CassetteMaster | Recordgraph -- First Impressions @CassetteMaster | Uploaded 6 years ago | Updated 14 hours ago
I have just acquired a very unique type of "tape recorder". This unit records audio onto 35mm film by embossing. The 50-foot roll (although you can fit more on there if you want) records for 2 1/2 hours continually, with the film running in a continuous loop, like an 8-track, playtape, and Cousino cartridge.
Presently this unit is unrestored, and will need a playback needle. But I plan on restoring this unit, once I get a workbench, which should be soon. If all goes to plan, I will be working with my friend and brother in Christ David on a bench on Saturday.
This unit will be recapped, and I will do what I can to get this unit fully functional.
Unfortunately, the film appears to be blank, so no interesting old recordings to transfer.
The unit is manufactured by Fredrick Hart & Co. Inc. This unit is the Recordgraph model A. These units were used commercially in the 1940s to record live footage of WWII, the D-Day invasion, and even the Nuremburg trials. They were also used to record telephone conversations.
I hope to upload more videos as progress is made on the restoration of this rare, mostly unheard of recording device.
The closest cousin to this machine would the the Tefifon format, a German playback-only cartridge with a band running in a continuous loop with multiple grooves of music. I would be more interested in the Tefifon...only if there were machines that would record onto them. But as a playback-only format, I am not all that interested.
This Recordgraph's film format was known as Amertape.
Here are some good links:
Manual:
archive.org/stream/TM11-2522?ref=ol#page/n0/mode/2up
About the format, just jump to page 17:
http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-News/40s/Radio-News-1941-12-R.pdf
Most excellent site on D-Day Amertape recordings (with sound recordings!):
d-dayrecordgraph.com
"The Directory of Signal Corps Equipment", where I first stumbled across this strange format:
books.google.com/books?id=EG3clHsLVN4C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=recorder+reproducer+unit&source=bl&ots=XjquMAeP1e&sig=rNydtBDT6mdsLjOHPDm9hY5wwWM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibvbuqkeXZAhWCm1kKHSPACAIQ6AEIYzAO#v=onepage&q=recorder%20reproducer%20unit&f=false
I have just acquired a very unique type of "tape recorder". This unit records audio onto 35mm film by embossing. The 50-foot roll (although you can fit more on there if you want) records for 2 1/2 hours continually, with the film running in a continuous loop, like an 8-track, playtape, and Cousino cartridge.
Presently this unit is unrestored, and will need a playback needle. But I plan on restoring this unit, once I get a workbench, which should be soon. If all goes to plan, I will be working with my friend and brother in Christ David on a bench on Saturday.
This unit will be recapped, and I will do what I can to get this unit fully functional.
Unfortunately, the film appears to be blank, so no interesting old recordings to transfer.
The unit is manufactured by Fredrick Hart & Co. Inc. This unit is the Recordgraph model A. These units were used commercially in the 1940s to record live footage of WWII, the D-Day invasion, and even the Nuremburg trials. They were also used to record telephone conversations.
I hope to upload more videos as progress is made on the restoration of this rare, mostly unheard of recording device.
The closest cousin to this machine would the the Tefifon format, a German playback-only cartridge with a band running in a continuous loop with multiple grooves of music. I would be more interested in the Tefifon...only if there were machines that would record onto them. But as a playback-only format, I am not all that interested.
This Recordgraph's film format was known as Amertape.
Here are some good links:
Manual:
archive.org/stream/TM11-2522?ref=ol#page/n0/mode/2up
About the format, just jump to page 17:
http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-News/40s/Radio-News-1941-12-R.pdf
Most excellent site on D-Day Amertape recordings (with sound recordings!):
d-dayrecordgraph.com
"The Directory of Signal Corps Equipment", where I first stumbled across this strange format:
books.google.com/books?id=EG3clHsLVN4C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=recorder+reproducer+unit&source=bl&ots=XjquMAeP1e&sig=rNydtBDT6mdsLjOHPDm9hY5wwWM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibvbuqkeXZAhWCm1kKHSPACAIQ6AEIYzAO#v=onepage&q=recorder%20reproducer%20unit&f=false
