Beauty of old electrical and measuring things, etc.

[Klystron]

Hi-tech instrument design circa 1960's.

View attachment 278690

I plugged the HP part number on the PCB into an internet search. The closest match seems to be an HP (Agilent) printed circuit assembly used in a spectrum analyzer. Is that a zero insertion force (ZIF) connector on the bottom?
https://www.armyproperty.com/product/1LQK8/03593-66504/

 

[DaveE]

I plugged the HP part number on the PCB into an internet search. The closest match seems to be an HP (Agilent) printed circuit assembly used in a spectrum analyzer. Is that a zero insertion force (ZIF) connector on the bottom?
https://www.armyproperty.com/product/1LQK8/03593-66504/

Sorry, I don't remember exactly where it came from. Some old piece of equipment I tore down for the mechanical parts. Probably from an HP3590A Wave Analyzer.

Not ZIF, just an edge connector, like Douglas et. al.

 

[Baluncore]

Hi-tech instrument design circa 1960's.

The PCB was built rugged, for military use, probably in the 1970s.
The “modern” Texas Instruments IC has a military JAN part number, 4 digit manufacturer code followed by 4 digit part number, so it was available second sourced in the USA.
The other 4 digit code will be the year and week of chip manufacture - packaging.

I can't read the text, what are the 12 digits printed on the package?

The connector is not a ZIF, it looks like a standard edge connector, little used, my guess would be 0.156” pitch based on the era and style.

 

[DaveE]

The “modern” Texas Instruments IC has a military JAN part number, 4 digit manufacturer code followed by 4 digit part number, so it was available second sourced in the USA.

Those are HP PNs, which are different than JAN, I think. They have a separate field on their BOMs for the manufacturer code. That IC is a 7490 decade counter.

 

[Baluncore]

So, what are the actual numbers written on the chip, and how do you know it is a TTL 7490 ?

 

[DaveE]

So, what are the actual numbers written on the chip, and how do you know it is a TTL 7490 ?

There's lots of cross reference tables on the web, like this one. ICs in HP instruments rarely have JEDEC labels. I don't have a clue about the lot/date code though.

 

[Baluncore]

I don't have a clue about the lot/date code though.

Why will you not give me all the numbers ?

 

[dlgoff]

So, what are the actual numbers written on the chip, and how do you know it is a TTL 7490 ?

I zoomed in on the image and it looks like it's a TI 1820-0055:

According to this site it's equivalent to the 7490 decade counter.

 

[DaveE]

Why will you not give me all the numbers ?

Sorry I don't understand. If you're asking why I won't give you the lot/date code decoding for TI semiconductor DIP markings from 50 years ago, it's because I don't know or care.

I never really did care much about date codes, except in unusual circumstances, and even then it was mostly about matching or making sure you're not doing a parameter characterization on a bunch of nearly identical parts. If I needed to know that stuff I would have already been talking to the applications engineers about it anyway.

Still if I had to bet I'd say the 52nd week of 1969, as you suggested.

 

[dlgoff]

...it's because I don't know or care.

Now I'm wondering why you posted this?

 

[DaveE]

C

Now I'm wondering why you posted this?

Caring about old equipment isn't the same thing as caring about decoding IC lot/date codes from 50 years ago.

 

[dlgoff]

...it's because I don't know or care.

Caring about old equipment isn't the same thing as caring about decoding IC lot/date codes from 50 years ago.

Well, you did post it in my Beauty thread. You don't think date codes goes into my restorations?

 

[DaveE]

Well, you did post it in my Beauty thread. You don't think date codes goes into my restorations?

I don't know anything about your restorations, but I think it's cool if you care about them. Nevertheless, we all don't, nor should we, care about exactly the same stuff.

Just let me know if you don't want me to post here anymore, I don't wish to interfere with your thread ownership concerns.

 

[dlgoff]

Just let me know if you don't want me to post here anymore, I don't wish to interfere with your thread ownership concerns.

No problem with your post, as I gave you a like for it's beauty.

 

[berkeman]

Just let me know if you don't want me to post here anymore, I don't wish to interfere with your thread ownership concerns.

It's more like a loving commune, not so much ownership.

 

[dlgoff]

I've been restoring this old Universal Radio. I've replaced all the tubes (most are metal tubes). One of the coolest glass tubes is the 6U5/6G5 magic eye tuning tube.

@berkeman mentioned me in this post when discussing coils. Lots of coils here.

I think all I need to do now to get it to work is replace all the electrolytic capacitors.

 

[berkeman]

Wow, what year is that from?

 

[dlgoff]

Wow, what year is that from?

Well I'm not too sure but I think it's from the 1920s. This was in an old warehouse owned by a lady who I asked if she was interested in selling it; that was sometime in the 1970s. She had no interest in selling it and said just take it.

 

[anorlunda]

It's weeping in distress. Help me.

I'm curious. What is your general procedure for these restorations?

• Disassemble everything?
• Restore cosmetically as well as functionally? Internally too?
• If you must replace something, like a segment of wire or an electrolytic capacitor, do you use modern parts and materials?
• Lots of questions.

A short tutorial, "How to go about an electrical restoration." would be educational and entertaining.

