Fire alarm tape ‘Cartrette’

[@pubsub9832]

The drill bit may be my favorite of all time. You are truly never lacking Mat!

[@MR0KITTY]

The **drill bit**

[@Colaholiker]

It reminded me of those funny t-shirts that have a drawing of a hammer on them with the text "This is not a drill"

[@PrinceAlhorian]

@@MR0KITTY Metric or Imperial 🤣

[@ChishanFipz]

"I left my drill .... on blueberry hill.... "

[@katho8472]

I was hoping the tape also had "This is NOT a drill!" on it, so we could have seen that Muppet rendition too :D

[@grayholiday]

I know puppets aren't appropriate for EVERY video, but thank you so much for including them this time.

[@solarbirdyz]

THIS. is a drill! THIS. is a drill! :D

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

Thanks for mentioning it, because I was looking away from the screen during that segment and completely missed it.

[@willibald.cornfed]

and they provided valuable visual aid to understand what the recording was referring to. much needed and appreciated 😀

[@button-puncher]

Yeah! LOL'd every time.

[@derpinbird1180]

I like the puppets, they're fun

[@ltsradio]

Congrats on being the proud owner of two Simplex 2001-6046 tape players. These were used in the 2001, 2100, and early 2120 series fire alarm control panels They were later replaced by a digital version that was a plug and play replacement for the cassette version you have now. To power up the player use pins P1-15 (+24) and P1-13 (0v) The audio will play on the internal speaker if the test switch is selected to the test position. If in the normal position, the audio will output on pin P1-7(350mv ac) and Pin P1-1 (0v) P.S> The newer digital version had the exact same messages as well. Let me know if you want the full pinout to remote control the units by the 16 pin P1 connector. Simplex Tech since Aug 1982.

[@andrewpenfold6165]

I was wondering why a) there is no obvious on/off position for the 3 switches. If this was sold in Britain you might expect that down=on, but as it was for the USA I guess that up=on. But also b) why have 2 switches for the messages meaning you could leave it configured to play both simultaneously or to play neither message, just silence!

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

"This is a drill" made my whole day.

[@RaccoonHenry]

it may be the highlight of all 2024 for me

[@karlramberg]

Yay, puppets

[@MillerWissen]

Muppets in the video instantly makes it a classic

[@PaulFisher]

always good to see the puppets back!

[@boz465]

same here :)

[@Gappasaurus]

Was really hoping the actual emergency announcement would say “This is NOT a drill”, and was looking forward to all the things the puppet would point to as NOT being drills 😆

[@BazilYat]

Saaaame

[@PendragonDaGreat]

Usually you avoid having both halves of an announcement say "drill" to reduce confusion. If the drill version says "this is a drill" the actual emergency version should _not_ say "This is not a drill" because you're also going to be contending with all the other sounds up to an including alarms, possibly shouting people, etc. if someone just hears "drill" and they've been hearing it monthly ever since they started working there's a chance they'll assume that it is a drill and act according to that assumption. On the flip side if you don't use "Drill" in your monthly tests adding in a "This is not a drill" again alerts people that this is _different than normal_. Especially since you hope to never hear the "actual emergency version"

[@macgybel7951]

Best recording of a cordless drill ever!

[@scurvydavescrusade3845]

As a fire alarm service technician, inspector and simplex certificate holder, I have yet to see one of these in the wild. So fascinating to see old tech like this. Another great video sir!

[@ArgaTheRexouium]

Simplex 2120 voice evac these are from

[@BillAnt]

Just a note about the tape cushion he mentioned in the video not disintegrating, it's made of a felt material which can last a very long time unlike plastic sponges.

[@superstar64]

I'm guessing these days they're just programmed into ROM

[@BillAnt]

​@@superstar64 - Either on on-board flash or a removable SDcard.

[@superstar64]

@@BillAnt That's better actually since it's writeable memory so you can change the messages.

