I decided to re-purpose this 8200 for a third time. I purchased it for parts in 2010 for £10, it was in terrible state being a decorators hack, covered in paint, missing most of its controls, the tuner was smashed and it was full of sanding dust. In 2011, someone sold 8200 controls on ebay for a few quid and so I snapped them up and decided to learn from these forums what I could achieve in getting it working. The tuner perspex was replaced, and I managed to get it fully working (though the tape mechanism is temperamental from exposure to too much dust). It then went back onto a lost shelf as the casing was in terrible shape. In 2014 my 12 year old daughter was looking for a bluetooth music system. I sold her the culture of old school meets new world. So, this box came down for its second life, getting a budget custom paint job, using spray cans I already had and being fitted with green LED for the tuner and VU. We liked the idea of the bluetooth module being grafted onto the side for easy paring and into her room it went. For a while she thought it was great, and it certainly gave decent, sound and an eerie glow and was great for visitors to fire their music at. In 2016, she decided as it couldn't charge the i-phone, it had to go and she purchased a crappy, tinny modern cube thing. So back to the garage shelf it went. Last weekend, knee deep in garden waste, I wanted to get away from the trusty garden radio and have some tunes from the I-Pod so back off the shelf it came and out into the garden. My gardening productivity flew up. So, it became a gardening hack. I guess unloved boxes should find whatever role they can.
Nice box i love it. My first box i got was an 8200 and i have always had a soft spot for it, good to see it in action and not left in the garage