Edit: An Insights article would be perfect.

 

[dlgoff]

It's weeping in distress. Help me.
View attachment 279531
I'm curious. What is your general procedure for these restorations?

• Disassemble everything?
• Restore cosmetically as well as functionally? Internally too?
• If you must replace something, like a segment of wire or an electrolytic capacitor, do you use modern parts and materials?
• Lots of questions.

A short tutorial, "How to go about an electrical restoration." would be educational and entertaining.

Edit: An Insights article would be perfect.

In this case,

• Restore cosmetically as well as functionally? Internally too?

I'll have to write up something as a tutorial. But I'm a little underwater with time right now. Soon heading for my second Moderna COVID-19 shot.

 

[dlgoff]

It's weeping in distress. Help me.

Indeed. I never noticed this. The whole radio needed help.

 

[dlgoff]

One of the most difficult parts of this restore was keeping all the cloth covered wire from shorting together. I dissolved some silicon sealant in alcohol and painted all of them before powering up this old radio.

 

[gmax137]

I dissolved some silicon sealant in alcohol and painted all of them before powering up this old radio.

That right there is a cool tip.

 

[Klystron]

Very interesting radio chassis. The tubes (valves in UK?) appear familiar but the jumble of circuit components makes one think the design engineer ignored placement issues such as inter-electrode and distributed impedance. The receiver probably frequency drifts as the tubes warm up; hence, the vernier dial controls?

 

[anorlunda]

The tubes (valves in UK?) appear familiar but the jumble of circuit components makes one think the design engineer ignored placement issues such as inter-electrode and distributed impedance.

What design engineer? My grandfather provided for his family during the great depression by making radios out of Quaker oatmeal containers. That makes me believe that in those days, many sources could manufacture electrical things without the services of a real engineer.

 

[Averagesupernova]

As far as lead placement and such goes, the AM broadcast band is very forgiving. We're not talking about VHF or even HF here. I used to work with a guy who said jokingly that anything below 100 MHz is DC.

 

[dlgoff]

Edit: An Insights article would be perfect.

Good idea. Let me think about it. In this thread, I have, I think, gave some info about how the restores were done. Mainly, making them look beautiful and working is part of the beauty.

 

[dlgoff]

As far as lead placement and such goes, the AM broadcast band is very forgiving. We're not talking about VHF or even HF here. I used to work with a guy who said jokingly that anything below 100 MHz is DC.

There are three bands indicated: Broadcast, Amateur, and Shortwave (5.5meters to 55meters) labled: FOREIGN, PHONE, and SHIPS.

 

[DennisN]

"Beauty of old electrical and measuring things, etc."
I recently won a real beauty on an online auction. I will take some photos and post later here.

 

[DennisN]

I recently won a real beauty on an online auction. I will take some photos and post later here.

Here is my recently bought Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder camera (from late 1960s to early 1970s).
Quote from Wikipedia: "It was the first electronically controlled camera."

I won it recently at an online auction for about $66. It is in marvellous condition (near mint).

I bought it for nostalgic reasons; my father had one and it was one of the very first cameras I used as a child.
It was amazing to get a hold of one, since I started to remember all the controls and even the look in the viewfinder. I even recognized the smell of it, actually!

Here are some photos:

Front:

Back (opened):

The "atomic" logo:

Top:
(from left to right: film winder, hot shoe for flash, exposure indicators (I think) (slow/over), film ISO setting, shutter button, frame winder, frame number window)

Lens closeup:
(the red "thingy" on the lens is a timer for taken timed shots. You pull it to a certain distance and then press the shutter button, and when the timer "thingy" reaches the default position, a photo is taken)

It may very well work too, and I am thinking of trying to use it some day.

 

[jedishrfu]

Nice camera. Let's hope it works and that you can find some film to fit it.

I like the atomic logo too.

 

[Janus]

In the same vein, here's my "used to be my parents" Bell and Howell movie camera and case, from the 1950's

 

[jedishrfu]

My Dad had something like that too and the projector to go with it. My how things have absolutely changed.

 

[berkeman]

My Dad had something like that too and the projector to go with it. My how things have absolutely changed.

Yeah, mine too. Remember how every once in a while the film would break during home movie night? Dad would say, "We will now take a quick break while I splice this back together...". I guess we still have something similar -- "Dad, our WiFi just went down!"

 

[Janus]

Yeah, mine too. Remember how every once in a while the film would break during home movie night? Dad would say, "We will now take a quick break while I splice this back together...". I guess we still have something similar -- "Dad, our WiFi just went down!"

We had the projector too, though I don't know what came of it. Did anyone else's folks have the Light Bar for the camera? It Looked like this:
https://d3h6k4kfl8m9p0.cloudfront.net/stories/IhHqBoi5vwc61d7GHxm6Hw.jpeg
It was used for indoor filming. The camera would mount on top.

 

[gmax137]

Here is my recently bought Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder camera (from late 1960s to early 1970s).
Quote from Wikipedia: "It was the first electronically controlled camera."

I won it recently at an online auction for about $66. It is in marvellous condition (near mint).