[@bobblum5973]

I caught the need to disconnect the original tape head before you hooked up the new one, but then I've worked in electronics from before those units were new. The add-on tape head signal was trying to drive the existing head, not enough current output to do it. I worked a tiny bit with Simplex gear back in the late 80s at work. A master clock signal would drive our wall clocks with an impulse to step the hands to the next minute, no constant motion motor drive involved. It also drove the badge readers for employees clocking in and out, everything matched to the same time that way. For our manufacturing computers we needed to sync to "company standard time", so we were able to buy a Simplex module that would display the date and time when queried with "dd" and "dt" commands over an RS-232 serial comm port. A bit of coding and we had our systems synced to the master clock! Thanks for including the -Muppets- puppets in the bit about the drill ("drill bit"? 😄), it adds to the enjoyment of the entire video. 🙂👍

[@ColdWarAviator]

RS-232 Port! I haven't heard those words since I got rid of my old IBM XT clone computer 😊 Two 5 1/4 floppies and a green screen monitor... Those were the days. Last thing I actually used the port for was a smart card programmer that was designed to "modify" the code on certain satellite TV decoding box smart cards. Not that there was anything wrong with the code... But you know: just modifying it as one does... 😉

[@snaredude56]

Yep. Caught that too. I bet it would have worked fine if he had disconnected the units head.

[@rashira9610]

THIS! I didn't think it might cause a playback problem but as a low level tinkerer (not really a hobbyist or even particularly knowledgeable) I raised an eyebrow at the choice to just tack the wires on with the original ones instead of temporarily swapping them.

[@antoniosagamuccio7370]

@@ColdWarAviator You got me thinking about my 8088 clone. Blindingly fast at 6MHz. So much so, they had to put a "Turbo" switch on the front to slow it down to 4MHz for the software that couldn't handle the speed. Had the prerequisite twin 5 and a quarter drives too. My monitor was selectable tri-color, it had amber, green, or white. I also had a Bernoulli deck with two 10 inch 10 MB drives and an external 10 MB hard drive. Used it for CADD work, writing code for PLCs and project documentation. Used Parallel for dot-matrix, COM for plotters, DH485 for industrial networks, and SCSI for external storage. We switched from Token-ring to Thin-net for engineering office computers when Win 3.11 came out.

[@BillAnt]

OMG I was shouting at the video when he soldered the tape head onto the existing one "Nooooo!! Nooo!! Nooo!!" . lol

[@Alan_Mac]

Weird format, bit of DIY jiggerypokery, muppets and a big dad joke? Top Techmoan in other words.

[@R2k2]

All was right, it is right up on Matt's street! 👍

[@edwardlariviere9710]

this is a drill

[@FourtyFiftyEighty]

That tape player is very cool and very rare as it was only made for a short amount of time before being replaced with a digital model. For anyone curious this is as a modular card addition for a Simplex 2001 fire alarm panel. The card was responsible for playing any desired pre recorded messages. It was very advanced for its time and could play different messages on different speaker circuits. For example in a high rise application, one floor could be saying to evacuate and another could just say to standby. This system was extremely customizable due to its card based design and could do anything from small fire alarm systems to massive high rise voice fire alarm systems. You are correct about the test switch on the unit. I was actually able to test a still active simplex 2001 fire alarm system although it uses horns rather than speakers. Here’s a video link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnqup5ewn8mXirssi=c3Fqg9xcOlvs13gW

[@dashcamandy2242]

Simplex also offered a module with external corded microphone so further instructions could be given in real time. I'm sure you already knew this, but I'm adding to your comment for those unfamiliar with Simplex panels. My father installed quite a few 2001s back in the 80s, I was always impressed with how modular these panels were. It seems there were some real forward-thinkers in their Engineering department, the panels were customizable to each client's needs, and were fairly easy to expand as needs changed (whether that be an addition to the building, or a change in local fire codes). I'd love to find a cheap, functioning 2001 to hook up in my garage/man cave Just Because. I've got everything I need BUT the control panel. 😁

