[Coco] History of Tandy/Radio Shack Cassette Recorders

[Robert Gault]

Perry M Dueck wrote:

> I seem to recall coming across some info on a Tandy CCR-83 Cassette
> Recorder, although I've never actually seen one. What's the difference
> between the CCR-83 and it's predecessors, the CCR-82 and CCR-81 ?
> 
> I do own the Tandy labeled CCR-81, and I remember my cousion owning the
> earlier Radio Shack TRS-80 labeled CCR-81, and one of my high school
> classmates owned a Radio Shack TRS-80 labeled CCR-82 (much smaller and
> somewhat different than the CCR-81).  I vaguely seem to recall that the
> CCR-81 appeared to be a bit more reliable for storeing and retrieving data
> than the smaller CCR-82, but perhaps that classmate's CCR-82 just needed a
> head cleaning or something.
> 
> I've also come across a few different  pictures on the web that show a
> "battleship grey" CCR-81, to match the original CoCo 1....how common were
> those and were those ever sold here in North America or just overseas?
> 
> I also recall a black Radio Shack CTR-80 cassette recorder which my junior
> high school used with it's TRS-80 Model III systems for a while until they
> installed 5.25" floppy drives.
> 
> best regards, Perry
> 
> 
> 
I have a gray CCR-81 bought in the US. I think the main differences, if 
any, in these recorders would be in the AGC section and the presence or 
absence of a microphone.

Tandy made a big deal over these "data" recorders but any recorder with 
low wow/flutter should work as would any decent tape.