The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I finally got around to making a video of my Edison "H", a month later than intended. Not very professional but it gives some idea of how it works.

http://youtu.be/agq2e_eEMGM

Amazing machine, great video. Thanks for sharing.
Andreas

Nicely done. It's the first time I've ever seen one of those actually working. Now I know why. I did not realize they were so temperamental.

Very nice video of a rare machine in a picturesque setting.

Is a contemporary real photo known?

Very nice, Rene. I've never seen one of these actually working either. Thanks for posting!

George P.

Rene,
Thank you for taking the time to put the video together to share with us all. It's a very interesting machine!

Steve

Thanks, all. Before I got this one I had never seen one in operation either. Dave Heitz had one in his massive collection, and he was a very skilled mechanic/restorer. But even he couldn't keep the H running reliably. Every time I visited it was out of order.

When I was making the video, the first take didn't work -- the carriage dropped off the lift rod, as it sometimes chooses to do. It truly is a finicky mechanism. To make things worse, most of the coin mechanism is not accessible unless you remove the entire motor assembly from the cabinet and mount it to a work stand where the rear of the motor can be accessed. Reinstalling it is tricky because it's an awkward fit, and you have to take extreme care to avoid having the lower part of the coin chute hit the edge of the opening in the cabinet or that can knock it out of sync again.

I'd love to see a contemporary photograph of one. I've only seen engravings.

EDIT to add: I don't want to put this on Youtube, but here's a short clip showing it malfunctioning. This is just one of many problems it sporadically has, despite very meticulous adjustment to the exact specifications detailed in the original book "The Phonograph and How to Use It."

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... akdown.mp4

Rene,
That was fascinating. You sure have a prize machine. Thank you for sharing.
Harvey Kravitz

You should have kept your N coin-op - it (still) works perfectly!

Great video and very informative.