Reel-to-Reel Wire Recorder
date: label: date made
content: ca 1946
name: label: maker
content: Brush Development Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: In 1935 magnetic recording expert Semi Begun left Nazi Germany and came to the United States where he went to work for Brush Development Company in Cleveland, Ohio. By the end of World War II he had helped Brush market several types of recording devices. Some used steel tape, some coated paper tape, and some like the model BK-303 used steel wire.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Since steel can be magnetized, the steel wire served as a recording medium. The thin wire broke easily but could be repaired by simply tying the ends together. Unlike coated plastic tape the wire served both to preserve the magnetic field and as structural support. That resulted in design compromises. Tape machines gave better results because each part could be optimized for its role. The tape could be made less brittle than the wire, and the coating could hold a stronger magnetic field than the wire. Brush and Begun soon turned to tape recordings.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Magnetic Recording
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content: Communications
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from William R. Burgess
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0311.01
label: accession number
content: 1989.0311
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0311.01
label: model number
content: BK303
objectType: label: Object Name
content: wire recorder
label: Object Name
content: recording device
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 21 cm x 42.5 cm x 31 cm; 8 1/4 in x 16 3/4 in x 12 3/16 in