By some amazing stroke of luck a DC2 was lying in a pile of junk at the fleamarket. Probably one of my best finds ever. This is my first DD walkman aside from the D6C (DDs are hard to find here).


Sadly this one had not been very well taken care off. The lettering on the door was scratched, and the window had melted from being kept in a vinyl case for years. But for $3, I can't complain.


Like all other DD units, this one suffered from the dreaded broken center gear. After adding a couple of teeth, the gear was fixed and only makes a very soft sound while running now. Amazingly one of the easiest things I've fixed regarding walkmans.


Upon inspection of the Capstan tire, not only did it have an indent in it, the rubber was rotten and soft. It's a shame the DDs do not lift the motor off the tire at rest.


A new tire was found from a store selling tape recorder spares. Next came to fixing the ruined window. I figured it was beyond saving and removed it and replaced with it with clear plastic. The tape guides from the original window were cut off and kept so that the door will still open. Unfortunately while cleaning the case I rubbed out the words LINE OU.





This walkman sounds amazing. It's like a portable D6C! And for once, no capacitor problems! The pinch roller and head were in such good condition, this walkman was likely rarely used by its original owner.

Nice work getting it up and working again.

I'm wondering why the DD mechanism was not adopted more in later models when the advantages are so great.

And cost cannot be a large factor, as the engineering in this unit is remarkably simple and does not seem to require that many specialized components aside from the coreless motor and speed stator.

If the center gear was made to a higher standard and the motor lifted off the tire like the D6C the DD mech could be the most reliable walkman mechanism of all, with so little to go wrong. Maybe it's intentional so people will replace their walkmans if they don't last forever. The ultimate beltless walkman.

Not to mention that because of its relative simplicity, servicing it is so much simpler than say, an Aiwa of similar time period.

On a side note, if you are planning on storing a DD for a long time and are worried about the motor causing a dent on the tire, you can open it up and place a small piece of plastic between the top of the motor and the top case, pushing the motor down from the tire. Since the D6C pushes the motor down in a similar manner, it should have no ill effects.

Well done on bringing it back from the dead :-). I think half the fun in collecting these Vintage items is the repair work and getting them to work properly again.

I've invested in some tools to get the job done properly, these include frequency test tapes plus a test tape to measure the forward and reverse reel torque settings.

I've been busy restoring a Pioneer CT-F1250 (a bit off topic). Have a look here http://www.flickr.com/photos/4...s/72157625576142720/ for anyone interested.