Beauty of old electrical and measuring things, etc.

[dlgoff]

I don't frequent the EE forum page so I had missed this thread. Wow you guys have some cool stuff! ...dlgoff, you do beautiful work, AND you have a drill press on your kitchen counter. What a hero! You made my day...

Thank you. You're exactly part of the reason for this thread.

 

[dlgoff]

Here's my latest Precision Apparatus restore beauty. It was used mainly for aligning old tube radios and is a perfect mate for the Precision Apparatus sweep generator used mainly for aligning old tube televisions.

 

[dlgoff]

Here's a nice addition to my old NARCO avionics. It's a Mark 12B transceiver with a Navigation channel section and with a NARCO power module. I've got it working now and planing to mount in the wall below the Nav Receiver.

This is what the display looks like now with a few items fired up.

 

[anorlunda]

Man that looks like fun. Thanks again for sharing.

I'll bet that stuff heats up the room if you turn it all on.

 

[dlgoff]

I can't wait to fire up this beauty. Don't worry; safety first.

 

[anorlunda]

I can't wait to fire up this beauty. Don't worry; safety first.

Just think of all the skills required to build that thing.

 

[dlgoff]

Just think of all the skills required to build that thing.

Indeed. I was very thrilled that it arrived in one piece. I'm still in the process of determining it's authenticity but it does appear to be a Victor Electric Company tube.

Only[/PLAIN] a few years after Roentgen’s 1895 discovery, Victor Electric Company of Chicago, started manufacturing X-ray equipment for the medical and dental community and offered these products through its subsidiary, Victor X-ray Corporation.

 

[jim hardy]

I'm still in the process of determining it's authenticity but it does appear to be a Victor Electric Company tube.

i was going to say - there's similar looking contraptions in the Philo Farnsworth museum in Rigby Idaho... Farnsworth was a vacuum tube designer of some note.
His "Fusor" is a desktop fusion device using electric field confinement but it doesn't break even just makes neutrons. Makes sense an accomplished vacuum tube guy would be drawn to electric field approach...

I'll keep my eyes peeled for one for you !

 

[dlgoff]

i was going to say - there's similar looking contraptions in the Philo Farnsworth museum in Rigby Idaho... Farnsworth was a vacuum tube designer of some note.
His "Fusor" is a desktop fusion device using electric field confinement but it doesn't break even just makes neutrons. Makes sense an accomplished vacuum tube guy would be drawn to electric field approach...

I'll keep my eyes peeled for one for you !

You're awesome Jim.
The tube does appear to be like this one from http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/2004/VictorXRayTube/index.htm

They have their company's name etched in the glass around the anode. There's something there on mine (very difficult to see) but I need to get a good picture of it

 

[Borg]

I can't wait to fire up this beauty. Don't worry; safety first.

I didn't read closely enough the first time to realize that you now have an old X-ray tube. I hope that you have good detectors and lead shields for when you fire up that puppy.

 

[dlgoff]

I didn't read closely enough the first time to realize that you now have an old X-ray tube. I hope that you have good detectors and lead shields for when you fire up that puppy.

Oh yea. I've got the stuff.

 

[dlgoff]

I hope that you have good detectors ...

I'm thinking this should be okay.

edit: which is a beauty on it's own. :)

 

[jim hardy]

Wow . And i thought i had a collection of weird stuff.

i do have a BF3 neutron detector tube in case you get into cold fusion... no preamp or readout though.

 

[dlgoff]

i do have a BF3 neutron detector tube in case you get into cold fusion...

We should get together and built a reaction chamber.
I bet @mfb would be willing to help.

 

[dlgoff]

I've been really busy lately and have some catching up to do. I added a black shadow box to the meter and gauge display. Could be the last one (?).

Soon I'll be posting some photos of the vintage (1902 - 1925 Victor) X-ray tube project.

 

[Planobilly]

I guess I am really telling my age but I have actually used the Narco VOR and the radio in a real airplane.

Very cool collection of stuff. I may have an old open cockpit biplane head set to add to your collection. I will see if I can dig it up.

