ED1 Reel-To-Reel Panasonic Solid State RQ-706S Tape Player
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:37 am
This is my original ED1 replica Panasonic Solid State RQ-706S reel to reel tape recorder. I bought it on eBay.com in 2013 for $52 including shipping to the UK. That was back before the Ash Vs Evil Dead TV show brought a new generation of collectors, they caused prices for props, and rare bits & pieces to skyrocket. As of writing there are two listed, both over $100!
I have been asked before if my player will record, and it does, using the microphone. You have to press the record button at the same time as you flip the switch to play. It can be a little temperamental, you need to do it just-so, otherwise you can only hear static on the playback. This is easy to tell though, you can see if your voice is coming though on the little sound monitor. If it's hovering around max all the time then all you'll have is static on playback. If it's silent other than your voice, you know you're good. My player doesn't have a recording of the professor on it, I never felt the need to go that far, especially as I need to use a 110v to 240v power transformer unit just to power it!
As an FYI, back when I got this, I tried plugging it into the mains at 240v. It worked but then wisps of smoke started coming out so I stopped. A few years later I bought a GoldSource ST-1500 unit here in the UK to power any US stuff I own. It works fine with this player, my ED1 16mm projector, a US NTSC VCR that I have, it's well worth buying if you have any US items which need powering.
The screen matching earphone, I got as a collection of ten from eBay.com in 2014 for $35. There were a couple of screen matching ones, and the rest were different. I've since given away or sold all the screen matching ones except this one.
The screen-matching reels were a little harder to track down. I found someone on eBay.com who was selling a fair few reels and seemed to know what they were talking about. I sent them screenshots and all the info I could get from the ED1 reels. The guy was really helpful in tracking down the two I needed and only charged $20 including US/UK postage.
I have been asked before if my player will record, and it does, using the microphone. You have to press the record button at the same time as you flip the switch to play. It can be a little temperamental, you need to do it just-so, otherwise you can only hear static on the playback. This is easy to tell though, you can see if your voice is coming though on the little sound monitor. If it's hovering around max all the time then all you'll have is static on playback. If it's silent other than your voice, you know you're good. My player doesn't have a recording of the professor on it, I never felt the need to go that far, especially as I need to use a 110v to 240v power transformer unit just to power it!
As an FYI, back when I got this, I tried plugging it into the mains at 240v. It worked but then wisps of smoke started coming out so I stopped. A few years later I bought a GoldSource ST-1500 unit here in the UK to power any US stuff I own. It works fine with this player, my ED1 16mm projector, a US NTSC VCR that I have, it's well worth buying if you have any US items which need powering.
The screen matching earphone, I got as a collection of ten from eBay.com in 2014 for $35. There were a couple of screen matching ones, and the rest were different. I've since given away or sold all the screen matching ones except this one.
The screen-matching reels were a little harder to track down. I found someone on eBay.com who was selling a fair few reels and seemed to know what they were talking about. I sent them screenshots and all the info I could get from the ED1 reels. The guy was really helpful in tracking down the two I needed and only charged $20 including US/UK postage.