In my youth and early teens, I was always very good. I frequently helped the police with their enquiries. They gave me lots of rides home to my parents too. Sometimes, if I was really drunk, they’d come out, pick me up from the pub and let me stay over for the night. I had my own room too. It had a lock on the door so it was nice and private. They always insisted I took my shoes off for my own comfort. Very conscientious and sociable bunch my local police.
@@monetize_this8330 I remember in the 90s, there was a couple from Gloucester who became regular users of their local constabulary's House and Garden Clearing service. Whatever happened to them?
Well, if anything, it suggests a problem with the ship’s power distribution. If the power turbine is tied in to the ship’s diesel motor, the power would fluctuate when the motor revs up too much that caused the power supply to go beyond he fuse’s threshold and blow it. I’ve had numerous fuses in car cellphone chargers blow on me before, usually when I’m revving. Either the ampere of the power supplied is too high that it the fuse overheated and snapped, or the power supply in the ship spiked for whatever reason and blew the fuse. Although it perplexes me tho- don’t they have voltage regulators to protect their electronics onboard?
We would have called that a jury-rigged solution, probably lost the screws on a nice roll. "bodge" must have been after my time in the Navy, I was an E.T. and never heard that word used.
@@wildbill4476 I used the local colloquialism - Bodge is what the Brits use for our phrase Jury-rigged. He says Bodge several times in this video. I didn't want to confuse him with weird words. HTH I did 8 years from 89-97 USS South Carolina CGN37 & USS Yellowstone AD41. I was a firecontrolman.
The buzzer indicates non recordable tape. Procedure was push record, wait for buzzer to end, then start speaking. Sounds basic but it was a failsafe to ensure nothing was said but not recorded, or claimed that something was said which wasn't. The recording of police interviews became mandatory through the enactment of PACE '84 (Police and Criminal Evidence Act). The battery pack is so that there is contingency that in a power cut, or in the field, if an interview has to be conducted as a matter of urgency, that there were the means to do it. This is especially relevant for Service Police (Armed Forces) of which the Navy Regulators are the smallest contingent and the Royal Military Police the largest.
Just looked up a clip of it. Really cool that they added that in and made it a bit awkward, it seems very realistic. S01E01: th-cam.com/video/ZIzI4tFLGxA/w-d-xo.html (doesn't have the buzzer, but you can see the machine, it's very similar to the one in this video) S02E01: th-cam.com/video/y5-C0z3KeDc/w-d-xo.html (only buzzer, machine just barely visible)
The buzz at the beginning lasts 7 seconds. If it goes off, the interview is started, if it continues then there's a problem that needs fixing (tapes, mic, etc) It buzzes a couple of minutes before the end to signal that the interview must begin procedure to close or pause the interview before the tapes end. The specific tapes used by the Service Police lasted 45 minutes. Of the two tapes, one is sealed and stored as the "master copy" while the other is used as the "working copy" that can be used to listen back to and, if requested, be used to make a copy for the interviewee. The time stamp voice is used when transcribing the interview to paper form for the casefile so as to provide quick reference to points of significance.
I've had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing, and indeed speaking into the modern version of this recorder. The modern version was a CD recorder though, and it was interesting in its operation that before the interview, I was admiring it. For the record, I have never been charged with anything.
Yes, All you can do in the interview is start the tapes rolling, then 'stop' if you need a break in the interview, normally if solicitor or suspect asks for one. At that point you stop the tapes and flip them open to show they're not being recorded as you leave the room.
He bought an interrogation device to recored his own confession on a TH-cam video about an interrogation device? This video and my comment is redundant. ;-)
Exactly this. That's also the reason why it was heavily built with no plastic - because complete reliability was far more important than weight, looks or even price.
@@ZGryphonThat's good, it's a feature of government contracts and shouldn't be treated as a bug. It's been shown time and time again in studies that government subsidised items since the mid 70s obsession with cost cutting have actually cost everyone more in ineffeciencies, breakages, accidents, and even death in some cases. Governments commission quality products, everyone wins. They can do their jobs and we benefit from the government funded parts we can benefit from. They accept the lowest bid for every contract because of "government excess" and the challenger disaster happens.
Oh the memories! Our family firm in Hyde, Cheshire had a contract with Greater Manchester Police to repar these machines. They were built pretty well and were simple to service, and IIRC they came in single and double-deck versions. I think NEAL had connections to Wearite, who made domestic and semi-pro transports.
had no connection to lucas, so the led's didnt fail. as to the amount of ic's, the tech is overkill, are they doing something else other than syscon, are they adding some data to the tapes??
I knew that VHS tape re-winders were as thing because of video rental, but not audio tapes. But then I thought of libraries. Lastly, I wonder how many of those DVD re-winders that you could find in mail-order catalogs actually were sold. Most of them you could later find populating bargain bins at low cost stores.
This is a true story: Back in the mid-90s, a friend was over and he'd never seen a LaserDisc player before so we watched a movie on it. I gave him the remote so he could control the experience, and had him flip the disc when it was time. When it reached the end he said he'd enjoyed all of it, so I asked him to rewind the LaserDisc which he went about trying to figure out how with the remote & eventually by looking at the front of the machine. Mind you this guy is a programmer - big brains and whatnot. All he could get it to do was play backwards. He was confused. After a solid minute+ of futzing with the remote, the light finally when on over his head and he realized he'd been duped to great amusement on my part. I laughed so very, very hard. [he was an annoying know-it-all to everyone so, yeah, I LMAO at him which no one ever really had the chance to do] It's the small things in life...
@MoseyingFan loads of people had VHS rewinders in thier home because they were sold as being better for your tapes than the rewinder in your VCR. They were supposed to rewind as smoothly as your VCR plays or something like that to prevent wear on the tape.
Police use or at least used for long tapes because the recorded tape is a clear physical piece of evidence and police have procedures to handle and store physical evidence. A recorded file on a server requires completely different procedures. While they can be developed it takes time and one cannot just ad-hoc create them. That time recording on the other track was a pretty clever thing.
It also removes the chances of someone managing to electronically penetrate security, find the files, and delete or replace them. One could argue that if a police agency's data infrastructure is compromised, *_anyone_* could make such a change, but if it's stored offline on physical media, then there are far fewer people that are in a position to gain access to it to change, remove, or replace it.
*giggles* One could also argue that an offline server couldn't be breached, as proposed. _"Whats that you say? A computer that isn't connected to the internet/a network?"_
A friend of mine who is a trained typist once worked for the Police transcribing interview tapes made using machines like this. She had to quickly learn the spelling of an awful lot of swear words.
Agree. Recording on a cassette tape is cheap and as physical medium it is easy to archive it without any information loss even for two or three decades. Digital medium is here not your friend. Big companies are still using magnetic tape to record their business meetings and conferences and also a lot data is stored on a computer cartridges with a magnetic tape inside.
1. i hate spamming emojis 2. i hate emojis in general 3. i hate just repeating something from the video and not even saying something about it other that emojis or noting at all kilgore Trout at least said something about the thing he said where it would of course be better to have the text in as they did
@@Name_cannot_be_blank I rather enjoyed someone sharing their joy at a particular phrase or sentence. And, somehow I missed the part after the comma, so this post caused me to go back and rewatch that section of the video.
When using a bench supply you should set a lower current. Yes, it will only draw as much as it uses but if there is a short then limiting the amount of current it can draw is the difference between a repair and a fire.
Right. Setting the current just a bit above its normal operating current is a good idea. That is what I do. I used to repair cassette player/recorders (among other things) a long time ago.
I used to work for Mastercare (aka Disastercare), Curry's in-house repair service. We used to fix white goods (fridges, freezers, washers etc) and brown goods (so-called because TVs and entertainment equipment used to have that woodgrain finish).
To be fair, if you're in the middle of taking evidence in an interview you really can't have the batteries running flat... Mind - slightly surprised it needs 12V to run.
Wow! 12 V and 18 Ah is 216 Wh! That's enough to power my iMac Retina 4K at full load for two hours! I might buy some alkaline D cells as a backup... Just kidding, I'll just buy some LiPos.
I was interviewed in 2017 three times in two different police stations and they were recorded on two CD-R's, and the recorder looked a lot like the digital NEAL one shown with two microphones. I remember during the interview I was more interested in the technology rather than the subject at hand! Standard CD-R's were used, I forgot which brand they were.