[@FourtyFiftyEighty]

⁠​⁠@@dashcamandy2242thats super cool that your dad worked for simplex back then! The company I work for actually still services and inspects a 2001 that has speakers as well as the remote microphone, however it doesn’t have this message player so it only whoops. I sadly couldn’t be there during the inspection this year to get footage. Hopefully next summer I can

[@parker02311]

@@FourtyFiftyEighty local building where I live has a 2001 that was turned off completely and no other fire protection, multiple pull stations pulled. I haven't been by in a while, still wonder if its there, would love to get my hands on one.

[@thedrwatson4363]

would it be the building's normal loudspeakers or would there be a speaker/strobe?

[@FourtyFiftyEighty]

@@thedrwatson4363 it could technically be both but most commonly speaker signals were used with some sort of visual indicator

[@sausage5849]

Cool to see the Mattpets make an appearance again!

[@PeterEdin]

Don't know why the puppets disappeared, I miss them.

[@throningermine8]

​​@@PeterEdin Three words: Made For Kids. Would you trust the AI bot KZbin uses to comply with COPPA not to think your puppet skits are child-oriented - resulting in targeted advertising, comments, the mini player, and the option to save to a playlist being turned off - when it flagged Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, South Park, and The Angry Video Game Nerd?

[@PeterEdin]

@@throningermine8 I remember the slogan "KZbin, TV you control", now it TV they control. It's like Flickr, both a shadow of it's former self, not as good as it used to be.

[@unduloid]

Can't say I ever really cared for them, to be honest.

[@PeterEdin]

You could tell that Matt was struggling with the voices at times.

[@Lumibear.]

Just when you think you’ve seen every dead format, Techmoan willl show you another. How neat is that cassette tape? Purely practical pragmatism personified.

[@Lumibear.]

@@TD75 it’s a theory! But it felt like a design that could’ve caught on, in different days.

[@Kalvinjj]

@@TD75 A very valid hypothesis, since just using any other readily available endless loop system would cut a lot of engineering time, but would incur in licensing fees instead. Cheaper to bring to market but more expensive to produce and sell, so it seems they opted to go the other way instead.

[@ian_b]

This past didn't exist until the Universe reconfigured itself to produce more weird ancient tape formats for Techmoan.

[@Lumibear.]

​@@ian_b of course that makes perfect sense! ;)

[@tsm688]

@@TD75 Patents are responsible for so much stupidity.

[@urielbourque]

20:45 What you've just done is going to be very well appreciated by many fire alarm enthusiasts (yes, that is a thing). If you ever have the time, I think lots of people would appreciate lossless recordings of those messages for hobby fire systems or archival purposes.

[@segamon]

Rep. Jamaal Bowman would probably appreciate it.👍

[@meechmushrooms]

​@segamon I hate that I understood this reference. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@Techmoan]

I’ve added a download link in the video description.

[@urielbourque]

@@Techmoan Awesome, many thanks!

[@urielbourque]

@@segamon just looked this up, wtf

[@jrnerdmann2098]

I see you have the proper official manual cassette rewinding system. The Bic Cristal ball point pen. 😂😂😂

[@100SteveB]

I was so relieved when i realised it was from the US. I say that because one of my first jobs after leaving school here in the UK was working for a company that supplied security equipment to the trade. And one of my least favourite parts of that job was me recording messages onto tape - we used 8 track tapes over here. The tapes were used in auto-diallers which were used with fire and burglar alarm systems.I must have recorded hundreds of them. This was back in the 80's, just before alarm monitoring companies became more popular for security alarm companies. So the tapes i recorded dialled the emergency services direct. The same tape could then also dial private numbers as needed - to let keyholders know of a problem etc. We supplied equipment to the trade nationwide, so my voice would have been heard by 999 operators all over the country whenever one of these auto-diallers was triggered. That was nearly 40 years ago now, so hopefully none survive now!