I bought it for nostalgic reasons; my father had one and it was one of the very first cameras I used as a child.
It was amazing to get a hold of one, since I started to remember all the controls and even the look in the viewfinder. I even recognized the smell of it, actually!

It may very well work too, and I am thinking of trying to use it some day.

Wow that's amazing condition. Is that an f1.7 lens? Nice. If you ever get tired of it let me know :)

 

[DennisN]

Is that an f1.7 lens?

Yes. And the lens is fixed to the camera, so it can't be used on other cameras without using violence.

 

[DennisN]

If you ever get tired of it let me know :)

I was keeping an eye on Ebay for a while for Yashica Electro 35, and there were/are items available in various conditions between ca $70 and $140. I saw one in excellent condition for about $140 available for shipping from Japan, and I was considering it for a while. Later, I was lucky to find my item on a Swedish online auction site for a much better price, so I went for that one.

 

[dlgoff]

Now that's some beauty. Thanks for posting it here.
"...and I am thinking of trying to use it some day."
Which makes it even more beautiful.

 

[Tom.G]

Nice camera. Let's hope it works and that you can find some film to fit it.

I like the atomic logo too.

Both Kodak and Fuji still make 35mm film, readily available too!

 

[Janus]

Here is my recently bought Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder camera (from late 1960s to early 1970s).
Quote from Wikipedia: "It was the first electronically controlled camera."

I won it recently at an online auction for about $66. It is in marvellous condition (near mint).

I bought it for nostalgic reasons; my father had one and it was one of the very first cameras I used as a child.
It was amazing to get a hold of one, since I started to remember all the controls and even the look in the viewfinder. I even recognized the smell of it, actually!

Here are some photos:

Front:
View attachment 282221

Back (opened):
View attachment 282222

The "atomic" logo:
View attachment 282224

Top:
(from left to right: film winder, hot shoe for flash, exposure indicators (I think) (slow/over), film ISO setting, shutter button, frame winder, frame number window)

View attachment 282225

Lens closeup:
(the red "thingy" on the lens is a timer for taken timed shots. You pull it to a certain distance and then press the shutter button, and when the timer "thingy" reaches the default position, a photo is taken)

View attachment 282226

It may very well work too, and I am thinking of trying to use it some day.

My "first" camera was something similar to this:

Not exact, it was a Kodak, and a fold-out, but some of the details were different. Again, it was my parents. I started using it when I wanted to get into having my own dark room set up. It was perfect for starting out, as the negatives were large enough to produce a usable photo from just a contact print, with no need for an enlarger.
Later, after I had saved enough, I bought an enlarger, and my brother gave me his 35 mm SLR to use.
I even got ambitious and started using color film, developing and printing myself (Much more of a hassle then working with B&W. For one, everything has to be done by feel in total darkness)

 

[gmax137]

Both Kodak and Fuji still make 35mm film, readily available too!

Don't forget Ilford. I used a lot of their film (35 and 120) and their paper, too. Up until a couple years ago. I may resurrect my darkroom someday. I moved and there's no good space in my new house.

 

[dlgoff]

I may resurrect my darkroom someday.

That would be an great project. I put up some black curtains around my kitchen stove albeit it's used for photo resist exposing and developing.

 

[anorlunda]

That would be an great project. I put up some black curtains around my kitchen stove albeit it's used for photo resist exposing and developing.

LOL, so what about food preparation? Your story reminds me of the guy who lived on a sailboat with his wife. He wanted a woodworking shop, so he put a bench, vise and table saw in the forward compartment, taking away all the beds. His wife had to sleep outdoors on top of the deck. You can guess what she had to say about that.

 

[dlgoff]

LOL, so what about food preparation?

I don't eat. Just kidding. I've learned how to do most cooking with the microwave oven; that and I purchase lots of frozen eatables.

 

[Vanadium 50]

He wanted a woodworking shop, so he put a bench, vise and table saw in the forward compartment, taking away all the beds. His wife had to sleep outdoors on top of the deck. You can guess what she had to say about that.

Did they ever find the husband? And the anchor? And six or so feet of line?

 

[DennisN]

Did they ever find the husband?

Yes. Twice, with two anchors. The wife used the table saw and tried the "Sawing a man in half" magic trick on him, and it went "wrong".

 

[jedishrfu]

I would posit the boat sank because in making a table to appease his wife, the husband used one too many slats from the boat.

 

[Janus]

Don't forget Ilford. I used a lot of their film (35 and 120) and their paper, too. Up until a couple years ago. I may resurrect my darkroom someday. I moved and there's no good space in my new house.

Pretty much what happened for me. I moved to an apartment which had no place to set up a darkroom. The equipment just sat around taking up room and collecting dust until I sold it.

 

[gmax137]

until I sold it

From time to time I look up "darkroom" on the local selling websites. Sickeningly low prices for what once was expensive hardware (enlargers, grain focusers, timers, tanks, print washers...). I guess nobody is interested in buying that stuff anymore.

A quick look at the Beseler website shows they sell mostly to schools; apparently film and wet chemistry is still a good path to learning.

And still some amazing photographers out there using large format film. Take a look at Clyde Butcher's work in Florida.