In the force I work for, we have custom printed CDRs, so case/custody numbers, exhibit references and interview start and finish times etc can be written onto the disc with a sharpie. Don't know who makes the media.
I was expecting a Law & Order-type muppets ditty at the end (with the tape recorder in the middle of course). What's the point of getting toys if you're not going to play with them! :)
They likely only used one side of the tape, and made tapes with labels on one side, because flipping tapes runs the risk of flipping the same tape more than once and accidentally recording over side A.
I think it was a regular stereo-type head. When Techmoan digitized the playback audio, one channel was the audio, the other was the timestamps. So it apparently WAS possible to use the reverse side. I could see a procedure when flipping the tape in which it would be standard practice to break out the write-protect tab on the cassette to prevent such accidents.
Nope, you didn't flip tapes or break the tab: instead you'd put the cassette back in its case and then wrap a large, signed label right around the case to seal it for evidential purposes.
Surely this was an horrifically wasted opportunity to record a puppet interrogation? Hipster puppet and old geezer puppet using the good guy / bad guy routine on Techmoan?
It 1:30am and I was like "i'm wasting my time watching this". However I actually found it really interesting and want one of those now! Dammit Techmoan!!
12:57 - Yeah that loud, long beep sound when commencing recording is shown on basically every British police interview tape recorder usage on fictional dramas and real-life documentaries alike. As well as being used to get past the lead-in, it was also probably useful for functional reasons because it gave a totally unambiguous and unmissable signal to officers, suspects and lawyers that recording had commenced. It also worked as an interruption and reminder for the officers, suspect and lawyers to stop talking while the noise was happening, so there was less risk of the actual recording commencing with someone mid-sentence and there being any future ambiguity in court about what was being said or intended.
And if they did, I guess him starting to fix their audio would catch them off guard and confuse them long enough so he could make a run once everything's working.
Policeman: We hear you have been collecting classic electronics! Techmoan: Well, uh... I think my refrigerator's running, and I have to catch it! **clicks button on device and teleports home** Policeman: Oh, poo! I just wanted his autograph!
At first I was wondering why there were so many ICs in there, but now it is clear: it has so many failsafe functions plus the time stamp and speech synthesizer system!
Interesting with the time-stamp on the other audio tracks. Official Air Traffic Control audio recordings have this as well, it's not a voice synthesizer, it sounds like a bunch of loud static - it's an encoded machine-readable timestamp that takes up the second audio track.
Those flywheels are HUGE and must give excellent pitch stability. Makes me wonder if, with good heads etc, this might make the basis for a Nakamichi Dragon slayer. ;-)
wraithcadmus - I’d like to see it put through its paces. Tested for wow and flutter, frequency response, etc. but remember, this is a record only machine, no playback, and it is designed to record only on blank tapes. It’s no good at all as a hi fi component.
Very cool old piece of equipment. I too love all the older analog stuff like reel to reels, turntables, etc. Thank you for taking the time to share. Keep the videos coming! 👍
The TI chip has 9011012 inscription. that stands for either 11th week of 1990 or November 1990. The Philips chip at 8:01 has very clear 9028 date code. Another chip under the front plate has 8912 date code. So that in total makes the machine assembled in the second half of 1990 or, maybe, early 1991 (although I incline to think that it was made about exactly 28 years ago, in September or October 1990). And, well, copyright marks don't mean the year of manufacturing ever, period.
The next time you want to drill out a screw, please use a left hand drill bit instead of a normal right hand drill bit. A left hand drill bit works counter clockwise, so if the screws catches in the drill bit, out it comes.
You’re right, but why buy a set of them for what could well be a one time only job? It’s not like it was a machine screw that was going to be a pain to extract, just a self tapper that needed to lose its head and meet some pliers. I think he did well enough with what he had to hand.
See @4:55 when he says, "As always happens, you get to the last screw, it doesn't want to come out, and it strips." This indicates that he has disassembled stuff before. And, at @5:40, we see that the screw is right on the circuit board. So, if the screw had gone in, it could have destroyed the circuit board. If you look at Amazon, a left hand drill set goes for $10 USD (ref: amzn.to/2CW0lj1 ) for a cheap set. @Techmoan seems to do plenty of equipment refurbishments.
Mark Holtz - Well, it’s certainly the proper way to do it, no argument there! He maybe could have got hold of the head with pliers and turned it out, or slotted it with a Dremel cutoff wheel and used a flat blade screwdriver to get it out, etc. That would risk damaging the case, though. Sometimes the Ghetto way is more interesting, if not ‘correct’. :-)
+Gernot Schrader Well, yes it "worked" if you consider digging a divot into the aluminum case a proper solution...these days, a set of left-hand twist drill bits is quite inexpensive -- even using a Dremel tool to cut a slot is a better option than what did...and why is he at first unsure of date of manufacture, then later he mentions in passing the late 80's codes on the microchip packages?
The compartment with the three chips is interesting. The TM70C02NL is a 8bit microcontroller, the 74HTC573 is a latch which can be used as outputport of a microcontroller, and the "LJV1.8" looks like an Eprom. To the right of the TMS is a crystal oszillator. This is a small computer. Oh. Some posted that already.
I have listened to many hundreds of interview tapes on transcript machines over the years and I always assumed that the time stamp was added by the transcript machine, not recorded on the tape. Of course it makes more sense now that I know! The transcript machines also have a speed up/Slow down feature and you can adjust the balance to fade out the time stamp. It would be great to see you get hold of a transcript machine, the ones that we used were slightly different to the one you showed on the video. Great Video. Thank you.
"HMS" Ocean" was the first ship to use "Verbal Camouflage" When they wanted to hide important assets, they could just tell people the person or item was "On the Ocean", and the British military would know where that was, but no one else had a clue. -This was another edition of "The Comic Military Speculation Text-Only Podcast."
Speaking of verbal camouflage... In my hometown, there were bars called "The Office" and "The Garage". "Sorry, dear, but I'm needed at the office tonight. Tom wanted me to stop by the garage after. Should be home around nine."
Amazingly up till about three years ago these were still in use in the metropolitan police. The one you have is a portable for taking out the police station. It was a laugh explaining to younger trainee coppers what a tape was, often got the reply "Oh my mom told me about these, never seen one in real life"
I first saw this type of recorder shown in an episode of „Midsomer Murders“ where it was used to interrogate a suspect in the Causton Constabulary (I‘m German I might add). You could see it was an interview recorder but they didn’t explain anything further, so thanks for providing this deep insight into this fascinating machine.
This looks very much like “mil-spec” hardware. Remember that these kinds of things were purpose build for military use. Although I don’t know for sure about The Royal Navy, as a former USN technician I worked on all sorts of electronics like this. It’s build to withstand poor power quality, rough seas, must be able to be trouble-shot and fixed at sea (in rough seas too), handle salty and humid environments, and whatever else war and sea-duty can do to it. Which this explains all “oddness” of this little box. My point is that you’ve really found a cool little tape recorder there. I hope you enjoyed getting the real-life sailor experience of fixing Navy equipment. Also, the shoddy screws are likely from some sailor not being able to find the right part and using whatever was at hand. In the Navy we’d call that “gun decking”, and it would be court-martial-able.
Heh, used one of these right up until 2012. The Buzz warns everyone that the interview is about to start - to clear the header as you say, and then also to ensure there's no sneaky recording of solicitors and clients. They'd also buzz about 5 minutes before the end of 30 minutes so you had warning and could change tapes. They were partnered by the most awesomely fast tape to tape copiers I've ever seen, they'd do a full side of tape in about 60 seconds, then rewind in half that. I was always amazed that they didn't rip the tape off the spool at the stop. If an interview needed to be paused, you'd open both the tape trays to show there was no recording going on. If you didn't trust the subject (always wise) you could carry the tapes out with you whilst they chatted to their solicitor. Generally you'd sign and seal one copy as the master in front of the client, then the second would be a working copy and you'd need to make 3 copies for court from that one. Nowadays there's a black box PC with 3 DVD drives, and they spit out DVD's of video and audio about 15 minutes after the interview. All controlled from touch screen. Thanks for the vid, definitely worth preserving this stuff for posterity. I bet these things cost the Home Office a pretty penny - Decent quality speech synthesis in 1989!