[@paulstubbs7678]

Now that is different, I wonder if anything I worked on is out there, where you hope it isn't!

[@DeadKoby]

I set up VoIP phone systems........... If you call businesses in my region, my announcement that "your call will be answered in the order it was received" is still all over the place.

[@paul_boddie]

So you're legitimate "voice talent", then? A career in advertising and video games surely awaited.

[@100SteveB]

@@paul_boddie lol, far from it, i would cringe if I heard one of those tapes again.

[@bahamutbbob]

Next time on Techmoan:

[@thespazdragon]

Seeing a puppet return made my heart smile. Wonderful video as always, thank you.

[@garrylawless3550]

I also loved the 'This is a drill' sketch. You have incredible patience, and I always admire your skills, I've started doing a lot of things since I started watching your channel, bought 70's hi-fi separates, and started servicing cassette decks, all thanks to you. 👍🏻🙂

[@vibingwithvinyl]

0:13 Call me Al. Thanks.

[@dakotadirden9834]

Did you donate these?

[@kassemir]

Honestly, just glad to see the puppets again. I get that most people didn't like the skits, but I always liked them :)

[@timfischer]

"Most people"?? I liked them, and I didn't comment to say I liked them. I bet many more people were the same. And I bet a lot higher percentage of people who hated them commented than those who simply liked them. They were always at the end of the video and easily skipped if you didn't like them.

[@kloudykatt]

Fun fact, those messages are STILL used today in new Simplex fire alarm systems (with what's called voice evacuation) and those might have been some of the highest quality recordings I have personally heard. Today, they are played back on flash memory as tapes are a little old to be used in a new building.

[@v12alpine]

Was awaken by this recording in a relatively modern (90's maybe?) hotel room. The recording was very scratchy and had a creepy vibe.

[@rusefoxghost]

Yep! I'm fairly certain these were used for a Simplex 2001 panel, and were re-recorded later on for the 4001 series, different speaker but same wording. That's the one used to this day!

[@ironmatic1]

Yeah I'm used to this recording sounding absolutely crap

[@Nintendo_Freak8x]

You dig the most curious technology out of the swamp of oblivion. That's what I like so much about your channel.

[@atrainradio929]

Only can Techmoan combine puppets and obscure tape systems so wonderfully. Thank you so much for this channel, seriously!

[@pogostix6097]

"This is a drill" gave me a good chuckle. I do actually, for reasons that are fairly stupid, own 3 power drills, so I could do a different drill for each bit lol

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it would have been hilarious if the Mattpets had a different drill for each

[@JohnKiniston]

Love the puppets, your skill at repairs has come so far in the years u have watched you.

[@BurleyBoar]

Your pronunciation of Oregon was perfect. Thank you. Also love your humor and puppets along with your earnest love of what you show. Again, thank you.

[@MrBeep2010]

It's honestly fantastic to see your puppets back, missed them!

[@mekaHX]

A simplex 2120 and 2001 audio controller! Awesome acquisition, the control panels those audio units attached to were a big deal back then.

[@al81007]

I worked for Simplex around that time and the company had a habit of signing exclusive deals with suppliers. If Simplex didn't buy enough, suppliers would go belly up. Those units were replaced with standard cassette play mechanisms over time. I was in the sales department, so not familiar with operation of the equipment (back then very compartmentalized operations). Nicely done

[@mekaHX]

@@al81007 awesome to see other people who've also worked in simplex seeing this video. While I might've not been around when those panels were in their hay day I've learned quite a bit about them when I can because I absolutely love the older equipment and can honestly say, very impressive systems for their time and they offered quite a bit. Entirely custom programs, onboard printer for hardcopy records, ability to have a terminal connect to it via an RS232 port and the later ones offering full graphics support to show the location of an alarmed device in a facility, networkability to other panels in a building and/or campus, integration with building automation equipment and quite a few other things as well, Definitely a goal of mine to get a hold of one someday lol. glad they swapped over to more standard cassettes instead of keeping with those ones.

