Tron Tech Phonemate 400s Answering Machine

The first consumer answering machine. The messages are stored on the reel to reel & the outgoing message is stored on the endless loop tape at the bottom. I actually hooked this up to our phone line & it works pretty good, The reel to reel doesn't use a pinch roller so the quality is not the best but acceptable for voice messages, But if you notice the outgoing has to use a pinch roller. I didn't leave this on our phone because messages are limited to 30 seconds & the caller doesn't know when the machine has stopped recording. I had to remove the battery compartment, It was covered badly in corrosion with the old batteries still in the unit, Luckily it's an off the shelf D cell battery compartment like you can buy at Radio Shack, I was running it from an ac adaptor.

DOWNLOAD: You can download this video in DVD Quality in multi part rar format here:

Tron Tech Answering Machine.part1.rar (95.78 MB)
http://www.mediafire.com/?wn8mxzbkxys

Tron Tech Answering Machine.part2.rar (95.78 MB)
http://www.mediafire.com/?eryxm0ybkbx

Tron Tech Answering Machine.part3.rar (56.77 MB)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ze9gedzwecj

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Tron
• Tech
• Phonemate
• reel
• answering
• machine

[SgtHavoc1]

i just found one in my closet how much do you think it is worth?

[catnip20]

I paid about $40 for this one on eBay, When I was a kid I had one I picked up for $3 at a Ham Fest but I took it apart, That's why I got this one cause I wanted one to keep.

[catnip20]

Something really interesting is that this runs on batteries only, They did not have an adapter jack.

[wilkes85]

Awesome. How old is this unit?

[catnip20]

This is all I have been able to find on the internet. "In 1968 a garage-based operation named TronTech would create an electronic answering machine that used reel-to-reel tape. In May of 1971 they changed their name to PhoneMate, Inc. and marketed the first commercial answering machine."

[CassetteMaster]

Interesting "ting" sound after the outgoing message sensing foil is detected.

[catnip20]

No foil, If you look closely there is a metal lever that rides on top of the tape "near the heads", The tape leader is half the size of the magnetic portion so when the leader comes by the switch drops & turns off the motor. Interesting design.

[phantom3rdchannel]

@ddddeeew these didnt have an ac cord they ran off of batteries

[ddddeeew]

Does anyone know how the AC power cord works...is there some kind of an adapter so that you can plug it into a standard two or three prong socket?

[alphawolf1974]

I used to work on PhoneMate Products for 5 years, until Casio took over and closed the operation down.. I still have some schematic diagrams of the models..

[FrancosTheMan]

I have a Phone-Mate 100... I have no idea how it can be tested...

Does anyone know how much it's worth?

[Lachlant1984]

I know that some answering machines have Battery backups, but sadly my Panasonic Cordless phone/answering machine does not. I was once given an ATD Phonewatch 1800 that had a space for a 9 Volt battery, I tested the unit with a battery, because I didn't have an AC Adaptor for the unit.

[ablestmage]

I've got one of these right here, thanks for putting up the video! I was considering making my own ^_^

[clydesight]

I've seen units like this some time ago. I can see it has a crystal mic too, in keeping with the rim drive quality tape recorder. Did Arvin make a machine like this? I can't remember where I saw it before, but the appearance definitely rings a bell (or should I say "tone"?)

Endless loop tape can be replaced??? That's an interesting twist! Too bad it wasn't a cartridge like that used in the "Pocket Rockers" That would have been fun!

Thanks for the vid on this old machine.