I’m sure the timestamp system was implemented in some video recorders in use in certain countries’ TV stations: I remember watching a news item from French telly on the ina.fr website, taken presumably from a master tape recorded at the station (TF1 or Antenne 2, don’t remember which one precisely) while the programme was being aired. This is how most newscasts survive in archives as they were broadcast live. Sure enough, every so often a voice would pop up on the right-ear channel telling the time in French followed by a beep tone.
SPEECH SYNTHESIS ON THIS RECORDER??!!! YESSSS!!!! I love that! I love the sound of that synthesis; it sounds like it's based from an actual speaker originally. It sounds like they used linear predictive coding! That is a really neat recorder, and built beautifully. The construction is truly a piece of art. Those flywheels are gorgeous!
Reliability will always win against power consumption. And solenoids like these are way more reliable that mechanical parts that usually break pretty easily. And that thing actually runs plugged in, not on batteries.
I'm a cop and have lots of experience with these. Always struck me how good quality they were. Civilian police mainly used the three tape version, and the case is screwed down to the desk to make it immobile. One tape is immediately sealed at the end of the interview, one a working copy, and the third supplied to the suspect's solicitor. The beep when you hit record is to stop the police officer from starting the interview before the clear non magnetic bit of the tape has cleared the recording head, so nothing gets missed. In the station where I work there is a big stack of the three tape non portable versions of these. They kept them just in case. They have been replaced by the CDR versions you mention in the vid, or server based audio/video systems. You always use video for more serious crimes, as how a suspect physically reacts to certain questions is worth a thousand spoken words! For no obvious reason, the replacement CD or video systems also make the exact same 5 second beep when you start recording. It's a familiarity thing I guess. You know you are recording when that beep stops. Its worth a mention that the mics used in many stations are old Realistic PZMs rather than the Neal ones in your vid . I don't know why, but it's likely cost or robustness. Knowing my force, they were probably on special offer at Tandy in the early 80s! They are similar to the ones pictured though, and are an almost unbreakable piezo microphone mounted on a flat square metal plate screwed to the wall or the table. These were cheap, remarkably good quality and pick up sound clearly even when the guilty suspect starts mumbling or quietly conferring with their solicitor. A downside is the whole surface of whatever it is they are screwed to assists with picking up audio. Having a wall mounted one prevents noise from fingers nervously drumming on the desk drowning out the voices. I don't know how two mics go into one input. Perhaps via the L/R pins on the XLR. When the interview is not going as they hoped, I'm sure some suspects would want to rip out the microphone to make the interview recording evidentially questionable. The beauty of the PZM is that the avarage crim doesn't realise that it isn't a light switch on the wall, but a microphone! As your video notes, Neal decks record an audible time stamp on one channel. This is informally known as the Chinaman. This helps the typist if a transcript needs to be made. On an official ROTI transcript, the number of minutes elapsed is entered into the text in parentheses or a separate column alongside the text. The timestamp channel once saved one of my cases. A suspect tried to retract a confession in court by claiming we had spliced audio of a voice double into the recording. The time stamp channel confirmed the evidential integrity of the original recording, the tamper proof seal of which he had signed, against the transcript from the working copy . Away from my job, I used one of these mics (bought from Tandy before they closed down, not 'liberated' from work!) to convert a normal acoustic guitar to an electro acoustic guitar. I detached the peizo from the plate and glued it with araldite into the inside of the guitar body. It has a nicer sound and rejects feedback better than the piezo pickups that are mounted in the bridge of a purpose built electro acoustic!
The NEAL beep makes me want to on auto pilot into the Pace preamble.. "The date is xxxx and the time by my watch is xxxxx, We are in interview room number x at xxx police station. This interview is being recorded. The recording may be used in evidence if this case goes to trial. I am PC (name and number), please state your name for the purpose of the recording...."
The time stamp track is so that a written record of taped interview can be transcribed and exhibited for Court. When played back on a player with a l-r pan you can make the time stamp more audible. The time stamp is crucial to identify relevant parts of the interview such as rights and entitlements or admissions.
FYI: Acetone works great for cleaning pinch rollers and rubber idlers. I find it works better in most cases (though this one wasn't very bad, so alcohol was just fine). Clean until the glossy, glazed surface has been removed and you're back to dull, grippy rubber (as you did) and you're good to go. (Source: I was a consumer electronics repair tech and shop owner for over 20 years.)
The Texas Instruments chip is a microcontroller from the 80s. I wouldn't be surprised if the speech synthesis in the unit is handled by some TI chip as well. They were leading the market in speech synthesis back then.
Wow this was really interesting. I work for a company in Australia that makes and sells the digital interview recorders. It’s all computerised and the interview can be recorded for more than 12 hours on the machines. I find the cassette tape interview recorders more interesting.
Also you can’t just play them neither. You need to get decryption software that is compatible with the files. I don’t want to give out to much detail on what happens as that could jeopardise my job.
The Techmoan channel continues to be one of the best content producers of ANY genre. As a musician and defacto home recording engineer the obsolete music platforms, analog technologies and rare gizmos TechMoan features are beyond fascinating to me...the editing & presentation has always been good but the angles showing the inside of this unit were so cool. Well done as usual...
@Techmoan: The TI chip appears to be made in the 13th week, 1989 (the date code WCY 8913). It's a microcontroller, so the LJV1 chip is likely just the firmware stored in a ROM chip (hence why it's socketed)
And the "controller" under the front plastic is likely the speech synthesizer chip, to keep the lead run short. The control of the device is likely accomplished by the TMS microcontroller alone (with a slew of discrete 74/4xxx-series logic, of course!!)
There is a smaller chip near the TI controller that is a PCF8200 voice synthesizer. The 7-segment driver has far more pins than are needed for a speech synth.
Makes sense. I didn't see much about it except for being right under the front panel. I was just foolishly assuming a multiplexed display (and thus a smaller 7SD driver), but makes sense that it's not (and thus has a wideDIP chip)
I have had a few interviews on these. The voice is called a “chinaman” I was told by a policeman! They are supposed to beep for a few seconds after switching on.
Glynne Tolar - My argument is the Isopropyl evaporates far too quickly to significantly effect the rubber. It’s what I use, never had an issue. Soap on a pinch roller is just weird!
@@glynnetolar4423 -- Could it have been some official Teac alcohol with blue dye in it? Have always used isopropyl alcohol for this sort of thing, and it usually works well.
@@glynnetolar4423 Exactly. That subject could cause a war over at NAKTALK tape forum 😂 Still, Nakamichi advised isopropyl alcohol for everything on the tape path.
@@ProdigalPorcupine While watching this item in my 'computer room', I just had to turn my head to the left to see a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. I was introduced to it by a friend who had his TV and electronics repair shop in London for decades. So much better than meths or white spirit! It leaves no (visible) residue. I looked up PHI in Falmouth - still in business. My first tape recorder was a Grundig TK5 - in 1956.
I know this video is over a year old now but gosh Techmoan you have become so brilliant at doing these videos since your early youtube days! Great pacing, very good script with interesting tidbits, very clearly spoken in excellent English, and all very well shot and edited as well. I wish you quit your day job and did this full time.
When I have a stripped screw like that, with a fully exposed head, I use a rotary tool (IE Dremel) to cut a slot in the top of it with a cutoff wheel, and then I use a slotted screwdriver to remove it. It's worked for me on all sorts of stripped screws in all types of applications from electronics to automotive!
I still have my interview tape from about 20 years ago recorded on one of these very good quality still. Fun fact if you asked for a copy they had to let you have one. And no i`m not a hardened criminal i was a teenager caught with a bit of weed :) You are correct about the label on one side of the tape mine is only labeled on one side.
Quick question about the synthesised time stamp... is it recorded on both tapes in the machine? Presumably it's there to prevent tampering/editing of the tape retrospectively, but it is my understanding that one cassette was retained by the police, the other would be given to the prisoner, so both had a copy. Not that much use to the prisoner if they didn't have the appropriate transcribing machine at home. Then again, I suppose it's still playable.
The standard interview tapes were C90’s giving 45 minutes per tape. The beep was supposed to sound at about 3 minutes before the end to warn the interviewing officer that they were getting towards the end of that tape. I used these things for many years, those portables, especially with the power pack, were very heavy. Police stations would normally have static machines, some of which would take 3 or even 4 tapes at a time. One tape was always sealed, a big sticky label wrapped around it, and that would be the ‘master’ tape. The seal could only be opened on the order of a judge. The second tape would be the working copy, from which a typed transcription would be prepared. When there were 3 or 4 tapes, one could be given to the defendants solicitor. The machines were, allegedly, very expensive, many hundreds of £’s each.
