Beauty of old electrical and measuring things, etc.

[dlgoff]

... decided to make use of two cold cathode gas glow regulator tubes (0A3 & 0B3) that determined my output voltages. The 0A3 was designed for 75 volt regulation and the 0B3 was designed for 90 volt regulation.

When determining the regulator tube's current limiting resistor value, I under estimated the filtered rectified voltage (filter consisted of a 10 H choke and two 47 μF caps). So I had to up the value of the current limiter and use a 0D3 (designed for 150 volt regulation) in place of the 0B3. So now the output voltages are 75V, 150V, and 225V; nice 75V steps. Here's the thing showing it's beauty after the changes.

 

[Bystander]

Are you operating a "rescue shelter" for old dinosaur parts? I've odds and ends that may eventually need to be placed in a "good home."

 

[dlgoff]

Are you operating a "rescue shelter" for old dinosaur parts? I've odds and ends that may eventually need to be placed in a "good home."

I probably won't live long enough to rescue all my old parts. We're going to need a joint effort here. Show me some of your "old parts beauty".

 

[Bystander]

Be a day or two to get them all powdered and rouged for the camera.

 

[dlgoff]

Awesome Bystander. Take your time and enjoy the beauty.

 

[Bystander]

 

[anorlunda]

Kudos dlgoff, very well done. What you did would make a wonderful display in a museum. Makes me feel really vintage though because almost all that stuff was ordinary everyday stuff to me sometime in the past.

I think kids could learn easier from displays of working things that are made so wonderfully visual as you did. Much better than static objects coupled with plastic murals with written narratives seen in most modern museums.

It would be wonderful if you can arrange for your work to be preserved and displayed to the public sometime in the future.

On a practical note, of all the things you showed, Bakelite I think is the one thing most difficult to preserve. Perhaps you can couple up with someone who has a 3D printer to make a replica before the Bakelite crumbles.

 

[dlgoff]

View attachment 77055

Your test equipment is in really good shape Bystander. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

 

[dlgoff]

Kudos dlgoff, very well done. ... I think kids could learn easier from displays of working things that are made so wonderfully visual as you did.

Thank You. I'm hoping there are some kids that may see how it was done back in the "old days".

 

[Mike_In_Plano]

Regarding transformer with integrated rectifier:

There was a television manufacturer that used these. It was so long ago as to be in the murk, but I seem to recall the tube being a 5U4.

Some of those old televisions had crazy construction. I recall ones with ferro-resonate regulators...

 

[dlgoff]

There was a television manufacturer that used these. It was so long ago as to be in the murk, but I seem to recall the tube being a 5U4.

You could be right. I was a kid when I got the old thing and though I remembered getting it from an old radio. I haven't been able to find anything on the web. If you're correct, I'll have to change the rectifier tube to the 5U4. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

 

[jim hardy]

There was a television manufacturer that used these. It was so long ago as to be in the murk, but I seem to recall the tube being a 5U4.

I can remember having one of those in high school. At that time i was scrounging parts to build a 50 watt stereo amplifier (6BQ5's).
Indeed it came from a television; that's where we got parts in early sixties... a local dump sold scrap TV chassis for 50 cents.
Even though it was just the right voltage I used a different transformer solely because that one was so ugly.
I used that stereo for around twelve years replacing it with Harmon Kardon solid state in mid '70's. Dad used it in his garage for another decade.
Ahhh nostalgia.

5U4 and 5Y3 have same pinout, former is somewhat more robust.
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5y3gt.pdf
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5u4gb.pdf

old jim

 

[dlgoff]

I can remember having one of those in high school. At that time i was scrounging parts to build a 50 watt stereo amplifier (6BQ5's).
Indeed it came from a television; that's where we got parts in early sixties... a local dump sold scrap TV chassis for 50 cents.
Even though it was just the right voltage I used a different transformer solely because that one was so ugly.
I used that stereo for around twelve years replacing it with Harmon Kardon solid state in mid '70's. Dad used it in his garage for another decade.
Ahhh nostalgia.

