What is this thing old voice recorder? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 11:13:01 pm
content: So i got this free of Craigslist because it looked cool but the thing is i have no idea what it is. The guy i got it from got it with the house and wanted it gone so i got it free. But i have not found anything about it on Google and i haven't managed to open it yet because it has a lock so i was wondering if any of you guys know what this is or what it would be used for before i drill out the lock or otherwise break it. I tried calling the number on it but it was just a loop saying i had reached some extension. So thanks for any help and i will post pictures of the inside when i get it open.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 11:20:37 pm
content: a very solid guess would be its a early 80's tape drive, effectivly the hard drive of the day, where instructions are coded in 1's and 0's on the tape,

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 11:27:05 pm
content: i dont think its a dard drive i think its got something to do with survaliance because it has a date search and play back and a head phone jack and its made by lanier voice products. but i still have one idea were this monstrosity would be used.

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 12:09:44 am
content: Quote from: houdini on August 18, 2012, 11:27:05 pmFrom the model number I would guess it is 2 units recording 10 voice tracks plus time on 1/2" tape. I guess continuous recording of 10 channels swapping between units to avoid missing anything when tapes are changed. I imagine for something like recording air traffic control or police radio channels.

author: JonnyBoats
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 12:13:37 am
content: Might be interesting to listen to what is recorded on those tapes.It might even be the 18 and 1/2 minutes of lost recordings from the Nixon White House ;-)

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 12:23:27 am
content: yea i got it open and but then i hit rewind and it didnt stop rewinding at the end of the tape so im going to have to see if i can re tread it

author: tekfan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 12:39:17 am
content: Yes they are multitrack logging recorders. These were often used for air traffic control, bank conversations. Good luck trying to record music onto these. The tapes run very slowly (probably 1 7/8 inches per second) so there will be a lot of tape noise. Frequency response also won't be very good.The recorders are from a company called Lanier which was based in Atlanta. These are probably the last analog logging recorders made.

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 01:20:34 am
content: Cool but i dont know if it still works the top one when i hit play it makes squeaking noises from the speaker then picks up speed like its fast forwarding and the botom it goes really really really slow and doesnt make any noise. So how do i get this thing working?

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 01:33:50 am
content: Quote from: houdini on August 19, 2012, 01:20:34 amHow 'bout uploading a little bit of sound?

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 01:35:50 am
content: im not really geting anything other then a scratching on the top one like a record scratching.

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 01:40:31 am
content: well there is the sound of the fan and a strange throbbing sound like an alien craft constantly. Transformer hum?

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:02:42 am
content: ok now i think i got it kinda working by fliping the tape but now all i hear is 5 beeps in a row followed by a pause then 5 more beeps is that like a dial tone for airplanes or something? also i could have sworn i heard voices when turning it by hand but i might just be slightly crazy.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:24:05 am
content: If it's multitrack then you will have to set the track you want to listen to

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:26:23 am
content: Quote from: houdini on August 19, 2012, 03:02:42 amI often think I hear voices too!

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:34:55 am
content: well there is a thing for selecting channels and i can do 1-10 on it but that doesnt seem to do much and there is a a/b that on a its the 5 beeps and on b its 2 or one.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:45:47 am
content: Quote from: houdini on August 19, 2012, 03:34:55 amSounds like it is some kind of time based code. Maybe put it through a scope to see if anything is in those beeps.

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:47:28 am
content: its working yay. but whats on it seems boring. some lady calling her bank to ask her balance so like some corporate phone system?

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:54:45 am
content: well on one of the phone calls it sounded like they said something about health care plan 2000 and health care plan 2001. But i thought these things went the way of the dinosaur long before that.

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 04:25:58 am
content: What the heckWhat do you plan to do with them now?

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 04:32:36 am
content: i have no idea what im going to use it for i just found it cool and it was free.

author: cwalex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 04:52:34 am
content: Maybe you could send it to Dave. He might do a teardown on itor you could find out which bank it was from and offer to sell it back to them (or just the tapes)

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 04:57:36 am
content: Quote from: cwalex on August 19, 2012, 04:52:34 amYeah what's the situation in the US with privacy information. Can you ask the bank to pay you a fee to destroy the information without risking some kind of extortion charge?

author: cwalex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 05:15:04 am
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on August 19, 2012, 04:57:36 amThe bank having you charged with extortion for chargingthema fee. I paid $900 roughly in fees to establish my home loan, that is extortion!

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 06:31:11 am
content: Quote from: cwalex on August 19, 2012, 05:15:04 amHa!Yeah I see the irony. But I know my bank has a bit better lawyer than the one I've got...

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 02:50:12 pm
content: im actualy not sure its from a bank i cant tell what end of the call this machine was on just that there was a call with a bank.

author: Chasm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 03:57:29 pm
content: Multi track voice recorders.They are still used in various situations where you have to record phone calls, radio traffic, intercoms (...) say at an airport or at a police/ fire department call center. They can also record analog data streams. One reel typically lasts 24h. The second unit automatically takes over if the other unit throws a fault. (End of reel, actual fault, when the reels are exchanged, ...) Since the recorders typically are located in some data cabinet there are also remote units which display status information, say in an office. They also have most annoying audible alarms in case of an fault.Why are they still in use?Well, they were build to last forever with minimal maintenance (open it up and take a look at the size of the motors) and you usually don't want to change such critical infrastructure unless you have to or you are doing an major modernization of your equipment in the first place.

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 04:57:23 pm
content: cool those motors are huge also i dont know if its just the way they did it back then or what but every single IC is socketed.

author: houdini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 10:22:11 pm
content: so are these things worth anything or can they be used for something eles or are they just cool?