Philips N2002

The N2002 was a mono portable cassette recorder manufactured by the Philips Corporation in approximately 1977, in Holland. It had a built-in microphone which allowed it to be used as a dictation machine, or alternatively used in the field by reporters. Here are some of its features and specifications.

• Monaural recording on two tracks
• Built-in microphone
• DIN socket for phono, line, and microphone connections
• Cue facility
• Pause, stop, and quick repeat (rewind) functions
• Built-in electret microphone
• 9 V AC power input socket
• Rotary volume control
• Removable battery holder tray
• Requires 4 × AA size batteries
• Dimensions (approx): 12 cm × 20 cm × 4 cm

Review

It’s a lovely bit of interesting electronic and mechanical engineering that was well designed and manufactured by Philips and consequently you may come across these for sale. This unit has some unique innovative features such as the cassette compartment lid that you have to press-down near the hinge to open. There is no Play button, and instead a sensor in the cassette compartment detects the cassette when you press the lid down and begins the play mode, lowering the head and pinch roller. The record button is mechanically coupled to the record protection tab sensor. Hence if the cassettes record protection tab has been broken off, then the record button will remain hidden inside the unit. The battery compartment lid is also the battery holder that detaches. This makes it much easier to change the batteries. All of these are wonderful and unique innovative features which is a testament to the Philips Corporation.

The electronic circuitry is extremely simple having a TBA820 integrated circuit for the audio power amplifier which drives a 25 Ω loudspeaker manufactured in Japan. The preamplifier circuitry is very simple and consists of discrete transistors. I loved the "tropical fish" capacitors in the circuitry, which make it very colourful.

The tape transport mechanism is driven by a DC motor and a single drive belt. I was very impressed with how the motor is encased in rubber and mounted such as to minimize noise being transferred to the internal microphone. In addition, the motor speed is regulated by electronic circuitry. Interestingly, this unit has a power socket for feeding 9 V AC, and there is a built-in bridge rectifier that converts it to DC.

Due to the age, and component degradation, the sound from the small loudspeaker was not very loud, however the mechanism worked perfectly after replacing the drive belt.

Value/eBay

This is a lovely bit of electronics history for the collector and sometimes comes up for sale on auction sites. After some cleaning and a new drive belt, it could still be used for recording onto cassettes. A unit in mint condition together with its accessories would be very collectable and valuable.

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