[@ltsradio]

You forgot the 2100 multiplex You know, the fire alarm CPU running a Motorola 6800 at 900 khz clock speed and the transponders at 300 baud.

[@mekaHX]

@@ltsradio completely forgot about 2100, thank you for mentioning it. That was another neat system of the time

[@cmeier]

The puppet drill bit was so funny. Yeah to using the puppet again. Great video.

[@Sonnell]

Loved the "drill bit"! You know, bit... :) A small advice: When dealing with tape, always use non magnetic screwdrivers.

[@MrButtonpresser]

Techmoan battles with the obscure audio formats so we don't need to. Great work.

[@CR4MPRODUCTIONS]

The alarm announcement was used in my college dorm. When the alarm was triggered, it would start with the classic 3 chirps and flashes, then play the announcement, then chirp another 5 times, then play again, and chirp the remaining times. Not sure if the system was tape driven with this device, but I'd imagine so being built in the 60s.

[@Thing95]

its most likely from the 90s as that is when voice evac systems got popular and when code 3 was made the standard.

[@cornsyruptrucker]

Sounds way less annoying that the fire alarms we had in school in the 00s and 90s

[@ax14pz107]

​@@cornsyruptruckeryeah which makes it easy to ignore.

[@trevorhaddox6884]

The alarm system in my high school built in the 70s was just AC powered electromechanical buzzers in red square boxes. They didn't pulse or anything, just a steady low tone. And they had the brilliant idea to put sounders by the doors, so when you left you got a blast right in your ear. My middle school was actually more modern, with the xenon lights and talking alarm. It didn't beep, just shouted at you the attention alert and told you to get to the stairs and avoid the elevator.

[@rusefoxghost]

Older Simplex panels, if I'm remembering correctly, were programmed to play the message 3 times before returning to the alarm tone. Sounds like that's what was happening!

[@monotonehell]

Was screaming at my screen - you should not hook the heads up in parallel! lol Also I like your shirt.

[@Techmoan]

Yep 15:33

[@nhand42]

The most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, informational, KZbin Show

[@misterx420]

14:00 - I repaired countless tapes back in the day without the aid of a tape splicing kit and they all still work fine today. In fact, I've never used one. A tape splicing kit isn't necessary. You just have to be careful. Cheers Mat!

[@johnhunter4770]

Im so glad to see one of the puppets back. I really miss those closing sketches

[@angusmclaren6257]

I love seeing unusual recording/playback devices and storage

[@alexandersalarms5380]

The autocall CD-NA and many other 1970s- 1980s fire alarm voice evacuation systems, used tape decks too, that looked either like this or worked similarly. Mirtone ones, straight up just had a tape player in them built in! this old history is incredible and should be preserved.

[@user-Calebculwell]

The gamewell flexalert used a tape too

[@alexandersalarms5380]

@@user-Calebculwell as did any 70s and 80s voice evacuation system

[@johnlewan1114]

Nice of them to create that tape format just so we know what a drill is. You and your puppets always make my day, thanks Matt!

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Matt I never tire of your videos. This was truly a product/format lost to time that you are able to archive. Thanks for everything you do. This would be as close to a perfect techmoan video there is. An odd tape format, a successful rebuild, recordings on the odd format and of course puppets

[@jinky0u812]

As always, a complete joy to watch! Thanks Al for sending these to Matt!

[@chrislehmier]

When a micro cassette and a floppy disk love each other very much...

[@rogerlundstrom6926]

I can hear the salespitch now.. "... and in case of a fire, this tape.. will melt... "

[@brokeandtired]

Its more of an automated way to direct people to exits in advent of fire. No staff need risk their lives getting to the announcer room. In the days before digital, this would be a good way to do that.

