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  • #16
    "Gather 'round, children, let me tell you a scary story... when I was a boy, our music... was sold on physical media!"

    *pause for the kiddies' screams*

    "And our movies... were sold on VHS!"

    *more screams*

    "And our video games... were only 8-bit!"

    *terrified shrieking*
    PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

    There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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    • #17
      Some of the preserved railways in Britain have internal phone systems based on discarded electromechanical exchange equipment. That means rotary dialling is mandatory. Of course, the numbers to dial are correspondingly short.

      I had the opportunity to use one of them a while ago. It had a very pleasing analogue sound to it.

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      • #18
        Quoth XCashier View Post
        That would be pretty nifty, actually.
        Yeah, the idea first started as an obsolete computer museum, back when I started building up my collection of those. Then I realized that people might also be interested in seeing tube radios, rotary phones, silver-face stereo gear, electronic test equipment, early video formats, etc. etc. etc. Am hoping to someday track down a small retail space I can lease cheaply, but I'm not sure if it'd be popular enough for people to be willing to pay an entry fee, or give donations, to help pay the rent.

        Quoth Cecily View Post
        Don't forget to put a yellow HB pencil next to the audio casettes.
        Not to mention fountain pens, cylinder Dictaphones, wire recorders, reel-to-reel tape recorders, manual *and* electric typewriters, stand-alone word processors... Hey, people could still write papers before Microsoft Word came along...

        Quoth MoonCat View Post
        I recall once being in the local thrift store with my brother and this kid standing nearby points to a record player and says, "Can you show me how this works?"
        You should've told them that "It's like a big black CD!"

        Quoth Jay 2K Winger View Post
        "Gather 'round, children, let me tell you a scary story... when I was a boy, our music... was sold on physical media!"

        *pause for the kiddies' screams*

        "And our movies... were sold on VHS!"

        *more screams*

        "And our video games... were only 8-bit!"

        *terrified shrieking*
        "And our computers had monitors which only displayed...IN ONE COLOR!!!"

        *kids run away screaming in horror*

        Quoth Chromatix View Post
        Some of the preserved railways in Britain have internal phone systems based on discarded electromechanical exchange equipment. That means rotary dialling is mandatory. Of course, the numbers to dial are correspondingly short.

        I had the opportunity to use one of them a while ago. It had a very pleasing analogue sound to it.
        That's pretty cool. I've heard similar stories of railway systems still using their old-fashioned magneto-based (pick up the receiver, turn the crank, and listen for the operator) communication systems, as well as the original "open wire" lines which supported them. I've also heard of similar crank-based phone systems still being used in underground caverns well into the modern era. Generally, all they need is to have the phone batteries replaced every once in awhile. Anyway, if you want to hear the sounds of old-fashioned electromechanical (and early electronic) switching phone systems, and happen to have a lot of free time on your hands, go here.
        Goofy music!
        Old tech junk!

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        • #19
          Quoth dalesys View Post
          Better yet, one with a crank to ring Central.
          I have one sitting in my bedroom, along with a a number of other antique telephone equipment. My father is a retired telecommunications engineer and also a pack rat, and somehow I wound up with his telephone collection.
          At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

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          • #20
            Quoth Cecily View Post
            Don't forget to put a yellow HB pencil next to the audio casettes.
            Gotta have one of those to rewind the cassette should the tape start coming out of it.

            Been there, done that and probably could get a job as a tour guide more times than Carter has pills.
            Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

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            • #21
              Quoth AdamAnt316 View Post
              Should I be embarrassed that I still have all of these? :
              -Adam
              Embarrassed? Absolutely NOT! Each of those represented the 'high tech' of its day.

              My vintage Marantz stereo receiver is hooked to an honest-to-goodness belt-drive turntable (which is capable of 16, 33, 45, AND 78 rpm!), a Fisher double cassette deck with auto-reverse, an ancient Panasonic 8-track player, and my old Akai reel-to-reel deck, as well my computer (which I use for CDs, DVDs, and MP3s, as well as streaming audio and other computer noise). I also still have a VHS machine in good working condition.

              I know, I'm a dinosaur. But it all still works. Granted, a lot of it doesn't get used anymore....

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              • #22
                Quoth ADeMartino View Post
                ... Granted, a lot of it doesn't get used anymore....
                I've got equipment like that...

                Brains...
                I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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                • #23
                  I have a nicely working turntable and a spare 500 telephone (rotary) and a 2500 (desk pushbutton) set connected at work. The latter is right beside my shiny new IP phone on my desk at work.

                  Oh yeah - and a typewriter that I want to hook up to a computer eventually.


                  B
                  Last edited by Bandit; 07-26-2013, 09:42 PM.
                  "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."- Albert Einstein.
                  I never knew how happy paint could make people until I started selling it.

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                  • #24
                    Quoth Bandit View Post
                    Oh yeah - and a typewriter that I want to hook up to a computer eventually.
                    I had a coworker who wound solenoids for every key on an electric typewriter his mother gave him and built a frame to mount them over the typewriter.

