Originally Posted by
cjenrick
i used to have a really nice sounding GE 8 Track Radio strapped to the back rack of a Stumpjumper for trail rides. Kind of heavy but awesome sounding even in the outdoors. It was great on night rides, listening to The Doors while way back in the woods at midnight, and it helped scare away mountain lions and deer.
During the day it helped warn hikers when we were approaching from their backs while on a decent or climb. And you never had to flip tapes!
The one drawback was that every time I hit a bump, the 8 track tape would change programs! So I would have to hop the wheel three times to get back to the right program.
It ran off a DIY battery in an extra large water bottle, which eventually failed because Nicads need ventilation. They emit corrosive gas. this gas is inside a water bottle with foam, it has no place to go.
Looking forward to a Bluetooth rig that I can run off of micro Sandisks.
This is now my garage radio, but the trail dust is still there and will not come off the speaker area.
Hey, I had that same radio/8-track player! It was tough as nails and sounded good for a mono portable. I finally left it in the newsroom at my junior college paper where I was an editor in the early 1980s, after I transferred to a four year college. When I peeked inside several years later it was still there, on a top shelf gathering dust.
That thing was the New Wave/Power Pop soundtrack machine of my college years. I never bothered to buy many tapes but had Patti Smith Group's "Easter" and maybe a Missing Persons tape.