[@demcomp]

".... This message shall self destruct"

[@FisherMan-bh9dn]

​@@brokeandtired I do believe Roger was joking.

[@thetechsavvy01]

​@@demcomp😂😂

[@HiddenWindshield]

"If you can hear this message, the fire has not yet reached the equipment closet."

[@gilmour73]

The long awaited return of the Techmoan Muppet Revue!

[@NiddNetworks]

What a weird twisted little cassette cartridge! And an awesome 20 min video on the format and content. The "This is a drill" part of the announcement almost sounded British English to my ear... Then the rest was definitely US English. Can't start my weekends without Techmoan! Cheers, Mat.

[@siacadp]

Very similar to the announcements at my work office. Although being British it's a bit politer saying "Attention please" and calls them lifts instead of elevators.

[@Ericstrains]

Up with insomnia, which stinks, but it's better when a new Techmoan video gets posted. Thank you!

[@cebruthius]

Ever had a sleep study done? My insomnia was caused by UARS. I can finally sleep now.

[@phillipmarnik]

One positive, only three more sleeps to Christmas?

[@turokforever007]

I didn't really sleep for around 15 years. i would manage to get 2 or 3 hours every few days if i was lucky

[@AlbySilly]

Hope you don't feel too tired tomorrow

[@KearSki]

Oh hey, curious to see you here! Love the reviews, but I hope ya got some sleep at the very least!

[@TuesdayOra]

Fun fact, there is actually a digital version of this! These would’ve gone with the “voice evacuation” system on a Simplex 2001, 2100, or 2120. They’re usually paired with tone generators that produced a repeating 3-5 second whooping tone. The other version of this uses a ROM chip to store the messages as far as I know, which is what one other person has in a complete system. The same message format is still being used today, although they have since changed voice actors twice from when that was made.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

was this implemented in the 90s? i recall my high school having a similar system when it opened in 1996

[@TuesdayOra]

@@bostonrailfan2427 These were implemented sometime in the early 1980s when these systems first released. Yours probably had a 4100 plus, which used ROM chips to store the voice alarm

[@calebbell5018]

Glad Matt is getting a few ideas for Puppet involvement again :) it's good for a laugh!

[@hobpie]

One of your most enjoyable "personal journey" videos!

[@terrynutlob4073]

That was great. To hear those announcements was true history. I love this channel for that reason, plus you're a fabulous presenter and make old tech projects fascinating.

[@jonleonard1555]

I appreciate the "disassembly music track". 4:03 and 9:34. Well chosen.

[@zsoltike]

Can you tell the title? I've been listening to it again-again, seems familiar, but I can't recognise it:))

[@jonleonard1555]

@@zsoltike Techmoan finally responded to my question. Unfortunately, he just said that it's something he found on an old tape.

[@demcomp]

Mat, when I heard "This is a drill"... I wasn't looking at the screen And I thought.. "he'd better be showing a drill..." I was so happy to see you never disappoint! Hats off to you! Enjoy your weekend

[@joelachiana9912]

Good episode! When you think we've seen all the cassettes here's another.

[@danhorton6182]

Hello from Salem, Oregon! About an hour south of Portland. Thank you for pronouncing Oregon correctly!

[@voltare2amstereo]

waited for a "this is not a drill" with a hammer or something but it wasnt to be

[@artempriadko6974]

As always, you are the real gem on KZbin, Techmoan

[@davidblankenship7985]

Looks like Techmoan only has one drill. Don't buy a second! They breed! I have 5 or 6 and only remember buying 2

[@kappaskurlass1301]

Tool ‘acquisitions’ I guess 😂

[@rambo1152]

Remember the days when you bought a cordless drill for £100 and they gave you a free battery and charger? Now it seems they want £100 for the battery and charger and you get the drill free, and they (Ryobi) think that's clever marketing.