I'm surprised the RN only got 20 years service out of the HMS Ocean. I thought they'd keep a newly built ship in service for a good 40 years or so. But at least the Brazilian navy will get it now.
20 years is very little for that kind of rather bigger expense. Will make like 100 million £ amortization per year. No wonder, Britain isn't great anymore!
This probably won't help you date the machine exactly but Lee James Electronics existed from 1981 - 1996. HMS Ocean itself was laid down in 1994 and went into service in 1995 so unless this machine was a second hand model that had found it's way onto the ship or was in storage for several years prior to installation it seems a reasonable guess that it was manufactured in 1993, 94 or 95.
The inside of that deck has some very high quality components-that large blue capacitor for one and the toroidal transformer.All the wiring is very neatly cable tied which is very similar to the inside of my naim audio gear
Maybe those erase heads are there because they were using some off the shelf tape mechanisms that had it... They just figured if they are always used to record to empty tapes, there is no need to connect it to anything.
Love that portable Sony TC. Wish I bought one years ago when no one cared about them and you could pick up a near-mint one for under a couple hundred bucks.
As a guy with a thirty plus year career in radio (working for free), I particularly love these videos about things that aren't just mass-produced consumer products, but instead about those not-so-mass-produced things like this. I file it in with things like the cart machines you featured in another video. Behind the scenes with behind the scenes things, if you will. Keep it up!
I've always been surprised when I've toured military ships, how extensive their police offices are. I guess it makes sense with how many people live on them, but it's kind of hard to imagine.
rm2kmidi I guess some officers still like hard discipline backed by law. If every cadet being 1 second late for inspection becomes a matter of formal punishment, the police will be very busy.
Great video. Oh the memories of working on old cassette decks. It really was nostalgic to watch. For one moment I thought you were actually going to rewind that cassette with a pencil. Brilliant work. Thank you for showing.
In my youth and early teens, I was always very good. I frequently helped the police with their enquiries. They gave me lots of rides home to my parents too. Sometimes, if I was really drunk, they’d come out, pick me up from the pub and let me stay over for the night. I had my own room too. It had a lock on the door so it was nice and private. They always insisted I took my shoes off for my own comfort. Very conscientious and sociable bunch my local police.
If you go about it the right way. They'll come and clear your garden.
Are you a friend of some serial killer ?
@WhiteShadow2k1
Whooooosh!
@@monetize_this8330
I remember in the 90s, there was a couple from Gloucester who became regular users of their local constabulary's House and Garden Clearing service. Whatever happened to them?
@@anonUK : Finally got the bill, I should imagine. Not a very affordable service contract they had there.
Now understand why MoD needed to scrap an otherwise perfectly good helicopter carrier: blown fuse on their twin deck cassette deck.
David Gifford. It's like emptying the ash tray in a Rolls Royce. (Don't bother with that, Jeeves, I'll buy another one!) .
Well, if anything, it suggests a problem with the ship’s power distribution. If the power turbine is tied in to the ship’s diesel motor, the power would fluctuate when the motor revs up too much that caused the power supply to go beyond he fuse’s threshold and blow it. I’ve had numerous fuses in car cellphone chargers blow on me before, usually when I’m revving. Either the ampere of the power supplied is too high that it the fuse overheated and snapped, or the power supply in the ship spiked for whatever reason and blew the fuse.
Although it perplexes me tho- don’t they have voltage regulators to protect their electronics onboard?
Damn you for your spoiler! :)
@@RAMChYLD That's not how electricity works. Or alternators, or anything actually.
@@mikdavies5027 The new one they've got is nice. They had a documentary on it.
As a former US Navy sailor that repaired electronics daily. I can faithfully recognize a proper sailor bodge job
Former ET1 here. You work with what you have on hand.
Yeah having bodged quite a lot of devices, I feel you. But I admire that self tapping screw almost through the board, that was brave!
Add a little bit of flexing and it might very well be the reason that fuse blew.
We would have called that a jury-rigged solution, probably lost the screws on a nice roll. "bodge" must have been after my time in the Navy, I was an E.T. and never heard that word used.
@@wildbill4476 I used the local colloquialism - Bodge is what the Brits use for our phrase Jury-rigged. He says Bodge several times in this video. I didn't want to confuse him with weird words. HTH I did 8 years from 89-97 USS South Carolina CGN37 & USS Yellowstone AD41. I was a firecontrolman.
The buzzer indicates non recordable tape. Procedure was push record, wait for buzzer to end, then start speaking. Sounds basic but it was a failsafe to ensure nothing was said but not recorded, or claimed that something was said which wasn't. The recording of police interviews became mandatory through the enactment of PACE '84 (Police and Criminal Evidence Act). The battery pack is so that there is contingency that in a power cut, or in the field, if an interview has to be conducted as a matter of urgency, that there were the means to do it. This is especially relevant for Service Police (Armed Forces) of which the Navy Regulators are the smallest contingent and the Royal Military Police the largest.
So that's why in the first couple series of Line of Duty the interview machines all screeched for a moment before they began speaking.
Just looked up a clip of it. Really cool that they added that in and made it a bit awkward, it seems very realistic.
S01E01: th-cam.com/video/ZIzI4tFLGxA/w-d-xo.html (doesn't have the buzzer, but you can see the machine, it's very similar to the one in this video)
S02E01: th-cam.com/video/y5-C0z3KeDc/w-d-xo.html (only buzzer, machine just barely visible)
Also as used by Local Authority Enforcement officers who also operate under PACE.
The beep was also to avoid recording over the header.
Thank you ociffer......
Only Techmoan is capable of making even the most mundane device seem incredibly interesting.
It's not really that mundane though - it's a 1980s tape recorder with a speech synthesizer!
Well. This is an interesting item
I mean, he does, but he's not the only one.
I Was thinking the same thing. There's almost dead air as he's putzing around with some old audio equipment. He's got the gift of gab for sure.
Thanks Techmoan's mom...
The buzz at the beginning lasts 7 seconds. If it goes off, the interview is started, if it continues then there's a problem that needs fixing (tapes, mic, etc)
It buzzes a couple of minutes before the end to signal that the interview must begin procedure to close or pause the interview before the tapes end.
The specific tapes used by the Service Police lasted 45 minutes.
Of the two tapes, one is sealed and stored as the "master copy" while the other is used as the "working copy" that can be used to listen back to and, if requested, be used to make a copy for the interviewee.
The time stamp voice is used when transcribing the interview to paper form for the casefile so as to provide quick reference to points of significance.
I swear, Techmoan can do a video about a wood block for 20 minutes and leave you fascinated.
if you count it, the rokblok is basically that.
should be a teacher as he makes everything sooo interesting & clearly spoken too
@@lepidotos what you said is now canon 👍
What a good yoke ha ha ha
I think that would be so ironic it would be hilarious.
I've had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing, and indeed speaking into the modern version of this recorder. The modern version was a CD recorder though, and it was interesting in its operation that before the interview, I was admiring it.
For the record, I have never been charged with anything.
I was so expecting a puppet interrogation at the end of this.
The puppets aren't the ones you're after anyway. Somebody else is pulling the strings.
missed opportunity
You'll still have to have the puppet talks to get to the one responsible. It's called an investigation bro.
I guess the lack of rewind/ff/play is so you couldn't accidentally (or "accidentally") overwrite anything in the room.
Yes, All you can do in the interview is start the tapes rolling, then 'stop' if you need a break in the interview, normally if solicitor or suspect asks for one. At that point you stop the tapes and flip them open to show they're not being recorded as you leave the room.
Just ask Rosemary Woods how that works.
15:44
No wonder he can afford all this stuff..
He bought an interrogation device to recored his own confession on a TH-cam video about an interrogation device? This video and my comment is redundant. ;-)
damandbass would it be even more redundant if this was played on a stolen smartphone in a catholic confession booth?
Shhh, he cant make more youtubes from prison! (and that would be sad!)
Job centre advisors can be really tough sometimes
Peter Ellens Correct! XD
this machine is built for a purpose instead of to a price point. so every part of it is top notch
Excellent observation!
