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The Minifon P 55 was a minature wire recorder developed and built by
Protona GmbH in Germany. As the name suggests, it was
introduced in 1955 as the successor to the Mi-51.
Like the Mi-51, it was valve-based and recorded sound on a very thin wire.
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The image on the right shows the controls of the P-55. The machine is completely
different from its predecessor, the Mi-51, but it includes
all experiences and feedback gained from the Mi-51. Without the Mi-51, the
P-55 could not have existed.
All controls are at one end of the machine and so are the
connections for microphone, headphones and power supply unit (PSU).
A 3-pin socket on the left is used for connection of the PSU. The socket on the
right is used for both the microphone and the headphones.
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The P-55 came five years after the first Minifon Mi-51, after the company
went through some bad weather and customers didn't expect much anymore.
The P-55 was presented to a small selected audience, just a day before the
Hannover Messe (Hannover Fair) of 1955. It was well received and would
be Protona's mainstream product for the next five years
[1]
.
It was sold for a price of DM 925 for the standard model (S)
and DM 985 for the long-play version (L)
[4]
.
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Over 20 different accessories were available for the P-55, ranging from a
variety of microphones, to the storage case. The price for the latter (empty)
was DM 75 in June 1958
[4]
.
The Operating Instructions
[2]
list the following add-ons:
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- Crystal microphone (standard)
- Table speaker/microphone
- Wrist-watch microphone
- Throat microphone
- Dynamic (moving coil) microphone
- Stetoset phones
- Single type ear-set
- Electrical foot control
- Mechanical foot control
- Telephone pick-up
- Recording & play-back cable
- Car battery adapter
- Telephone transformer
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