And for all you guys that think morse code is long dead and gone we still use it to identify the VOR today! It is going away but it will be around for a while.

By 2000 there were about 3,000 VOR stations around the world including 1,033 in the US, reduced to 967 by 2013[3] with more stations being decommissioned with the widespread adoption of GPS.

Cheers,

Billy

 

[dlgoff]

Very cool collection of stuff.

Thank you.

I may have an old open cockpit biplane head set to add to your collection. I will see if I can dig it up.

Now that would be a great supplement for the Narco radios. Thanks.

And for all you guys that think morse code is long dead and gone we still use it to identify the VOR today!

... radio receiving the Butler VOR signal at 115.90 MHz ...

Even though the Butler station is ~100 miles away, I can clearly hear their Morse ID (- ... ..- --).

By 2000 there were about 3,000 VOR stations around the world including 1,033 in the US, reduced to 967 by 2013[3] with more stations being decommissioned with the widespread adoption of GPS.

Wow. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing the PDF reference.

 

[jim hardy]

We should get together and built a reaction chamber.
I bet @mfb would be willing to help.

I'd love to do that
right now i know i'd be over-committing

i do have a pretty good vacuum pump
and that BF3 chamber
and a neon sign transformer...

 

[dlgoff]

i do have a pretty good vacuum pump

Cool. Do you have a photo you could share?

I cleaned up mine so that I can get back to an aluminum vacuum disposition project that I put on hold some 30+ years ago. Couldn't believe the cost of vacuum grease now days. Buying online including shipping, nearly $50 for 5.3oz.

I'll be posting pictures of it when I start depositing aluminum on glass microscope slides.

 

[jim hardy]

Do you have a photo you could share?

Will get one posted.

 

[dlgoff]

I can't wait to fire up this beauty. Don't worry; safety first.

I made a 25 kV power source from an old color TV to supply the old X-ray tube. But even though the radiation from it is considered low LET (linear energy transfer), there is still danger from absorbed doses. My survey meter measures absorbed dose in mrads/hr. The biological risk from radiation exposure (or equivalent dose), measured in rems, is determined by LET giving a radiation weighing factor; in this case the factor is equal to one. Note that 100 rem would make you sick.

I measured 1 mrad/hr at ~10 feet from the front of the display (or 1 rem/hr) and 150 mrad/hr at the center of the tube’s output (or 150 rem/hr). So don’t try this at home kids.

For safety reasons, I incorporated a key locking power switch (with a big red indicator) and a 25 kV on/off push-button switch at the end of a long cable to get some distance from the tube when in operation. I also made sure there was a Danger and a Warning sign visible.

Here are two photos; one up close un-energized and one at a distance energized.

 

[berkeman]

Pretty amazing work, Don. I'm glad you took safety aspects into consideration.

 

[dlgoff]

I'm glad you took safety aspects into consideration.

Safety should always enter the equation. Knowing that you feel the same, maybe a sticky for dangers and safety in engineering would be appropriate. We haven't lived this long for not respecting electricity. I'm sure others would have great advice.

 

[berkeman]

Safety should always enter the equation. Knowing that you feel the same, maybe a sticky for dangers and safety in engineering would be appropriate. We haven't lived this long for not respecting electricity. I'm sure others would have great advice.

Interesting idea. That might make a good EE forum stickie thread. Let me think on it a bit...

 

[Planobilly]

"Don't kill yourself having fun"

I try my best to remember that, on the ocean, in the air, and pokin round in the high voltage!

Cheers,

Billy

 

[DrClaude]

Here are two photos; one up close un-energized and one at a distance energized.

https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/x-ray_off-jpg.96459/

[PLAIN]https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/x-ray_on-jpg.96460/[/QUOTE]
The images are broken.

 

[berkeman]

Images seem fine to me. Are you not seeing anything?

 

[Borg]

Images seem fine to me. Are you not seeing anything?

I am also unable to see the pictures. And, when I click on them to "view image", I get a PF permission error.