[@oliverw.douglas285]

Good show Mat. Demonstrating that old Simplex Announcement System was actually very interesting. My kids caught the part with "This is a Drill", & loved it. Very cheeky my daughter says. :) The voice on the tape reminds me of a friend's car in the early 1980s, that would say in a very robotic voice, "The door is ajar". His little sister would often say back to it, "No silly, it's a door!" :p. Good Memories. Thanks.

[@tylaranderson8559]

Great video, especially the " this is a drill" part

[@WorldCupWillie]

It's Saturday morning and I'm having a rare lay in. The wife and kids are all out doing various activities and for once, my chauffeur services weren't needed. And to top it off, Techmoan has uploaded a new video. 👍

[@LorenzoLeonardini]

the drill bit (pun intended) cracked me up

[@Kylefassbinderful]

I’ve been watching Techmoan videos (2013 I believe) for years and one of the things that I love and respect is how you explain everything. An example would be when you explained why you weren’t going to use a cassette splicing kit. I personally wasn’t going to ask that, but there’s definitely some viewers out there that would and you had that covered. All in all, your content is very thorough and I have always appreciated that. And to this day, my favorite video is the one where you restored that Sony flamingo, standup record player back to working order. I’ve gotten a lot of people to subscribe to your videos solely based off of that video. Thanks for always making great content.

[@ServantOfBoron]

Great video! These machines should be donated to "This museum is not obsolete", as they would make a fine addition there :) P.S. Love the new puppet :D

[@colepdx187]

Interesting little piece of equipment and cartridge format. From Portland to the UK and back to Portland. Thank you Techmoan and thank you Al.

[@rexthewarhorse]

I come here for the tech and stay for the wonderful humor 😅 This is a drill...

[@hughmnyks]

You are clever, Matt! And the your patience and modesty put most of the rest of us to shame! Thank-you!!

[@mattrobinson973]

I was concerned that the ambitious plan at the start was going to work perfectly there for a minute. Mat’s frustration is always to our benefit!

[@neilcaldwell870]

OMG - The puppets are back! Well today just got a whole load better already. Thanks Matt.

[@hfric]

🤣🤣😂😂 16:28 don't ever stop using those puppets man ... 🤣

[@KdrVrseFS]

As a fire alarm enthusiast (yes we exist) I have to say seeing this old Simplex system is awesome, I applaud your efforts into get the tapes wound in a new cassette. Thank you for sharing this techmoan

[@MaxStax1]

I would have liked to have heard "Run for your Lives!!" "Every man for Himself!"

[@DerekLippold]

Nah, when I was in college the fire alarm often went off (drills or whatever) and it was “Please evacuate the building” or something but it was pretty chill and quiet (especially for a fire alarm) so it’s good there wasn’t ever the fire. Also, the dorm wasn’t even up to fire code.

[@hurricane567]

Denethor, Steward of Gondor?

[@nvrndingsmmr]

What an adventure! That was quite a bit of work! Thank you for not giving up and for going to such lengths to show us what was on those tapes, loved the bit with the puppet as well! As always, thank you for your hard work!

[@richardhalliday6469]

Yet another lost format - great stuff Matt.

[@chrisshipman6253]

Very impressed by the electronic hacking. OK, it didn't quite work out on this occasion, but you were very close. Please don't be discouraged from trying this sort of thing in the future: experience is everything in these situations, and you only get it one way! A particularly good video.

[@someonebald2022]

Yet another addition to the "Unusual Tape Formats" collection. Good to see the puppets back, too. 🙃

[@mark-andrews]

I really enjoyed this video, thanks, each item of detail made the subject more and more fascinating, in my opinion.

[@edrose5045]

I suspect that leaving the other play head connected was destroying the signal. Either that or the older tape head was broken. Either way, well done recovering the original audio!

[@Techmoan]

Yep 15:33

[@edrose5045]

I didn't notice the speech bubble, sorry to repeat what you already knew!

