Wire Recorder

From: Larry Groebe <lgroebe_at_insidermarketing.com>
Date: Mon Jun 8 17:58:22 1998

>This is not about computers, but it's vintage tech so it's almost on topic...
>
>Just picked up a very cool miniature battery operated wire recorder and I
>need to find out what sort of battery it originally used - or at least to
>find out what voltage it takes so I can try it out. Also would like to find
>out more about it - date, original cost, etc.
>
>It's a Minifon Special, made by Protona (Hamburg, Ger.). The battery
>compartment measures 1.25 x 3.5 inches, with a flat, brass spring contact
>at either end.
>
>It's a beautiful little machine, in mint condition, complete with fitted
>pigskin case. Even the original spool of hair-thin wire is unbroken.
>Outside dimensions are 4 x 6.5 x 1.25 inches and it's finished in a sort of
>goldish-cream textured lacquer. There are two din sockets on the front, one
>with three pins for the mike (included), and another, unmarked, with nine
>pins.
>
>Anybody know anything about this little gem? Surely someone on the list
>goes back far enough to have seen one of these...
>
>R.
>
Ahh yes, the Minifon. Yes, it's off-topic, but it is/was indeed a cool piece
of technology. German from the early 1950s. Wire recording had all but died
out, but this machine was smaller than any TAPE recorder, so there was a
niche market. Yes, it was used by spies, law enforcement, and such. (There
was a version of the microphone built to look and be worn like a
wristwatch!)

It used subminature tubes 1 1/2 inches long.

If you find a 1953 Allied radio catalog you'll find it listed for sale there
for $289.50.

A transistorized version of this wire recorder was being built after 1960!

There's some info on this and about a zillion tape recorders from the 1950s
and 60s in a book called "Evolution of the Audio Recorder" by Phil Van
Praag. A book I thought I'd never see written - I guess it took an old audio
technician to write it.

--Larry

(Who, in an attempt to drag this back on topic, is trying to envision a
wire-recording storage device for a computer. Lousy tracks per inch.)
Received on Mon Jun 08 1998 - 17:58:22 BST