techmoan

A look at the first talking clock radio (Patreon)

Published:

2021-01-31 11:49:00

Edited:

2021-02-02 10:41:52

Imported:

2021-02

Content

I've wanted to take a look inside one of these for years. It's the Panasonic RC-6900, a talking radio alarm clock from 1971. If you've seen my videos about the Panasonic 20-cassette carousel and Akai's overly complicated Auto Reverse deck you'll understand the reasons behind my fascination with this device. Its electro-mechanical early 1970s Mission Impossible-esque pre integrated-circuit ingenuity piqued my interest.

How did they make an alarm clock Talk fifty years ago? Press play and we'll figure it out together.

https://youtu.be/etl_bSIy-p0

In other news - how are you doing? I feel I'm getting over the New Year blues a bit and settling into the routine of 2021. I decided to stop having a drink or two (or three) in the evenings. It was getting a bit too routine. It'll probably result in less random Ebay purchases, but hopefully I'll see some health benefits - or at least a slower decline. It's easy when you're always in the house to fall into bad habits. I feel when 'The Event' is finally over (or as near as we get) many are going to struggle with a return to normality. I'm just thankful that my normality isn't a million miles away from my current situation. If I had to put on a suit and tie again now and get on a packed commuter train at 6:15am I really don't know if I'd be up for it.

I should mention that if anyone feels a need to chat about anything with others on here there is a mostly unused Community tab somewhere near the top of the page. I believe that if you do post something there then everyone should be able to read it. I can't personally respond to everything posted on there - but if there's anything you want to share with your fellow patrons I just wanted to mention that it's there as a feature.

Anyway - that's it for the moment, take care and keep smiling.

UPDATE: I've swapped out the video for one that adds a still of the brochure entry for this clock. It's at 04:06. (A couple of people suggested this should be included - better to find out now rather than when it goes live).

UPDATE 2: Added on an addendum (at the end) that should pre-emptively clear up a few things before the video goes live.

Files

The fifty year old Talking Clock Radio

In 1971 Panasonic Introduced the first consumer Talking Alarm Clock Radio, the RC-6900. Let's open it up and find out how it worked. --------------- SUBSCRIBE ------------------ http://www.youtube.com/user/Techmoan?sub_confirmation=1 ------------- Merchandise ----------------- https://teespring.com/stores/techmoan-merch ------------- SUPPORT --------------- This channel can be supported through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/techmoan *******Patrons usually have early access to videos******* ---------- Outro Music ----------- Over Time - Vibe Tracks https://youtu.be/VSSswVZSgJw ------ Outro Sound Effect ------ ThatSFXGuy - https://youtu.be/5M3-ZV5-QDM FAQ Q) Why are there comments from a week ago when this video has just gone live today? A) Patrons usually have early access to videos. I'll show the first version of a video on Patreon and often the feedback I get results in a video going through further revisions to improve it. e.g. Fix audio issues, clarify points, add extra footage or cut extraneous things out. The video that goes live on youtube is the final version.