Or, more cynically, the manufacturers knew they'd only be selling them to the government, so they went out of their way not to economize. :)
Exactly this. That's also the reason why it was heavily built with no plastic - because complete reliability was far more important than weight, looks or even price.
@@ZGryphonThat's good, it's a feature of government contracts and shouldn't be treated as a bug.
It's been shown time and time again in studies that government subsidised items since the mid 70s obsession with cost cutting have actually cost everyone more in ineffeciencies, breakages, accidents, and even death in some cases.
Governments commission quality products, everyone wins. They can do their jobs and we benefit from the government funded parts we can benefit from.
They accept the lowest bid for every contract because of "government excess" and the challenger disaster happens.
military grade components and assemblies.
"I've got a few cassette players in the house"
Understatement of the century
Eshj
Sir which company player i want to purchase if condition
7558190003
Oh the memories! Our family firm in Hyde, Cheshire had a contract with Greater Manchester Police to repar these machines. They were built pretty well and were simple to service, and IIRC they came in single and double-deck versions. I think NEAL had connections to Wearite, who made domestic and semi-pro transports.
The ICM7212 at the front is just a display driver, likely for the minutes display. Date code on that is '89. The chip at the back is a Texas Instruments embedded microcontroller TMS70C02, which is the version without the on-chip ROM, so the 'LJv1.8' is certainly the software for it stored in an EPROM (or mask ROM - hard to tell). The other chip back there is the bus demultiplexer - nothing special. Date code on the TMS is also '89 - the ©1981 refers to the Texas CPU architecture I believe. It's certainly very solidly made - typical of 'good' British stuff made in the 80s, and the yellow capacitors throughout are classic ITT polycarbonate types which I remember well from the period. This thing is designed to be bullet-proof I'd say, makes sense ;-)
They had to stop making them in Britain; couldn't figure out how to make it leak oil.
And it uses a PCF8200 Phillips Voice Synthesizer
Oh my...benefits of watching in 4K?
Coni Glione Didn't you see the sticker behind the machine? The motor is made in Belgium but the whole thing was build in England.
had no connection to lucas, so the led's didnt fail.
as to the amount of ic's, the tech is overkill, are they doing something else other than syscon, are they adding some data to the tapes??
"Thank you for your service. Here is a proper size bolt"
It's a screw?
HMS Ocean is the least inventive name for a ship ever. You weren't even trying, Royal Navy.
"The newest in commuter trains, Train."
Gonna kickstart my very first video game very soon: Shooter Game.
HMS Floats on Water
HMS Ship
I was just going to say this name but you beat me to it, this name would have to win that prize.
From an audio engineer and educator, I LOVE the walk thru! Engaging, clear and straightforward.
Tape rewinder...you have absolutely everything, brilliant!
Yeah that was new to me
I knew that VHS tape re-winders were as thing because of video rental, but not audio tapes. But then I thought of libraries. Lastly, I wonder how many of those DVD re-winders that you could find in mail-order catalogs actually were sold. Most of them you could later find populating bargain bins at low cost stores.
This is a true story: Back in the mid-90s, a friend was over and he'd never seen a LaserDisc player before so we watched a movie on it. I gave him the remote so he could control the experience, and had him flip the disc when it was time. When it reached the end he said he'd enjoyed all of it, so I asked him to rewind the LaserDisc which he went about trying to figure out how with the remote & eventually by looking at the front of the machine. Mind you this guy is a programmer - big brains and whatnot. All he could get it to do was play backwards. He was confused. After a solid minute+ of futzing with the remote, the light finally when on over his head and he realized he'd been duped to great amusement on my part. I laughed so very, very hard. [he was an annoying know-it-all to everyone so, yeah, I LMAO at him which no one ever really had the chance to do] It's the small things in life...
Mine's a ball point pen.
@MoseyingFan loads of people had VHS rewinders in thier home because they were sold as being better for your tapes than the rewinder in your VCR. They were supposed to rewind as smoothly as your VCR plays or something like that to prevent wear on the tape.
- built to expect sound or complain.
- crossed the seas for 30 years.
- gets finally music.
Police use or at least used for long tapes because the recorded tape is a clear physical piece of evidence and police have procedures to handle and store physical evidence. A recorded file on a server requires completely different procedures. While they can be developed it takes time and one cannot just ad-hoc create them.
That time recording on the other track was a pretty clever thing.
It also removes the chances of someone managing to electronically penetrate security, find the files, and delete or replace them. One could argue that if a police agency's data infrastructure is compromised, *_anyone_* could make such a change, but if it's stored offline on physical media, then there are far fewer people that are in a position to gain access to it to change, remove, or replace it.
*giggles* One could also argue that an offline server couldn't be breached, as proposed.
_"Whats that you say? A computer that isn't connected to the internet/a network?"_
A friend of mine who is a trained typist once worked for the Police transcribing interview tapes made using machines like this. She had to quickly learn the spelling of an awful lot of swear words.
**** **** * ***** like that?
Agree. Recording on a cassette tape is cheap and as physical medium it is easy to archive it without any information loss even for two or three decades. Digital medium is here not your friend. Big companies are still using magnetic tape to record their business meetings and conferences and also a lot data is stored on a computer cartridges with a magnetic tape inside.
*"it takes me right back to those all-night interrogation sessions, but they never did manage to pin that bank job on me."* 😝😝😝😝
1. i hate spamming emojis
2. i hate emojis in general
3. i hate just repeating something from the video and not even saying something about it other that emojis or noting at all
kilgore Trout at least said something about the thing he said where it would of course be better to have the text in as they did
@@Name_cannot_be_blank "Noting at all" so you don't like any quotes at all?
@@Name_cannot_be_blank >>>
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
@@Name_cannot_be_blank 1. I hate spamming emojis 🧐
@@Name_cannot_be_blank I rather enjoyed someone sharing their joy at a particular phrase or sentence. And, somehow I missed the part after the comma, so this post caused me to go back and rewatch that section of the video.
When using a bench supply you should set a lower current. Yes, it will only draw as much as it uses but if there is a short then limiting the amount of current it can draw is the difference between a repair and a fire.
Yes, but it might not be protecting a possible short.
Right. Setting the current just a bit above its normal operating current is a good idea. That is what I do. I used to repair cassette player/recorders (among other things) a long time ago.
How bout you make your own channel and do it yourself
16:46 Those timestamps could easily pass as "lyrics" to the song
Kind of like the unreleased version of a day in the life.
I really wish you would do a segment called "Teakmoan" about retro electronics with a woodgrain finish.
He should only feature products made by the TEAC Corporation as well.
The teak TEAC Techmoan segment.
That's LGR surely.
You beat me to it.
Randall Waitt
The teak TEAC Teakmoan segment.
I used to work for Mastercare (aka Disastercare), Curry's in-house repair service. We used to fix white goods (fridges, freezers, washers etc) and brown goods (so-called because TVs and entertainment equipment used to have that woodgrain finish).
This is proper tv content. The voice, the subject, the historic context, the troubleshooting, the details.
This is much better than any of tvs attempts at this sort of thing.
Holy hell, 8 D batteries, is that thing supposed to power the ships engine!?
I agree! 8 to 18Ah @ 12v
To be fair, if you're in the middle of taking evidence in an interview you really can't have the batteries running flat... Mind - slightly surprised it needs 12V to run.
Wow! 12 V and 18 Ah is 216 Wh! That's enough to power my iMac Retina 4K at full load for two hours! I might buy some alkaline D cells as a backup... Just kidding, I'll just buy some LiPos.
@Dave F Didn't you see "12 V" in the motor label? Motors usually need that relatively high voltage compared to electronics.
Nah mate ships need at least 9 AA batteries to work ;)
I was interviewed in 2017 three times in two different police stations and they were recorded on two CD-R's, and the recorder looked a lot like the digital NEAL one shown with two microphones. I remember during the interview I was more interested in the technology rather than the subject at hand! Standard CD-R's were used, I forgot which brand they were.
In the force I work for, we have custom printed CDRs, so case/custody numbers, exhibit references and interview start and finish times etc can be written onto the disc with a sharpie. Don't know who makes the media.
All my CD recordings have been falling like flies so we can infer the nightmare problem with these evidence records.
@@maestrovso yeah for sure. I would much rather trust a cassette tape for long term storage over a CD-R.
