|
General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
|
Thread Tools |
1st Apr 2016, 10:16 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: St. Frajou, l'Isle en Dodon, Haute Garonne, France.(Previously: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, UK.)
Posts: 3,177
|
Very odd tape cartridges (Tefifon)
Hi,
Didn't know if this came under vintage tape or vintage audio, so hedged me bets and put it here. Apologies if it's in the wrong place Two or three weeks ago I was at a radio 'brocante' rally near Castres, south west France which was mainly centred around amateur equipment. However, there were all sorts of other goodies as well. Something that caught my eye on one of the stalls was a box of large-ish 'tape' cartridges moulded in cream coloured plastic which housed a thick, red plastic tape about half an inch wide. But it wasn't magnetic tape, rather, it was cut with a continuous groove that, I assume, was cut in a spiral on an endless loop. All very odd. There was a box of them for ten euros each and I think they were of German manufacture. Any ideas as to what they may be? Alas, I failed to take a photo. Cheers, Pete.
__________________
"Hello?, Yes, I'm on the train, I might lose the signal soon as we're just going into a tunn..." Last edited by Tractorfan; 1st Apr 2016 at 10:22 pm. |
1st Apr 2016, 10:33 pm | #2 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,885
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges
A Tefifon? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefifon
|
2nd Apr 2016, 3:46 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: St. Frajou, l'Isle en Dodon, Haute Garonne, France.(Previously: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, UK.)
Posts: 3,177
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges
Hi,
Yes, that's them! I couldn't remember the make. I've never seen these before and wondered about their success, sound quality, etc. Cheers, Pete.
__________________
"Hello?, Yes, I'm on the train, I might lose the signal soon as we're just going into a tunn..." |
2nd Apr 2016, 3:51 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK
Posts: 5,185
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges
|
2nd Apr 2016, 7:40 pm | #5 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Folkestone, Kent, UK.
Posts: 2,172
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges
Thanks for the like Mark. Fascinating stuff, I'm loving the 'space age pop' on the cassettes or whatever theyr'e called.
A bit of genius lateral thinking there, although they were sort of reinventing the wheel somewhat seeing as discs were well established by then, but not long play at that time ? No rumble problems though. |
3rd Apr 2016, 5:50 pm | #6 |
Hexode
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Northampton, Northants, UK.
Posts: 380
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges (Tefifon)
This is the first I've ever known of these things, and they seem rather beautiful and an elegant engineering solution of the time. Compared to disks, which had such short play times, it's a pity they didn't take off.
|
3rd Apr 2016, 6:34 pm | #7 |
Guest
Posts: n/a
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges (Tefifon)
I wonder how they where made? The youtube guy (Techmoan) has a lot of interesting stuff, great for when the telly is no good.
|
20th Apr 2016, 8:06 pm | #8 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Manchester, UK.
Posts: 1,872
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges (Tefifon)
Wow - I've been interested in audio for 30 years, and here's a format I never knew existed. German ebay has some amazing examples for sale, including some very imposing radiogram versions - now who do I know who will be visiting Germany while towing a trailer...!
|
20th Apr 2016, 8:58 pm | #9 |
Octode
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Welshpool, Powys, Wales
Posts: 1,325
|
Re: Very odd tape cartridges (Tefifon)
I have a portable one and the sound quality is quite amazing for what it is. The material that the tape is made from doesn't suffer from too much back ground noise. The biggest drawbacks are :
No easy way to access a track you might want Recordable ones are very rare. Lack of media, mainly German Opera Courtney
__________________
33, 45, 78, around and around they go...
|