5U4 and 5Y3 have same pinout, former is somewhat more robust.
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5y3gt.pdf
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5u4gb.pdf

old jim

I consider first hand information like this to be like peer review information. I'm going to change it to the 5U4. Thank you. :)

Here's a future beauty I'll be working on but it's what's on top that's very special to me.

It was a gift from a good friend and I used it to look up the base diagrams for the tubes in order to verify they were indeed interchangeable. ;)

 

[davenn]

I can remember having one of those in high school. At that time i was scrounging parts to build a 50 watt stereo amplifier (6BQ5's).
Indeed it came from a television; that's where we got parts in early sixties... a local dump sold scrap TV chassis for 50 cents.
Even though it was just the right voltage I used a different transformer solely because that one was so ugly.
I used that stereo for around twelve years replacing it with Harmon Kardon solid state in mid '70's. Dad used it in his garage for another decade.
Ahhh nostalgia.

5U4 and 5Y3 have same pinout, former is somewhat more robust.
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5y3gt.pdf
http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5u4gb.pdf

old jim

you're showing your age there, jimmy, me lud ;) haha

I really miss all the old tube radio restoration I used to do back in New Zealand

Hey Don
1954 on that ARRL manual ... not too many yrs before I was born ;)

Dave

 

[jim hardy]

you're showing your age there, jimmy, me lud ;) haha

It's kinda fun becoming antique. Grandson is fascinated by his new Christmas slide rule..

 

[dlgoff]

Hey Don
1954 on that ARRL manual ... not too many yrs before I was born ;)

Relative to me, that would make you a teenager. :D

 

[davenn]

wow, almost scared to ask your vintage ;)Happy New Year to both you and Jim ... have an outstanding 2015

 

[jim hardy]

Let's just say in 1954 i was in 3rd grade... President Eisenhower added "under God" to the pledge of allegiance... Navy launched the "Nautilus"...

 

[dlgoff]

Indeed it came from a television; that's where we got parts in early sixties... a local dump sold scrap TV chassis for 50 cents.
Even though it was just the right voltage I used a different transformer solely because that one was so ugly.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I consider first hand information like this to be like peer review information. I'm going to change it to the 5U4. Thank you. :)

You have a great memory Jim. I found a pic of the transformer I have used in the http://evilfurnaceman.tripod.com/id28.html .

I looked through my collection of vacuum tubes for a 5U4GB

and only found a 5U4G (which is more beautiful IMO)

but the filament was open.

So now I have an order in for a used 5U4GB and a new-old 5U4G.
I'll post a pic of the power supply with the correct transformer 5U4GB vacuum tube when it arrives.

 

[TurtleMeister]

When I was very young, before starting school, my parents had a tube type radio that was outside of it's enclosure. They kept it on the top shelf of a cabinet where I could not reach it, for obvious reasons. I think that was what first sparked my interest in electronics. The glow of the tubes, the seemingly magical way it could bring in sound from afar, and of course the fact that it could also be dangerous, made it very interesting to me. I wanted to know how it worked.

I did a little collecting of old stuff myself a few decades ago. I still have some of it, but not at my current location. I may have some pictures on my hard drive. If I find them I'll post them here.

 

[dlgoff]

I think that was what first sparked my interest in electronics. The glow of the tubes, the seemingly magical way it could bring in sound from afar, and of course the fact that it could also be dangerous, made it very interesting to me. I wanted to know how it worked.

So I'm not alone in how these old things sparked my interest in wanting to know how they worked.

 

[dlgoff]

While I've been waiting for the 5U4 tube to arrive, I've had time to take some pictures that may be of interest to some of our biological science members.

This vintage light bulb has a thick spiral carbon filament and has these markings: North American, (NALCO), 4CP 110V
It was used as a therapeutic heat source heating, for what I think are, tools for delivering blood absorbers and blood coagulants to the nose; from what was left in the vials I had to clean. I removed it to be displayed in one of my old surface fixtures and put a similar size blue bulb in it's place, which makes a good "night light".