I was expecting a Law & Order-type muppets ditty at the end (with the tape recorder in the middle of course). What's the point of getting toys if you're not going to play with them! :)
Well, he has no Munch puppet, so the whole thing would be pointless to begin with.
law and order SVU special volume unit
Great title for the review and I too waited to the very end.
“The tape recorder no one wanted to see”
Alright catch you in the next video then.
They likely only used one side of the tape, and made tapes with labels on one side, because flipping tapes runs the risk of flipping the same tape more than once and accidentally recording over side A.
Only using one side also means the erase head can wipe the entire width of the tape, leading to a lower noise floor.
I think it was a regular stereo-type head. When Techmoan digitized the playback audio, one channel was the audio, the other was the timestamps. So it apparently WAS possible to use the reverse side. I could see a procedure when flipping the tape in which it would be standard practice to break out the write-protect tab on the cassette to prevent such accidents.
Flippin' 'eck!
Nope, you didn't flip tapes or break the tab: instead you'd put the cassette back in its case and then wrap a large, signed label right around the case to seal it for evidential purposes.
James Plotkin Or it's a permanent magnet relying on the movement of the tape to generate a varying field.
Surely this was an horrifically wasted opportunity to record a puppet interrogation? Hipster puppet and old geezer puppet using the good guy / bad guy routine on Techmoan?
I thought the puppets were Mat and his dad. And his lovely wife. Is it OK to fancy a muppet when she's married to someone else's muppet?
I knew staying up till 5AM would pay off.
It's 11 in the morning, dude! 🍄
It 1:30am and I was like "i'm wasting my time watching this". However I actually found it really interesting and want one of those now! Dammit Techmoan!!
I haven't slept yet and it's 8AM, beat that nerd
Yep, how did I get from Laurel and Hardy to this? Another fine mess TH-cam got me into.
yes it usually does
12:57 - Yeah that loud, long beep sound when commencing recording is shown on basically every British police interview tape recorder usage on fictional dramas and real-life documentaries alike. As well as being used to get past the lead-in, it was also probably useful for functional reasons because it gave a totally unambiguous and unmissable signal to officers, suspects and lawyers that recording had commenced. It also worked as an interruption and reminder for the officers, suspect and lawyers to stop talking while the noise was happening, so there was less risk of the actual recording commencing with someone mid-sentence and there being any future ambiguity in court about what was being said or intended.
Those coppers will never take Techmoan alive!
I guess he did a good job convincing the popo that there was no struggle in that snuggle
And if they did, I guess him starting to fix their audio would catch them off guard and confuse them long enough so he could make a run once everything's working.
That is the oldest reference I have ever heard on TH-cam Good job young man
Policeman: We hear you have been collecting classic electronics!
Techmoan: Well, uh... I think my refrigerator's running, and I have to catch it! **clicks button on device and teleports home**
Policeman: Oh, poo! I just wanted his autograph!
He's like Big Vern from Viz, but with a nice collection of vintage electronics...
Ha ha, I used those for a few hundred interviews! That’s the portable version. The voice time stamp was for transcriptions.
A few hundred? You were slacking ;)
Hi, Is they’re a way to stop the time announcement in the background every 10 seconds on these interview recorders? Cheers.
@@sicktunechaser Nope, sorry!
At first I was wondering why there were so many ICs in there, but now it is clear: it has so many failsafe functions plus the time stamp and speech synthesizer system!
Interesting with the time-stamp on the other audio tracks.
Official Air Traffic Control audio recordings have this as well, it's not a voice synthesizer, it sounds like a bunch of loud static - it's an encoded machine-readable timestamp that takes up the second audio track.
I'ts impressive how well is build inside and how bulky looks from outside. Made to last forever, solid state.
It is build so well that it's good for military service, let alone police use :D
Those flywheels are HUGE and must give excellent pitch stability.
Makes me wonder if, with good heads etc, this might make the basis for a Nakamichi Dragon slayer. ;-)
Police are bad with kit, enlisted men are worse. This thing would have seen some real abuse.
...Possibly including the abuse that finally put it out of action: "Ah, those screws will do..."
wraithcadmus - I’d like to see it put through its paces. Tested for wow and flutter, frequency response, etc. but remember, this is a record only machine, no playback, and it is designed to record only on blank tapes. It’s no good at all as a hi fi component.
Cool video mat, learned something new today
Eleven minutes, precisely. How incredibly British!
It's in the same vane as the speaking clock. Precisely!
Rather, old chap!
Naturally, old boy!
Capital!
Ding Dong!
Always interesting and as ever professionally produced. Thanks, Techmoan!
That shot with the lights off is brilliant. Reminds me of old Blade Runner.
Very cool old piece of equipment. I too love all the older analog stuff like reel to reels, turntables, etc. Thank you for taking the time to share. Keep the videos coming! 👍
The TI chip has 9011012 inscription. that stands for either 11th week of 1990 or November 1990. The Philips chip at 8:01 has very clear 9028 date code. Another chip under the front plate has 8912 date code. So that in total makes the machine assembled in the second half of 1990 or, maybe, early 1991 (although I incline to think that it was made about exactly 28 years ago, in September or October 1990).
And, well, copyright marks don't mean the year of manufacturing ever, period.
No, that is *not* the date code on the TI chip. The date code on that chip is 8913
That annoying beep would make me confess to anything!!
**Beeep** "yeah, alright, alright I did it - just shut that thing off already!"
LOL
At least whatever you confessed to wouldn't be recorded.
"I kidnapped the Lindbergh baby"
"Say that again, after the beep stops"
The next time you want to drill out a screw, please use a left hand drill bit instead of a normal right hand drill bit. A left hand drill bit works counter clockwise, so if the screws catches in the drill bit, out it comes.
If you use a screw extractor integrated drill bit it's used anti-clockwise for the very same reason.
You’re right, but why buy a set of them for what could well be a one time only job? It’s not like it was a machine screw that was going to be a pain to extract, just a self tapper that needed to lose its head and meet some pliers. I think he did well enough with what he had to hand.
See @4:55 when he says, "As always happens, you get to the last screw, it doesn't want to come out, and it strips." This indicates that he has disassembled stuff before.
And, at @5:40, we see that the screw is right on the circuit board. So, if the screw had gone in, it could have destroyed the circuit board.
If you look at Amazon, a left hand drill set goes for $10 USD (ref: amzn.to/2CW0lj1 ) for a cheap set. @Techmoan seems to do plenty of equipment refurbishments.
Mark Holtz - Well, it’s certainly the proper way to do it, no argument there! He maybe could have got hold of the head with pliers and turned it out, or slotted it with a Dremel cutoff wheel and used a flat blade screwdriver to get it out, etc. That would risk damaging the case, though. Sometimes the Ghetto way is more interesting, if not ‘correct’. :-)
+Gernot Schrader Well, yes it "worked" if you consider digging a divot into the aluminum case a proper solution...these days, a set of left-hand twist drill bits is quite inexpensive -- even using a Dremel tool to cut a slot is a better option than what did...and why is he at first unsure of date of manufacture, then later he mentions in passing the late 80's codes on the microchip packages?
The compartment with the three chips is interesting. The TM70C02NL is a 8bit microcontroller, the 74HTC573 is a latch which can be used as outputport of a microcontroller, and the "LJV1.8" looks like an Eprom. To the right of the TMS is a crystal oszillator. This is a small computer.
Oh. Some posted that already.
16:21 - That audible time stamp actually sounds great with the music.
I am truly astonished at all the little functions this thing has while looking like a steampunk pcb. Great video!
“Takes me back to those all-night interrogation sessions“ - LOL!
I have listened to many hundreds of interview tapes on transcript machines over the years and I always assumed that the time stamp was added by the transcript machine, not recorded on the tape. Of course it makes more sense now that I know! The transcript machines also have a speed up/Slow down feature and you can adjust the balance to fade out the time stamp. It would be great to see you get hold of a transcript machine, the ones that we used were slightly different to the one you showed on the video. Great Video. Thank you.
Nice bit of kit. Glad you got it working again, with the proper bolts. Cheers.
Also, I love how many items you pulled out to record, playback & show the audio. Absolutely beautiful! 🔋🎙📻📣💻
"HMS" Ocean" was the first ship to use "Verbal Camouflage" When they wanted to hide important assets, they could just tell people the person or item was "On the Ocean", and the British military would know where that was, but no one else had a clue.
