Is that 1 of the early Marconi tape recorders that recorded on steel tape ??
I have always been interested in the history of magnetic recording.
The first ever machine that recorded on plastic tape was (as far as i know) was the german Magnetophone company that produced the TomSchrieber (a German made reel to reel tape recorder that was used for broadcasting martial music and propaganda speeches during the 2nd world war.
Ampex used to make curling tongs untill they recieved one of these machines and with financial aid from Bing Crosby they developed the first broadcast quality machine in 1956 (unsure if it was video or audio recording)
Here is a link to a video that will explain the history of magnetic recording i just tried the link and it seems the site has reached it's bandwidth quota.
so i don't know if and when it will become accessable again so here's the link.
Or i can send directly through msn (file size is about 200MB)
Actually i am still trying to trace some information about the german made Tomshrieber (used by germany during world war 2) it apparently was one of the first ever machines to record on plastic tape.
Actually i am still trying to trace some information about the german made Tomshrieber (used by germany during world war 2) it apparently was one of the first ever machines to record on plastic tape.
Thanks for the S.L.O.M. link - I missed that one when it was broadcast and it's worth watching if only for the bit where he jockeys the Channel 4 logo in and out.
As for the machine, my rudimentary knowledge of German tells me it should be 'Tonschreiber' (something like tape-writer). That will give you some info, although unfortunately it appears to be a generic term as well, so an image search will give you various Pioneer and Studer decks as well as the original machine.