                    ... It was the only affordable way for him to get hardcopy output... A used uppercase only teletype was $2500. I was so much younger then and the dollars were much bigger.
                    I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                    Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                    Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Quoth ADeMartino View Post
                      Embarrassed? Absolutely NOT! Each of those represented the 'high tech' of its day.

                      My vintage Marantz stereo receiver is hooked to an honest-to-goodness belt-drive turntable (which is capable of 16, 33, 45, AND 78 rpm!), a Fisher double cassette deck with auto-reverse, an ancient Panasonic 8-track player, and my old Akai reel-to-reel deck, as well my computer (which I use for CDs, DVDs, and MP3s, as well as streaming audio and other computer noise). I also still have a VHS machine in good working condition.

                      I know, I'm a dinosaur. But it all still works. Granted, a lot of it doesn't get used anymore....
                      Dinasour??? NAAAAAAAAA I have all of those items except the 8-track player, the 16 rpm speed on the turntable and the reel-to-reel tape deck. I have 2 VHS machines, the turntable, the dual cassette deck and receiver hooked up to my PC.

                      Is the Marantz receiver solid state or tube????
                      I'm lost without a paddle and headed up SH*T creek.
                      -- Life Sucks Then You Die.


                      "I'll believe corp. are people when Texas executes one."

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                      • #26
                        Quoth Racket_Man View Post
                        Is the Marantz receiver solid state or tube????
                        Solid state. Model 2245. And it weighs a TON.... They built 'em sturdy in those days... about a third of the interior is power supply.

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                        • #27
                          Quoth ADeMartino View Post
                          Solid state. Model 2245. And it weighs a TON.... They built 'em sturdy in those days... about a third of the interior is power supply.
                          Sounds like my vintage Fisher receiver, which I moved back into the office last winter.


                          And don't get me started on the speakers . . . even though they're not very tall, they are solid boogers. No wonder shipping companies charge by weight.

                          Attached Files
                          Last edited by DGoddessChardonnay; 07-27-2013, 05:51 PM.
                          Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

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                          • #28
                            Quoth ADeMartino View Post
                            My vintage Marantz stereo receiver is hooked to an honest-to-goodness belt-drive turntable (which is capable of 16, 33, 45, AND 78 rpm!), a Fisher double cassette deck with auto-reverse, an ancient Panasonic 8-track player, and my old Akai reel-to-reel deck, as well my computer (which I use for CDs, DVDs, and MP3s, as well as streaming audio and other computer noise). I also still have a VHS machine in good working condition.
                            Those Marantz receivers can be very nice; the larger examples sell for a pretty penny, but the smaller ones are still good. I have a 2252B myself, though I don't use it a lot since I mainly run separate components (power amp/preamp/tuner). Which turntable do you have? I'm not sure that a lot of belt-driven TTs were made with both 78 AND 16RPM speeds (16RPM disappeared in the mid '60s, and 78RPM disappeared after the early '70s). I generally run Dynaco tube gear in my systems, and either a Dual 1219 or a Bang & Olufsen Beogram 8000 turntable, depending on the system I'm using. I do have a nice Tandberg cassette deck in my main system, though no 8-track decks at the moment (well, I have a Lafayette/JVC from the '70s, but it needs work). I'm hoping to add a Pioneer RT-701 to my main system someday, once I can tune it up. My main VHS deck is a very nice Panasonic professional editing VTR from the '90s.

                            Quoth Bandit View Post
                            I have a nicely working turntable and a spare 500 telephone (rotary) and a 2500 (desk pushbutton) set connected at work. The latter is right beside my shiny new IP phone on my desk at work.
                            Old phones are fun. I'm constantly rotating through my collection when it comes to my computer desk phone (currently, it's a green Western Electric 1500 (ten pushbutton desk phone) from the mid '60s). I also have my Beogram 8000 sitting on my computer desk, so I can spin vinyl as I'm surfing the 'net.


                            Quoth dalesys View Post
                            I had a coworker who wound solenoids for every key on an electric typewriter his mother gave him and built a frame to mount them over the typewriter.

                            ... It was the only affordable way for him to get hardcopy output... A used uppercase only teletype was $2500. I was so much younger then and the dollars were much bigger.
                            That's pretty cool! Wonder if he's the guy who made this video. Guessing it was a hassle to calibrate the solenoids to strike the keys properly every single time the signal was sent.
                            -Adam
                            Last edited by AdamAnt316; 07-27-2013, 08:22 PM.
                            Goofy music!
                            Old tech junk!

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                            • #29
                              All you fellow gamers...how many Xbox 360s have red ringed on ya so far? My video game consoles (NES, SNES, GEN, N64, etc) are up to 20-25 years old and still work like a dream.

                              The little whippersnappers don't know what they're missing...

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                              • #30
                                Quoth Estil View Post
                                All you fellow gamers...how many Xbox 360s have red ringed on ya so far? My video game consoles (NES, SNES, GEN, N64, etc) are up to 20-25 years old and still work like a dream.

                                The little whippersnappers don't know what they're missing...

                                I still have my Sega Genesis that I bought in 1994. Along with the Sega CD & 32X...lol.

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