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Old 1st Apr 2016, 10:16 pm   #1
Tractorfan
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Smile 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.
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Old 1st Apr 2016, 10:33 pm   #2
dominicbeesley
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Default Re: Very odd tape cartridges

A Tefifon? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefifon
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Old 2nd Apr 2016, 3:46 pm   #3
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Smile 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.
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Old 2nd Apr 2016, 3:51 pm   #4
mark pirate
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Default Re: Very odd tape cartridges

These are quite fascinating, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBNTAmLRmUg

Mark
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Old 2nd Apr 2016, 7:40 pm   #5
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Default 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.
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Old 3rd Apr 2016, 5:50 pm   #6
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Default 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.
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Old 3rd Apr 2016, 6:34 pm   #7
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Default 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.
 
Old 20th Apr 2016, 8:06 pm   #8
mark_in_manc
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Default 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...!
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Old 20th Apr 2016, 8:58 pm   #9
Courtney Louise
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Default 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
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