time. Today when I opened it up, that rubber band had melted the same way the old original belt did. It was just sitting in my shop, which is temperature controlled. That rubber band had been sitting in my shop the whole time before I put it in, never melted. But as soon as it was inside the Walkman, it melted. Now I'm afraid to put in the new belt! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
dopeymetalbud these take extremely thin belts so it’s possible that the band you were using was slightly too large and rubbing on the board or backpanel or that channel to the motor causing friction heat? Run it with the back cover off and see if the pulleys are wobbling
these are very expensive, you must be a rich kid
Wow its Tiny tiny!!
It only got smaller after that the f100 model is my favorite
I had that same model back in the day, until I dropped it a few times, was devastating. Ha!!
Update 2** Seller on Ebay wants TEN bucks for a single belt! Come on lol.
Where can I buy walkman belts for WM series walkmans? Sony doesn’t produce them any more? The replacement belts in eBay are useless.
can you do a rebuild on a old walkman pro?
Please excuse me asking but is this for sale?
hi the price of analog tape decks has gone crazy high beware i lot of fan have a big stock ot decks i have seen it myself when buying of ebay
What speaker is that
Logan Dorsey you could find those portable speakers on eBay.... Really cheap too.