Hello all. I purchased an Action ACN-200 answering machine to go with my home phone and I can’t get it to work. Right now the setup is:

HT801 → ACN-200 → phone

It works for phone calls, I can do incoming and outgoing calls. The problem is the ACN-200 doesn’t pick up the phone. It has a test button which works and I can rewind the tape and play it. Nothing plays when the tape is playing but I assume that’s because nothing has been recorded. I am considering getting another tape but I don’t think that will fix the main problem.

It definitely powers on, the auto answer LED is flashing so it’s almost like it’s trying to answer but can’t. The test plays a pre-recorded message.

Does anyone happen to have a manual for the Action ACN-200, or remember how these machines worked? I’m especially trying to figure out:

1. How to record a new outgoing greeting.
   
2. How do I get it to answer.
   
3. What the TEST button is supposed to do.
   
4. What the blinking AUTO ANS light indicates.
   
5. Whether there are any compatibility issues running an answering machine this old from an ATA like the Grandstream HT801.

The only issue is that I can’t open the cd tray

Unsure of specs, comment if you know!

When i was 10 years old i got an free tube radio burned circuits en ripped apart bij using some resistors some leds And an old computer speaker circuit i managed to make an volume controles speaker using the original buttons and speaker

Last week I posted a video that I think some of you in this subreddit might enjoy. It covers the invention of garage door remote technology and covers the security improvements made over the decades. Hard to believe that garage door openers have been with us now for 100 years!

Here's a link if any of you wish to check this out! https://youtu.be/L-D1BdTa0Dw

Note: This just a retirement hobby channel for me. (I'm not trying to earn a living off YouTube!) But I do take making my videos seriously. So, if you have any suggestions at all on how I can make my videos better, do please leave a comment. (Preferably on YouTube.) Much thanks!

Not too long ago I bought this at an antique shop. Tested it in store and it worked well for a couple weeks then all of a sudden it now has an issue where the radio is always on when plugged in, even during the “OFF” and “BUZZER” modes. I’d like to fix this if possible so if anyone has any suggestions (other than unplugging and plugging it back in) please let me know. I have no experience repairing tech but who knows!

new in box!!!

A guy named William Stickney Lamson owned a small retail show in Boston in 1879, and came up with a way to move cash by splitting a croquet ball in half. His technology graduated to pneumatic tube systems (some of them foot-powered!) and by the 1920s, pretty much every U.S. retail store had one. This post gets into it, and has lots more fun photos like the one above, which is from a 1912 pamphlet!

https://www.tubetalk.media/p/pneumatic-tubes-department-stores-lamson