-This was another edition of "The Comic Military Speculation Text-Only Podcast."
Speaking of verbal camouflage... In my hometown, there were bars called "The Office" and "The Garage".
"Sorry, dear, but I'm needed at the office tonight. Tom wanted me to stop by the garage after. Should be home around nine."
Just as well Ocean was launched when she was then -- the old "that was on the Atlantic Conveyer when she went down" excuse was wearing a bit thin.
@@lordsummerisle87 "Atlantic Conveyor" has me thinking of a very long belt, starting at, say, Liverpool and ending at, say, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Really love the respect you have for this old tech... You should open a museum for this stuff, you'd make the PERFECT curator! 😊😊😊😊
The most fun that tape recorder have had! Recording music and have it's insides tickled by someone who knows what they are doing!
Top marks for an enticing title....with a justifiable explanation having clicked. An increasingly rare gem on TH-cam nowadays...
i wanted to see a puppet integration :/
@Ethan Ansell oops lol😂
@Ethan Ansell Can you imagine trying to explain that joke to someone that doesn't Internets ;)
Amazingly up till about three years ago these were still in use in the metropolitan police. The one you have is a portable for taking out the police station. It was a laugh explaining to younger trainee coppers what a tape was, often got the reply "Oh my mom told me about these, never seen one in real life"
I can always count on Techmoan to have the best, weirdest, and most unique technology to show off with every single upload.
I first saw this type of recorder shown in an episode of „Midsomer Murders“ where it was used to interrogate a suspect in the Causton Constabulary (I‘m German I might add). You could see it was an interview recorder but they didn’t explain anything further, so thanks for providing this deep insight into this fascinating machine.
I wonder if the puppets have ever had a run in with the police 🤔...
Should use this to stage an interrogation of the puppets in which they're 'verballed' into admitting to a crime they didn't commit!
I'm not sure if their collars have been felt, but the rest of them is.
I like the puppets.
This looks very much like “mil-spec” hardware. Remember that these kinds of things were purpose build for military use. Although I don’t know for sure about The Royal Navy, as a former USN technician I worked on all sorts of electronics like this.
It’s build to withstand poor power quality, rough seas, must be able to be trouble-shot and fixed at sea (in rough seas too), handle salty and humid environments, and whatever else war and sea-duty can do to it. Which this explains all “oddness” of this little box.
My point is that you’ve really found a cool little tape recorder there. I hope you enjoyed getting the real-life sailor experience of fixing Navy equipment.
Also, the shoddy screws are likely from some sailor not being able to find the right part and using whatever was at hand. In the Navy we’d call that “gun decking”, and it would be court-martial-able.
I had a Koni Omega medium format film camera - they were used by the Royal Navy.
That is a really neat device. I have done work designing and installing the equipment in "interview rooms".
Heh, used one of these right up until 2012. The Buzz warns everyone that the interview is about to start - to clear the header as you say, and then also to ensure there's no sneaky recording of solicitors and clients. They'd also buzz about 5 minutes before the end of 30 minutes so you had warning and could change tapes. They were partnered by the most awesomely fast tape to tape copiers I've ever seen, they'd do a full side of tape in about 60 seconds, then rewind in half that. I was always amazed that they didn't rip the tape off the spool at the stop. If an interview needed to be paused, you'd open both the tape trays to show there was no recording going on. If you didn't trust the subject (always wise) you could carry the tapes out with you whilst they chatted to their solicitor. Generally you'd sign and seal one copy as the master in front of the client, then the second would be a working copy and you'd need to make 3 copies for court from that one. Nowadays there's a black box PC with 3 DVD drives, and they spit out DVD's of video and audio about 15 minutes after the interview. All controlled from touch screen. Thanks for the vid, definitely worth preserving this stuff for posterity. I bet these things cost the Home Office a pretty penny - Decent quality speech synthesis in 1989!
I’m sure the timestamp system was implemented in some video recorders in use in certain countries’ TV stations: I remember watching a news item from French telly on the ina.fr website, taken presumably from a master tape recorded at the station (TF1 or Antenne 2, don’t remember which one precisely) while the programme was being aired.
This is how most newscasts survive in archives as they were broadcast live.
Sure enough, every so often a voice would pop up on the right-ear channel telling the time in French followed by a beep tone.
SPEECH SYNTHESIS ON THIS RECORDER??!!! YESSSS!!!! I love that! I love the sound of that synthesis; it sounds like it's based from an actual speaker originally. It sounds like they used linear predictive coding!
That is a really neat recorder, and built beautifully. The construction is truly a piece of art. Those flywheels are gorgeous!
Seems crazy that they'd use a solenoid to pull the heads down instead of making it mechanical. I'll bet it really sapped the batteries.
The batteries were to be as a sort of UPS, not to run it. [another poster]
Reliability will always win against power consumption. And solenoids like these are way more reliable that mechanical parts that usually break pretty easily. And that thing actually runs plugged in, not on batteries.
I see, so it has batteries to run plugged in. Surely the batteries are for a power option and not just to make the unit heavier.
I'm a cop and have lots of experience with these. Always struck me how good quality they were. Civilian police mainly used the three tape version, and the case is screwed down to the desk to make it immobile. One tape is immediately sealed at the end of the interview, one a working copy, and the third supplied to the suspect's solicitor.
The beep when you hit record is to stop the police officer from starting the interview before the clear non magnetic bit of the tape has cleared the recording head, so nothing gets missed.
In the station where I work there is a big stack of the three tape non portable versions of these. They kept them just in case. They have been replaced by the CDR versions you mention in the vid, or server based audio/video systems. You always use video for more serious crimes, as how a suspect physically reacts to certain questions is worth a thousand spoken words!
For no obvious reason, the replacement CD or video systems also make the exact same 5 second beep when you start recording. It's a familiarity thing I guess. You know you are recording when that beep stops.
Its worth a mention that the mics used in many stations are old Realistic PZMs rather than the Neal ones in your vid . I don't know why, but it's likely cost or robustness. Knowing my force, they were probably on special offer at Tandy in the early 80s! They are similar to the ones pictured though, and are an almost unbreakable piezo microphone mounted on a flat square metal plate screwed to the wall or the table. These were cheap, remarkably good quality and pick up sound clearly even when the guilty suspect starts mumbling or quietly conferring with their solicitor. A downside is the whole surface of whatever it is they are screwed to assists with picking up audio. Having a wall mounted one prevents noise from fingers nervously drumming on the desk drowning out the voices. I don't know how two mics go into one input. Perhaps via the L/R pins on the XLR.
When the interview is not going as they hoped, I'm sure some suspects would want to rip out the microphone to make the interview recording evidentially questionable. The beauty of the PZM is that the avarage crim doesn't realise that it isn't a light switch on the wall, but a microphone!
As your video notes, Neal decks record an audible time stamp on one channel. This is informally known as the Chinaman. This helps the typist if a transcript needs to be made. On an official ROTI transcript, the number of minutes elapsed is entered into the text in parentheses or a separate column alongside the text.
The timestamp channel once saved one of my cases. A suspect tried to retract a confession in court by claiming we had spliced audio of a voice double into the recording. The time stamp channel confirmed the evidential integrity of the original recording, the tamper proof seal of which he had signed, against the transcript from the working copy .
Away from my job, I used one of these mics (bought from Tandy before they closed down, not 'liberated' from work!) to convert a normal acoustic guitar to an electro acoustic guitar. I detached the peizo from the plate and glued it with araldite into the inside of the guitar body. It has a nicer sound and rejects feedback better than the piezo pickups that are mounted in the bridge of a purpose built electro acoustic!
The NEAL beep makes me want to on auto pilot into the Pace preamble.. "The date is xxxx and the time by my watch is xxxxx, We are in interview room number x at xxx police station. This interview is being recorded. The recording may be used in evidence if this case goes to trial. I am PC (name and number), please state your name for the purpose of the recording...."
I like that "Thieves are Watching YOU" sticker, with the Peter Capaldi Doctor eyes. Just thought I'd point that out.
The time stamp track is so that a written record of taped interview can be transcribed and exhibited for Court. When played back on a player with a l-r pan you can make the time stamp more audible. The time stamp is crucial to identify relevant parts of the interview such as rights and entitlements or admissions.
