I just bought this 8 track player on ebay and I'm trying to do some research on this unit? I have tried looking up the manufacture: Automatic Radio but i cant seem to find any specs on this unit? I would like to know what year this unit was made, as well as some general info about the manufactures history. This 8 track player is the nicest unit i have ever seen and i want to know when 8 track players became available? From what i have read 8 track players were introduced in 1964 but the unit i have looks like an earlier model due to its size and construction, it almost looks like the old car record players. Does anybody know if there were early 8 track players that were introduced before 1964? Thank you

Hi Jose,
Reading from the book "The Auto Radio" by Matteson, William Lear developed the 8-track cartridge about 1964, so there probably aren't any 8-track players before that date. In the same book it mentions that the 8-track first appeared in production cars in the 1966 Ford.

Your Automatic model GES-8111 is covered by Sams AR-71 published in 1970, so it is probable that it was manufactured about that time or shortly before.

The Automatic Radio Manufacturing Company introduced two compact auto radios in 1930, so it is assumed that they were in business before that date. The book by Matteson mentions an article about those radios in the September (1930?) issue of "Radio News".

Meade

:I just bought this 8 track player on ebay and I'm trying to do some research on this unit? I have tried looking up the manufacture: Automatic Radio but i cant seem to find any specs on this unit? I would like to know what year this unit was made, as well as some general info about the manufactures history. This 8 track player is the nicest unit i have ever seen and i want to know when 8 track players became available? From what i have read 8 track players were introduced in 1964 but the unit i have looks like an earlier model due to its size and construction, it almost looks like the old car record players. Does anybody know if there were early 8 track players that were introduced before 1964? Thank you

Styling doesn't always change right away, so the player you own might look older, but is probably from after 1964, since 8-track tapes weren't around before then. Usually radios and such are up to the minute with styling, but occasionally companies use older styles. Other things you may find have styling that's carried on for years. Eagle lamp sockets, some other brand of plugs, and another brand yet of outlet adapters, which are sold in my local hardware store, look like they were made 60 years ago, but they are brand new. Electric motors in the 1960s could sometimes look a couple of decades older. Again, though, radios, and especially automobile items, usually were styled up-to-the-minute. If the player you own is an aftermarket item, it may be less likely to have up-to-the-minute styling.

T.

:Hi Jose,
:Reading from the book "The Auto Radio" by Matteson, William Lear developed the 8-track cartridge about 1964, so there probably aren't any 8-track players before that date. In the same book it mentions that the 8-track first appeared in production cars in the 1966 Ford.
:
:Your Automatic model GES-8111 is covered by Sams AR-71 published in 1970, so it is probable that it was manufactured about that time or shortly before.
:
:The Automatic Radio Manufacturing Company introduced two compact auto radios in 1930, so it is assumed that they were in business before that date. The book by Matteson mentions an article about those radios in the September (1930?) issue of "Radio News".
:
:Meade
:
:
:
::I just bought this 8 track player on ebay and I'm trying to do some research on this unit? I have tried looking up the manufacture: Automatic Radio but i cant seem to find any specs on this unit? I would like to know what year this unit was made, as well as some general info about the manufactures history. This 8 track player is the nicest unit i have ever seen and i want to know when 8 track players became available? From what i have read 8 track players were introduced in 1964 but the unit i have looks like an earlier model due to its size and construction, it almost looks like the old car record players. Does anybody know if there were early 8 track players that were introduced before 1964? Thank you

WOW that's a FULL 4 more tracks than my 1963 aged
"Madman" Muntz 4 track player had, but, dont worry, I upgraded to a Lear 8 Track as soon as they came online.

The biggest 8 track mechanical shortcoming was the severe transverse that the tightly convoluted bend of the moving tape had to enact in its Mobius...endlesss loop... that the tape packaging is formed into . E.G. the tapes ends are spliced together with an internal 1/2 turn made in the loop. Thus the open center of the tape mass
is feeding out tape in response to the end of the rotating tape gradually winding it up, as is required. With time / the wear/ added auto heat / splice- tape
quality..... all sometimes result in the splice opening and then.......
"That was the day that the music died".

73's de Edd

8 track tapes are repairable. They are kind of lame, though, when a song is too long for one track, and carries onto another. What's the worst is when "I Am The Walrus" is faded out on one track, and then faded back in on another. Why not just continue at full volume? The worst you will hear is a click, and then on with the music.

When I used to fool around with 8 tracks when I was young(er), I'd use a phonograph to rewind the spool if I needed to put the tape back on after a repair. There was a neighbor down the street that must have given me 3 different BSR compact stereos, and a lot of 8 track tapes.

Be sure to leave quite a bit of slack in the spool when you rewind it. To do this, leave at least 3 feet of tape hanging off the end of the spool (probably more, but I forget). Splice the tape together. Put it all back together with the big loop of slack tape hanging out of the front of the cartridge. Then, once everything is together, pull on the tape where it comes out. The tape will be sucked into the other side, and will spool properly. You may also wish to replace foam rubber pads, if you come across any. Be sure the surface of the new foam is coated with felt or slick plastic (such as celophane tape, but with a good adhesive). Probably the best solution is just a big pad of felt, as it can't deteriorate or goo. Lord help you if you come across cartridges with gooy rubber wheels. Wheels can be sacrificed from other cartridges, sometimes, though.

T.