[AV Media Matters] Wire Recorder

[bbwms@umit.maine.edu]

Hello,

I am the audio preservationist at the Northeast Archive of Folklore and
Oral History at the University of Maine in Orono.

We have an old wire recorder built into a cabinet combined with a radio
and turntable yclept the AIR KING 4700 built by the Hazletine Corp. of
Brooklyn, NY, using RCA patents.  The unit lists itself at 117 volts,
60 cycles, 95 watts.

The wire recorder reproduces good quality sound with a bit of a warble.
The wire rewind seems to tire easily, stopping after a few moments.
The lines in and out from the wire recorder are hard wired into the AIR
KING 4700's amplifier, with its seven big vacuum tubes.

I have several questions for the Listserve:

1) Can you recommend procedures and precautions in reawakening such a
machine after its long hibernation?

2) What would be the best means of creating a line out from the AIR
KING into the Northeast Archive's analog and digital system?

3) Is there any reason not to remove the wire recorder from this large
cabinet that does little more than hold a ten inch speaker in place?

Thank you,
Bruce B. Williams
Preservation Specialist
Northeast Archive of Folklore and Oral History
University of Maine, Orono