Baird on wax

[Viewmaster]

Baird did experiment recording onto wax cylinders, although he used the bigger concert cylinder, rather that the standard smaller Edison cylinder.

The big concert cylinder would have given him faster recording wax speeds and the machine you see here seems to be a standard Edison machine running at only concert speed. (I am running standard cylinders very fast on my Edikow)

I can find no evidence that Edison attempted any pictures onto wax though.

I can find no evidence either if Baird was successful on a concert cyl as he went over to Phonovision on disc very soon.

Note the valve amplifier(?) on LH side.
Albert

[Stephen]

Very interesting, Albert. Where did you find this photograph? It looks like Mr Baird has a very interesting electrical hill-and-dale recording head attachment. I wonder if Mr Baird was also a pioneer in electrical recording.

[Viewmaster]

Very interesting, Albert. Where did you find this photograph? It looks like Mr Baird has a very interesting electrical hill-and-dale recording head attachment. I wonder if Mr Baird was also a pioneer in electrical recording.

Stephen, the photo taken from book, "John Logie Baird, A Pictorial Record of Early Television Development, 1924-1938." All photos in this book were recovered from the Plessey Co., in 1989, by Dr Graham Winbolt.

This particular photo is dated 1927 so Baird must have gone to disc
Phonovision immediately after this cylinder experiment.
Probably realizing that disc was easier to sync (there is no sign of any sync gear in this photo)and higher recording speeds too on disc..

Looking at the photo I have, it looks to be as though the cutter head was made from a headphone, the diaphram probably driving the hill/dale stylus. I can just make out the 2 terminals at the back of the headphone and probably its moulded front screwed face. That would be the most obvious first way to attempt to record hill/dale onto wax.

Albert.

added...The curved arm looks to be the original Edison swinging arm pivoted at the back bearing bar (as per usual Edison machines), and which would have carried the original Edison reproducer which Baird has removed, of course.[/i]