GrumpyTim | Retrotech - Vintage Agaphone (Agafon) Wire Recorder, demo, test & repair. @GrumpyTim | Uploaded 4 years ago | Updated 4 hours ago
In this retro tech / vintage tech video we're taking a look at an Agaphone (also known as an Agafon) Wire Recorder made in Sweden in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
Wire recorders were first invented at the end of the 1800s but they didn't get developed that much until the second world war, when they were used for military purposes. They only became available for the public in the late 1940s. By the mid 1950s the more familiar magnetic tape had been developed and the wire recorders all disappeared.
My machine needed a few remedial repairs which we'll look at in the video but fundamentally it was working when I received it. One thing I did have to sort was a replacement neon that got smashed during transit - the original neon was a GE NE51 (not the GE NE51H) and although I could get these from America, the shipping cost was silly. I managed to track down a modern equivalent a B1A neon (not a B2A) which I could buy from a UK seller.
To see just the demo of the machine running, skip to 10:46
Intro Music
"As Yet Untitled"
by GrumpyTim (available to download from GrumpyTim's Bandcamp page)
grumpytim.bandcamp.com
Additional Music
"Acoustic Typewriter"
by GrumpyTim (available to download from GrumpyTim's Bandcamp page)
grumpytim.bandcamp.com
http://www.grumpytim.com
In this retro tech / vintage tech video we're taking a look at an Agaphone (also known as an Agafon) Wire Recorder made in Sweden in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
Wire recorders were first invented at the end of the 1800s but they didn't get developed that much until the second world war, when they were used for military purposes. They only became available for the public in the late 1940s. By the mid 1950s the more familiar magnetic tape had been developed and the wire recorders all disappeared.
My machine needed a few remedial repairs which we'll look at in the video but fundamentally it was working when I received it. One thing I did have to sort was a replacement neon that got smashed during transit - the original neon was a GE NE51 (not the GE NE51H) and although I could get these from America, the shipping cost was silly. I managed to track down a modern equivalent a B1A neon (not a B2A) which I could buy from a UK seller.
To see just the demo of the machine running, skip to 10:46
Intro Music
"As Yet Untitled"
by GrumpyTim (available to download from GrumpyTim's Bandcamp page)
grumpytim.bandcamp.com
Additional Music
"Acoustic Typewriter"
by GrumpyTim (available to download from GrumpyTim's Bandcamp page)
grumpytim.bandcamp.com
http://www.grumpytim.com