 

[DennisN]

Even as a kid, I saw beauty in old devices. That made me want to understand how they worked. I had lots of old things that I keep and now reviving. Old things need to work to see the beauty. Here's what I've done so far.

Very cool, impressive and beautiful collection, dlgoff! :)

If you have any thing old and would like to share a photo, please do. It's all beautiful in my mind.

The only electrical/electronic things I could think of were some vacuum tubes I've got (I don't know how old they are) and two Hewlett-Packard calculators, HP-22 and HP-27 from ca 1975-1978, here are some photos:

Telefunken tubes:

Siemens tubes:

Philips tubes:

Mullard tube, unknown tube, "opened" tube and a Luxor Radio tube case:

HP-22 and HP-27 calculators, and a HP case to them:

 

[Garyabc]

Very very cool stuff

 

[dlgoff]

The only electrical/electronic things I could think of were some vacuum tubes I've got (I don't know how old they are) and two Hewlett-Packard calculators, HP-22 and HP-27 from ca 1975-1978, here are some photos:

Telefunken tubes:

Siemens tubes:

Philips tubes:

Mullard tube, unknown tube, "opened" tube and a Luxor Radio tube case:

HP-22 and HP-27 calculators, and a HP case to them:

Very nice. I really love the tubes. Especially the DY 87. Thank you for sharing these.

 

[jim hardy]

Ohhhhhhh, do i miss RPN calculators.

 

[dlgoff]

So now I have an order in for a used 5U4GB and a new-old 5U4G.
I'll post a pic of the power supply with the correct transformer 5U4GB vacuum tube when it arrives.

They arrived today and I decided to us the G type since the voltage regulators are of that type.

 

[dlgoff]

I added a 30,000K color temperature fluorescent tube and some more chemicals (glitter) to the chemistry glassware shelf. This revision goes out to Borek, who has enriched my life over the years.

 

[Mike_In_Plano]

On the topic of ancient things, there used to be an ultra-precise multi-turn potentiometer that was great for building references. All I recall now are the Helipots, but this thing had rings within rings on the face. I cannot remember their name, but they were wonderful instruments.

 

[dlgoff]

On the topic of ancient things, there used to be an ultra-precise multi-turn potentiometer that was great for building references. All I recall now are the Helipots, but this thing had rings within rings on the face. I cannot remember their name, but they were wonderful instruments.

So it wasn't a Beckman Instruments Helipot? Interesting.
[/PLAIN]
Helipot history.

 

[Mike_In_Plano]

Don,
Excellent video, and your probably correct that it had a Helipot buried in it, but assigned a product name to the whole thing, inclusive of the indicator rings.

 

[dlgoff]

I'm still moving on this Beauty project. I made some shelf room by putting the fluid gauges in a shadow box and did some restoration work on the old electrical meters which will go into their shadow box.

Stay tuned. Beauty via old Telephone Stuff coming soon.

 

[Mike_In_Plano]

Regarding the ancient technology for making precise settings -

The Dekastat!
http://www.tegam.com/pdf_files/calibration/resistors/ds1463_obs.pdf
I'm so happy I could kiss a duck on the beak after finally rediscovering this technology

 

[dlgoff]

I'm so happy I could kiss a duck on the beak after finally rediscovering this technology

That's the smallest "decade box" I've ever seen. Not like the ones I used in Physics II Lab. Do you have one?

Speaking of small. This is the smallest "Variac" I've ever seen. It's used as a light intensity controller for a cystoscope diagnostic light. It's old and is stored in a cool wood, felt-lined box. The variable secondary scale has 14 divisions from DIM to BRIGHT.

 

[dlgoff]

Stay tuned. Beauty via old Telephone Stuff coming soon.

I'm getting close to getting the telephone stuff restored and displayed.

Here's how the fluid gauge and electrical meter shadow boxes turned out.