Microcassette Corder Philips 597 PocketMemo Vintage Dictaphone

Beautiful Philips 597 Pocket Memo I found on eBay for few Euro from Czech Republic. I guess it's from late 80's, and it's Made in Austria. Special cassettes are needed for it, and not the standard micro ones. It came working, but however belt was old and inside was bit dirty. It was making a Beep and operations were stopped because the gears could not spin properly, so was just a matter of cleaning and putting a new belt.
Not sure I will use it for my music project since it requires special cassettes and I got only that one. Then, it uses micro jack for Line In/Line Out, and not the standard mini jack 3,5mm. Last reason is that the Rewind and Fast Forward buttons must kept pressed as default in order to do their job, and this is something I can't do if playing live.
However, this is a very nice piece. Very happy for the purchase and the restoration.
Cheers!
Dani

[@teroleskinen8823]

Could you please share how to open the thing without breaking it? Mine is stuck somewhere near the play button and I can't figure out how to pull the cover out to replace the belt. Thanks!

[@macropathsoundscapes]

Hi! I sold this unit some months ago so I have no chance to check right now, but if I remember well you need to remove the Play bar, the entire black button. Try to pull it up with a plastic tool and it should easily come apart.