EEVblog #355 - Dictaphone Dumpster Diving

Forum Topic:
Dave finds a treasure trove of Dictaphone machines in the dumpster.

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[unknowndomain]

What do you mean, there is loads to gain from Dave's shows, its entertaining, informative and intriguing!

[DutchDMaster]

A co-worker from the local radio and television station from my city (he works for a big telecom and server company) found 12 working VOIP telephone stations in the dumpster of his work place.  We used them to replace old and defective telephones at the station.  The guy that found them is a programmer that likes to tinker with stuff and has been tapping into their connection and control protocol so we could connect them to our Asterix server, so we could seriously upgrade our telephone system at the station. I like these kind of video's, because I don't understand all that much about electrical components, but do like dumpster diving when it comes to electronics :P.

[kemi]

Hi Dave, and greetings from Hungary! :) I was surprised, the pedal control was made in Hungary.

[EEVblog]

Yeah, it sat on the floor for like 6 months, kept tripping over the damn $20K instrument :->

[jimmy_jamesjams_a_lot]

Those dictaphone tape decks are a huge hot number with the ‘modular electric musical synthesizer’ fan boys. My moms used to be a secretary and said that taking your eyes off your page while typing is a serious obstacle in efficiency, hence the foot pedals. Someone speaks and this device can playback the spoken dictation. Typically have a pot for playback speed, so typist could playback at their optimal rate. DEFINITELY a worthwhile keeper IMHO.

[Mark]

Well you have to think about the vintage of these devices which is approximately 10 or more years ago. Digital recorders did not have the capacity to record a long hearing and a lot of these were targeted at stenographers.
They used both tracks of the tape independently, one for recording the room and the other for the stenographer to make annotations.
As a result these devices had to be absolutely reliable.

[kerrydecoux]

I just finished laughing my ass off! It was like I was watching myself in a mirror. We have E-cycle bins in Canada that people put all their electronic (mostly working) "junk" into and I grab some of the good stuff, take it home, and truely make it trash as I tear into it for that spare speaker and LCD screen for my parts bins! I guess I could have sold the stuff on EBay ... Naahhhh! ... Copper :-)

[jacobjayden]

Dumpster diving Wednesday should come right before eBay Thursday! Don't forget to put those cassettes on eBay too! "Mystery cassettes!"

[dlvnmedia]

I as an experimental and noise musician would LOVE running into a stack of Dictaphone's (or even one) - I can think of a million uses for one off of the top of my head.

[WVCapsfan]

Dave, If they're working, don't tear them apart - put them on eBay. You can put the money earned towards another oscilloscope or multi-meter for your collection.

[Mark]

The wire being used to hold the wiring harnesses down to the board is actually very common in consumer electronics here in the states.
I see that quite often.
I have also seen pots like that fairly frequently.

A machine like this is usually nothing more than a glorified tape recorder.
There was a company here in the states that was actually modifying cheap Chinese $50 VCRs to be used as dictation machines....

[EEVblog]

There are much fewer "weird and intriguing" electronics things available in Oz than somewhere like the UK.

[necessaryevil]

I did quite a few teardowns in my life and I have noticed that quite a lot telecom stuff is made in Hungary. Apparently they produce a lot of telecom stuff over there.

[EEVblog]

Yeah, will probably put them up and see if anyone wants'em.

[onjofilms]

I remember my Dad coming home from the construction site with cut off electrical cable. We would stand in the basement stripping that stuff and taking it in to get some money.

[unknowndomain]

@eevblog Loving these regular segments, Mailbag Monday, Teardown Tuesday and Wastebin Wednesday.

[walterharriman]

6:09 there's the Agilent PFANG! I love how Dave just leaves gear like that on the floor.

[CsiguszX]

Of course you have listeners from Hungary. Greetings from Budapest! :)

[EEVblog]

I was too lazy. And it's more fun to guess!

[ScottPicton]

It's amusing that Dave says "listeners" here but "viewers" on The Amp Hour ;-)