The SR-1000 is a data recorder designed specifically for the SC-3000 or SG-1000 with SK-1100, a keyboard expansion. You need one or the other to have the audio input/output ports to connect to the data recorder. Sega, at least in its 8-bit era, has a history of aesthetically pleasing but cheap-feeling consoles, like the plastic could crack if you look at it funny (that said, I've yet to come across a damaged console).

The SR-1000, though, is not only sharp-looking, but feels sturdy enough, as well. I couldn't tell by the images when I bought it, but this thing has a great luster to it.

You have to prepare some things in order to successfully use the SR-1000. Mine came with the original power adapter and cables. It's not that either are really proprietary, and I already had compatible audio cables, but while most consoles use 9V power adapters, the SR-1000 needs a 6V adapter, so I was glad to have this original handy.

In addition to the cables, as neither the SC-3000 nor the SG-1000 has any built-in software, you also need a BASIC cartridge to input commands that interact with the data recorder. There are three or four versions that I'm aware of), varying by amount of free memory and whether they are for the SC-3000 or the SK-1100.

So I got the environment sorted. And the mechanical functionality was all there, it would fast forward, rewind, play, pause, stop, and eject. But for some reason, I struggled and struggled to save a program. I used a couple of BASIC cartridges, tried different audio cables, hemmed and hawed at my understanding of the meaning of the port labels (like, does "mic" mean input, as it does on a modern PC, or does it mean to connect the computer's output to the "mic" port on the data recorder?). No combination would result in a successful save, or at the very least, a successful load.

Eventually, I sold the SR-1000 and tried a Fujitsu data recorder on the SC-3000, which I got to load and save properly on the first try.

Maybe something really was wrong with the SR-1000? It seemed to be operating too smoothly to actually be at fault, though.