Sony DD portables genealogy

There is another unit that can be included in gray (essential design elements taken from these units). A unit that I have completely disassembled for repair and I also happen to have in my collection: the SONY TC-150.
Mechanism of this unit is extremely similar to the one used in the TC-D5/D5M/D5Pro and judging by the construction the TC-150 seems to be older than the D5. The only major change that was done to the mechanism is the disc drive system.

Same thing with the D6/D6C, where the mechanism is almost identical to the TPS-L2/WM-3, to which a DD system has been added. The TPS-L2 mech comes from the older TCM-600.

Another thing that comes to mind about the WM-DD1/DD10/DD11, is these cost reduced units do not use a center gear type mechanism anymore, but a much more simpler belt system. This info could be added in the small orange rectangle at the bottom.

 

Excellent update @Valentin, I will add notes to the relevant devices in the overview table too.
I will post new versions of both files during the weekend.

 

Here I found some photos of the zx 7 mechanics
ソニーの小型ラジカセ：ZX-7 | じんけいの修理日記 (ameblo.jp)

 

It's not a Direct Drive, watch this video to see the WM-2 taken apart.

 

I know that, and did look up the mechanism in the service manual.
The words Sony chose to describe the WM-2 are, well, a bit peculiar.
I was referring to the exterior design from the WM-DD when I listed WM2 -> WM-5.

 

By looking at the ZX-7 pictures provided by @Silver965, I notice some aspects which could help establish what links are between this unit and others:

- the motor and its bracket is identical to the one used in the D6/D6C (the one used in the TC-D5M has a plastic bracket and the spring is attached differently);
- the mechanism as a whole is not similar to anything I have seen before in SONY, to me it seems a mech design started almost from scratch;
- the ZX-7 uses the same CX174 Dolby IC as the TC-D5 uses;

The WM-2 is the only one that has a much thicker center gear that does not break, unlike the other center gear type mechanisms;
Another interesting thing is that the belt routing, how the motor is positioned and other details are similar to a Sanyo TRC-1500 dictaphone;
Don't know if there is any link between the 2 (like Sanyo inspired the mechanism from SONY) or not.

 

Findings of brief research: the TC-150 was introduced - like the TC-D5 - in 1978.
The TC-150 uses inexpensive AA batteries, built-in mic, single VU meter and as you state, has a more traditional mechanism and was less expensive to acquire.
The bigger brother TC-D5 uses D batteries, no internal mic, dual L+R VU, more functionality (interfaces, Dolby NR, ..) and with a high price. Arguably outside of reach of amateurs - for pros only.

I'm therefor not sure if it needs to be included in the DD overview + timeline. Feedback?

 

Given both were introduced in 1978, there is either no link between the two (the very similar mechanisms was a matter of convenience for Sony) or the link is the other way around: part of the TC-150 mech is inspired from the TC-D5, but also from the former TC-55 (things like the dual-flywheel system and the motor).

I attached 2 images from an online auction of a disassembled TC-55, for those that are interested.

 

How could I miss this thread? I have nothing to add, but find all the info fascinating! You should attach here schematics provided by @Kewbee in the designers thread! I also found Walman Central interesting, although there are no references to the original sources of information.

The DD33 looks sexy without being too bubbly, and has quartz-locked motor. Ah.

 

From an exterior design perspective, the sleeker and more rounded housings of the DD9, DD33 and DX100 at the end of the 80s/beginning of 90s looks very appealing to me.
You can observe the changes in style over the DD line, although not as noticeable as when other Walkmans are taken into consideration.
The signature DD housing was used and tweaked quite a bit over the years: boxy and easy to recognize.

About the overview: once done, it can be 'released' in its entirety.
I have not stored all service manuals in the Excel, only kept screenshots of the relevant parts as source for the table.

It would be nice if we could store all service manuals and relevant documents not in a thread, rather a fixed location. Friendly sites could be an option.
(Although one could argue a thread is a fixed location as long as the name remains the same.)
@Moderator: is this possible?

 

Beautiful time map, Emiel!

One thing I would change is the position of the DD10 - for me it's located between DD1 and DD11. If this was already mentioned here, I'm sorry for not reading everything by now.
Great work!!!

 

Thanks for reviewing the files and providing feedback, really appreciated!

The reason why I drew the line from DD1 to DD11 is the following reference from the service manual:
Model name using similar mechanism WM-DD1 (not WM-DD10).
However, upon closer examination of the DD11 PCB it seems that the optimized PCB was used as base for DD11:
capacitor moved away from motor connections, reduced number of test pads - as reported by @Machaneus in the DD1-DD10 thread.
I'll therefor change the timeline and table accordingly.



The DD1 actually is a complete new PCB with less components than WM-DDII, and it is also using a new mechanism. The relation to the WM-DD(II/III) is not quite clear to me at the moment.


Thanks again, keep posting!

 

Thanks @rolandd74 for the photos of the D3 heads, the information has been added to the table in the first post.
Only the first generation seems to have been shipped with the parabolic amorphous (PA) heads; after that the rounded amorphous (RA) heads were used.
Contrary to the D6 (gen. 1: PA, gen. 2: RA, gen. 3 (last): not amorphous head), all D3s seem to feature this head type.
If somebody has an overview of the cut off serial ranges for the heads for the D3, please post it or link it here.
I will add the already obtained D6C information from my other thread to the table soon.

 

Bigger update and most likely the last major one.
I've split the D6C in 4 generations (lines), given the number of component changes between releases like ICs, PCB and REC/PB head.
Also updated D3 and DC2 head information in the description w.r.t. amorphous heads.

 

the only issue with the d6c it's to big and it should have been called a brickman not a walkman lol

 

Thanks for sharing these!
Great to see the marketing side of the F5, never meant to be used submerged
According to the service manual it was delivered in 4 colors initially: yellow, black, blue, red.
The green and orange editions are not mentioned, so they had to be released after the manual was created.