While cruising eBay the other day. I can across this very very odd machine. It appears at first glance to me some sort of tape recorder. I Love reel to reel recorders. I have owned hundreds of reel to reel machines since my teens and i have seen photos of pretty much every other machine ever made. but I have NEVER seen anything like this. I had to buy it and i can't wait for it to arrive so I can learn more.
Studying the photos i can see. Volume, Tone and a Mode switch with Erase/record/play. on the back there is a microphone input and it has an internal speaker. maybe a dictaphone? but there is no stop start switch.
there are 2 levers on top. and the "head" tower in the middle i THINK has a head that moves up and down vertically. maybe one of the levers is a track lever that moves the head up and down? and maybe the other one is rewind?? I am totally guessing. the machine will be here next week and the mysterys will be solved. but. there are no brand markings i can see in any of the photos. so i am curious if anyone has ever seen anything like this???
Zc
Studying the photos i can see. Volume, Tone and a Mode switch with Erase/record/play. on the back there is a microphone input and it has an internal speaker. maybe a dictaphone? but there is no stop start switch.
there are 2 levers on top. and the "head" tower in the middle i THINK has a head that moves up and down vertically. maybe one of the levers is a track lever that moves the head up and down? and maybe the other one is rewind?? I am totally guessing. the machine will be here next week and the mysterys will be solved. but. there are no brand markings i can see in any of the photos. so i am curious if anyone has ever seen anything like this???
Zc
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Closest I have seen to that was a wire recorder. Interestingly it is shown with a paper tape and is labeled in English. The first magnetic tape was plastic backed. (1928 Germany)
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IBM made a dictaphone that used a magnetic belt. and dictaphone made the dictabelt which was like a record with grooves on a flexible belt. and I have seen magnetic records. but this is a new one. It might have a stylus like a record player for all i know and the paper was someones idea for a replacement or something. maybe it is supposed to have a plastic tape on it? no idea.
Have a look at this old Schaub Lorenz radio with inbuild recorder:
Interesting part starting at 18:15.
It might be a similar technology but apparently only with a mic input.
Hugo
It might be a similar technology but apparently only with a mic input.
Hugo
Yes I have seen that before and I wonder if it is something similar. but the paper tape on it is what is throwing me off! once i gets here i will know more. but yes it is probably something very very similar.
Never seen anything like it. But I did recently stumble upon this techmoan video
It's about a recording device that uses paper that is covered with a layer of magnetic tape emulsion. Could be the same principle is used for the tape in this machine.
Keep us updated!
It's about a recording device that uses paper that is covered with a layer of magnetic tape emulsion. Could be the same principle is used for the tape in this machine.
Keep us updated!
Most probably it is the only machine on this planet that records onto kraft paper 😊 .
Best regards!
Best regards!
On one of the photos's it looks like there is a mirror on the head thingie. And I see a big resistor at the base of the head. So I assume it is some optical readout system. And heating is required. So that leads to the conclusion this is a top secret device to read hidden messages that have been written using invisible ink (aka lemon juice) on paper tape. U S army surplus?
I didn’t think it was a resistor as it has graduations that seem to match the ones on the top of the “head”
Brian
Brian
It may be interesting to note that, in 1928, German cigarette paper manufacturer Fritz Pfleumer had the idea to coat very thin paper with iron oxide using lacquer as glue.
The German manufacturer AEG bought the patent from Pfleumer and went on to develop the magnetophon tape recorder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Pfleumer
I like you’re out of the box thinking, but not convinced that that is a resistor. Both the tubular item and the metal are marked with 11 ticks in alignment.
I mean maybe the whole thing is optical? The so-called mirror is a lamp, and the thing with the stripes is a sensor?
or maybe it’s 11 bit digital ;-)
or maybe it’s 11 bit digital ;-)
Could be a cinema projector accessory to generate sound from the edge of the film?
Cinema reels had that, the details should be on the net.
That means it was passing film as it went from reel to reel , so it was next to the light source, or at least in film path.
In any case, a curiosity item, the media is not available for the most part.
Cinema reels had that, the details should be on the net.
That means it was passing film as it went from reel to reel , so it was next to the light source, or at least in film path.
In any case, a curiosity item, the media is not available for the most part.
I remember seeing the IBM dictation machine when I was a kid. It had a wide tape loop and a leadscrew to slowly advance the head. The user could seek the head by momentarily disengaging the leadscrew.
I don't see an obvious leadscrew, but this unit must have some way to move the head vertically.
Ed
I don't see an obvious leadscrew, but this unit must have some way to move the head vertically.
Ed