Nice, That recorder has some serious history!
FYI: Acetone works great for cleaning pinch rollers and rubber idlers. I find it works better in most cases (though this one wasn't very bad, so alcohol was just fine). Clean until the glossy, glazed surface has been removed and you're back to dull, grippy rubber (as you did) and you're good to go.
(Source: I was a consumer electronics repair tech and shop owner for over 20 years.)
Its always good when "doesnt work" = "blown fuse"
As long as you realize the blown fuse itself rarely is the cause.
The Texas Instruments chip is a microcontroller from the 80s. I wouldn't be surprised if the speech synthesis in the unit is handled by some TI chip as well. They were leading the market in speech synthesis back then.
Wow this was really interesting. I work for a company in Australia that makes and sells the digital interview recorders. It’s all computerised and the interview can be recorded for more than 12 hours on the machines. I find the cassette tape interview recorders more interesting.
Does your product record if someone is randomly cut in pieces in Saudi embassy?
Mika Korhonen Pretty violent but yes it can record that.
How do the digital recorder stop someone editing the recording in Audacity ?
MrDuncl Good question. The recording files are encrypted. You can’t just open them in Audacity you need to decrypt the files first.
Also you can’t just play them neither. You need to get decryption software that is compatible with the files. I don’t want to give out to much detail on what happens as that could jeopardise my job.
The Techmoan channel continues to be one of the best content producers of ANY genre. As a musician and defacto home recording engineer the obsolete music platforms, analog technologies and rare gizmos TechMoan features are beyond fascinating to me...the editing & presentation has always been good but the angles showing the inside of this unit were so cool. Well done as usual...
@Techmoan: The TI chip appears to be made in the 13th week, 1989 (the date code WCY 8913). It's a microcontroller, so the LJV1 chip is likely just the firmware stored in a ROM chip (hence why it's socketed)
And the "controller" under the front plastic is likely the speech synthesizer chip, to keep the lead run short. The control of the device is likely accomplished by the TMS microcontroller alone (with a slew of discrete 74/4xxx-series logic, of course!!)
There is a smaller chip near the TI controller that is a PCF8200 voice synthesizer. The 7-segment driver has far more pins than are needed for a speech synth.
Makes sense. I didn't see much about it except for being right under the front panel. I was just foolishly assuming a multiplexed display (and thus a smaller 7SD driver), but makes sense that it's not (and thus has a wideDIP chip)
@@userPrehistoricman the ROM chip probably also contains the speech data. www.digchip.com/datasheets/parts/datasheet/1019/PCF8200-pdf.php
if you can fix a skateboard, you can fix a nuclear sub, but not a tape recorder...
I have had a few interviews on these. The voice is called a “chinaman” I was told by a policeman! They are supposed to beep for a few seconds after switching on.
Testing a fuse? Drilling a screw out? That's next level stuff Mr. Techmoan! Congratulations!
That's a rather specialized recorder. Serious capstan pulleys though.
They act as flywheels which help reduce wow and flutter.
15:44 ... "Hello, Scotland Yard? ... Inspector Jobsworth reporting, I think we've finally identified the suspect."
I'd definitely use isopropyl over soap, soap leaves a residue.
I agree. That's what I use.
Glynne Tolar - My argument is the Isopropyl evaporates far too quickly to significantly effect the rubber. It’s what I use, never had an issue. Soap on a pinch roller is just weird!
@@glynnetolar4423 -- Could it have been some official Teac alcohol with blue dye in it? Have always used isopropyl alcohol for this sort of thing, and it usually works well.
@@glynnetolar4423 Exactly. That subject could cause a war over at NAKTALK tape forum 😂 Still, Nakamichi advised isopropyl alcohol for everything on the tape path.
@@ProdigalPorcupine While watching this item in my 'computer room', I just had to turn my head to the left to see a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. I was introduced to it by a friend who had his TV and electronics repair shop in London for decades. So much better than meths or white spirit! It leaves no (visible) residue. I looked up PHI in Falmouth - still in business. My first tape recorder was a Grundig TK5 - in 1956.
I know this video is over a year old now but gosh Techmoan you have become so brilliant at doing these videos since your early youtube days! Great pacing, very good script with interesting tidbits, very clearly spoken in excellent English, and all very well shot and edited as well. I wish you quit your day job and did this full time.
Perfect oppertunity for a puppet sketch. Disapointed, just 4/5 stars for this onen.
Wow, that voice synthesizer is really clean sounding!
I have been recorded by one of those. Not my proudest moment.
And I bet it sounded like, "Me me ME ME me meME mememe..."
Haha, me too. Whoopsie!
It was my proudest
I feel that. Still awaiting court. Its killing me.
When I have a stripped screw like that, with a fully exposed head, I use a rotary tool (IE Dremel) to cut a slot in the top of it with a cutoff wheel, and then I use a slotted screwdriver to remove it. It's worked for me on all sorts of stripped screws in all types of applications from electronics to automotive!
I still have my interview tape from about 20 years ago recorded on one of these very good quality still.
Fun fact if you asked for a copy they had to let you have one.
And no i`m not a hardened criminal i was a teenager caught with a bit of weed :)
You are correct about the label on one side of the tape mine is only labeled on one side.
Quick question about the synthesised time stamp... is it recorded on both tapes in the machine? Presumably it's there to prevent tampering/editing of the tape retrospectively, but it is my understanding that one cassette was retained by the police, the other would be given to the prisoner, so both had a copy. Not that much use to the prisoner if they didn't have the appropriate transcribing machine at home. Then again, I suppose it's still playable.
The standard interview tapes were C90’s giving 45 minutes per tape. The beep was supposed to sound at about 3 minutes before the end to warn the interviewing officer that they were getting towards the end of that tape. I used these things for many years, those portables, especially with the power pack, were very heavy.
Police stations would normally have static machines, some of which would take 3 or even 4 tapes at a time. One tape was always sealed, a big sticky label wrapped around it, and that would be the ‘master’ tape. The seal could only be opened on the order of a judge. The second tape would be the working copy, from which a typed transcription would be prepared. When there were 3 or 4 tapes, one could be given to the defendants solicitor. The machines were, allegedly, very expensive, many hundreds of £’s each.
I'm surprised the RN only got 20 years service out of the HMS Ocean. I thought they'd keep a newly built ship in service for a good 40 years or so. But at least the Brazilian navy will get it now.
20 years is very little for that kind of rather bigger expense. Will make like 100 million £ amortization per year. No wonder, Britain isn't great anymore!
It was built to a commercial standard and used heavily. And the QE and PoW are just round the corner anyways and will be much more capable.
Our Navy is so strapped for cash they'll be bidding soon for the former Titan Uranus.
This probably won't help you date the machine exactly but Lee James Electronics existed from 1981 - 1996. HMS Ocean itself was laid down in 1994 and went into service in 1995 so unless this machine was a second hand model that had found it's way onto the ship or was in storage for several years prior to installation it seems a reasonable guess that it was manufactured in 1993, 94 or 95.
The inside of that deck has some very high quality components-that large blue capacitor for one and the toroidal transformer.All the wiring is very neatly cable tied which is very similar to the inside of my naim audio gear
Maybe those erase heads are there because they were using some off the shelf tape mechanisms that had it... They just figured if they are always used to record to empty tapes, there is no need to connect it to anything.
Love that portable Sony TC. Wish I bought one years ago when no one cared about them and you could pick up a near-mint one for under a couple hundred bucks.
I think the same thing about Sony DAT machines. It's always the same with old tech, haha
As a guy with a thirty plus year career in radio (working for free), I particularly love these videos about things that aren't just mass-produced consumer products, but instead about those not-so-mass-produced things like this. I file it in with things like the cart machines you featured in another video. Behind the scenes with behind the scenes things, if you will. Keep it up!
I've always been surprised when I've toured military ships, how extensive their police offices are. I guess it makes sense with how many people live on them, but it's kind of hard to imagine.
rm2kmidi I guess some officers still like hard discipline backed by law. If every cadet being 1 second late for inspection becomes a matter of formal punishment, the police will be very busy.
There are no police in the Royal Navy, they are called Regulators.
Great video. Oh the memories of working on old cassette decks. It really was nostalgic to watch. For one moment I thought you were actually going to rewind that cassette with a pencil. Brilliant work. Thank you for showing.