 

[dlgoff]

The images are broken.

I re-uploaded the images. Can you see them now?

 

[jim hardy]

images in 121 don't show for me - firefox...

Click "View Image " yields

 

[Borg]

Click "View Image " yields

That's exactly what I'm getting also. It seems that PF is blocking access to some of us.

 

[dlgoff]

How about now Jim?

 

[Borg]

How about now Jim?

Working for me now.

 

[jim hardy]

Whatever somebody did - i see two fine images now !

 

[berkeman]

How about now Jim?

How'd you fix it for them?

 

[dlgoff]

How'd you fix it for them?

I re-uploaded the two pics. Initially, I used the ones from the Conversation we had, hoping to save a little server space.

 

[berkeman]

Ah, and that's why I could see them -- they were likely still in my cache.

 

[dlgoff]

Here are a couple oldies:

In rough condition but repaired and working (w/ a old carbon filament bulb); from the Swivelier Company, Inc.

Cute little clip-on 75W 125V (with bulb); from the Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc.

 

[dlgoff]

My girlfriend knows what makes me happy. A couple months ago she picked up this old Western Union Telegraph Company telegraph relay. Even though it's missing the metal tag, I'm fairly sure it's the 4D, 100 ohm model. It took a lot of Q-tips to clean it up to find, MFG BY HARDWICK FIELD & LEED...

The only other thing I did was to repair the broken coil lead-in wires so that it would function. Then I figured I should try to find a key (bug) so I could demonstrate it. While looking around on ebay.com, I came across a fairly old practice key that someone had tried modifying way back when; missing the buzzer and added audio transformer, vacuum tube rectifier tube, and socket. Not sure what they were trying to do. Anyway my attention shifted away from the key.

Here's the Freed-Eismann audio transformer (though about sending it to @Phanobilly for the vacuum tube amp he's building )

But this old Raytheon BH Vacuum Tube and Benjamin shock-absorbing socket makes me even happier .

It's around 90 years old and it still works. Here's an image from a .pdf, compliments of www.clarisonus.com, introducing the tube in the October, 1926 edition of Radio News.

 

[davenn]

love the new additions to your collection, Don

 

[berkeman]

this old Western Union Telegraph Company telegraph relay

I recently learned why the "relay" part of ARRL was important. Anybody else know? What a fundamental and important part of history...

 

[dlgoff]

I recently learned why the "relay" part of ARRL was important. Anybody else know? What a fundamental and important part of history...

Not sure; radio relay? As in hopping messages across the country?

 

[dlgoff]

love the new additions to your collection, Don

Thanks. I was lucky to get them.

 

[berkeman]

Not sure; radio relay? As in hopping messages across the country?

Yeah, exactly. Such a primitive technology with spark coils, but with long enough Rx antennas and enough people listening, you could relay Morse code messages across the country.

 

[lastfsdfsd23]

wow ! this equipment is so beautiful. i just wondered
to seen it. just awesome.

 

[dlgoff]

I've been trying to get a metal deposition system put together but had to do a little beautification on this old General Radio Co. W30M Variac that I'm incorporating. Here's a outside and inside (powered & set to 140 volts) view of this 30 amp beauty. :)

 

[dlgoff]

My beautiful coffee table.

 

[DrClaude]

My beautiful coffee table.

That brings back memories. My father was an electrician and, when I was young, we used to use ceramic insulators (like the left-most red one in your picture, but blue) as door stops.

 

[dlgoff]

... we used to use ceramic insulators (like the left-most red one in your picture, but blue) as door stops.

I can see using them like that. A blue one would be a nice addition. I've got boxes of insulators and for the most part only duplicated a few types. However different colors counted as not being duplicated. Memories is what this thread is all about.

 

[DrClaude]

I can see using them like that. A blue one would be a nice addition. I've got boxes of insulators and for the most part only duplicated a few types. However different colors counted as not being duplicated. Memories is what this thread is all about.

I don't think my father kept them. Otherwise, I would gladly send you one. (Not sure how much it would cost to mail such a beast...)