[@flyingo]

I can’t explain why, but this kind of twiddling with devices has been a driving force for my hobbies, and career in television, since the early 1960s. So enjoyable to watch you adapt as needed to achieve the goal! I do like your variable voltage power supply kit gear. I’d love to get gear like that for my twiddling with various photographic gear. Thanks for sharing this!

[@GunnarMiller]

I really enjoyed this! I'm a bit surprised the DC motor voltage wasn't marked/labeled. One thing that you could've used for an initial trial was one of those cassette-to-aux adaptors; that way you could've kept that cheap-but-cheerful cassette player intact.

[@matthewgragg2152]

Happy to see a puppet on here again. Love the bit.

[@mjouwbuis]

Staar in Belgium held a lot of tape related patents. Might be worth some research.

[@adamstan84]

If I'm not mistaken, they were also co-credited for Compact Cassette together with Philips.

[@johnstump2433]

That was totally cool and I appreciate you putting the time into that Mat so we can hear what was recorded on that. I recently retired as a maintenance engineer (50+ years) for a hospital which I would have to make the fire alarm announcements personally over the PA monthly fire alarm testing as well as for our state and federal life and safety inspections and I found this a very interesting. Thanks again for putting all the time and effort in to it, I felt it was well worth it to hear the outcome ..

[@herbiehusker1889]

This is a drill...this is a drill. No flippin' heck, i thought it was a hammer.

[@mrnmrn1]

You were correct, everything can be used as a hammer.

[@ronpat13]

Hi Mat, it is Sunday morning here in Canada's captial and I've just finished watching your video. Thank you, I really enjoy your explorations of obscure technolgoies. This one was brilliant! I loved the visual pun with the puppet. Well done and informative. Cheers.

[@umbrellacorp.]

16:28 Now social media people can't say they don't know what a Drill is.😂👍💯

[@EASsirenVids01]

I bet these old simplex cards are VERY rare! So many fire alarm enthusiasts would love to get their hands on them! And also THANK YOU for recovering these messages!! The fire alarm community has wanted this for YEARS!

[@TheObserver3]

This is a drill, this is a drill, this is a drill 😂

[@bostonrailfan2427]

i thought it was a saw 😳

[@draygosmith]

Good to see these obscure formats get documented! And it's fascinating to me to hear the kind of announcements that people from back in the day would have heard preserved as well, instead of being lost to time.

[@PJD_55]

Matt’s opening comment made me smile, everything he shows is unusual 😂.

[@michaeldeloatch7461]

Right? I was thinking, well you can knock me over with a feather...

[@michaeldeloatch7461]

@ 5:30 -- OK, right now there are about 6 or 7 indie bands out there somewhere scratching their heads and saying -- "hey let's release our next album on cartrette!"

[@Jamato-sUn]

Yes, yess! My thirst for obscure tech will be satiated for one more day!

[@grfeld84]

Happy to see the puppets put in an appearance! That excerpt was wicked funny!

[@SGFireSystems]

The fire alarm community will have a field day with this video

[@NLind]

Yep we are! Starting to make the rounds.

[@Techmoan]

I’ve added a download link in the video description.

[@museum1401]

Great job with the transfer - they sound really good. I love the sound of old analog voice recordings like this.

[@peterofenback9263]

It's fascinating that you're still finding more exotic sound media formats. I wonder, though, why the manufacturers thought this variety of formats was necessary.

[@KaitouKaiju]

Proprietary bullshit Very occasionally the use case will be so niche that it does require a new solution

[@MRoth93]

Loving this one! So much tinkering.

[@ThinkDifferentlier]

It’s time for the Bang&Olufsen cassette deck.

[@rickcampbell296]

Love the puppet thats awesome! Great video.

[@Choralone422]

The puppets slayed me! This is a drill! This is a drill!

[@Redneckriveiera]

The fact that I’ve been watching you for 5+ years and you’ve gotten so good at troubleshooting is very impressive