DrB Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 I'm getting old.. I can remember when you could go to any drug store and test tubes. Here is mine and it does get used. Dave.. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) I had a Hickok 600A back in the day, before dirt was invented. I used it a lot, along with my Simpson 260s. Now, if you will excuse me, I must hitch up the team for my weekly trip into town. If I want light tonight, I need more kerosene. Edited August 11, 2019 by tous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul53 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Haven't seen one in ages! My dad worked at CBS Hytron making the tubes, when we took tubes to the Rexall drug store to test, I got a lesson on constructing tubes and what they did. Now I'm wondering where my reference book which detailed every tube is! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrB Posted August 10, 2019 Author Share Posted August 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, tous said: I had a Hickock 600A back in the day, before dirt was invented. I used it a lot, along with my Simpson 260s. Now, if you will excuse me, I must hitch up the team for my weekly trip into town. If I want light tonight, I need more kerosene. I'm one of the fading few who can still work with this old ****. Simpsons were good but Triplett 630's ruled the day. Here is mine... Hold on there tous, let me hitch up my horse and catch up with you.. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) My only complaint about my 260s was that the danged things needed one D cell and four AA batteries. And it has no overload protection, but good engineers didn't need it -- after frying just one device, we didn't need no steeeenkin' protection after that. I still think that the only needle-type meters detect jitter far better than the digital displays ever will. I still prefer needle-style VU meters over the flourascan ones. Edited August 10, 2019 by tous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrB Posted August 10, 2019 Author Share Posted August 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, tous said: I still think that the only needle-type meters detect jitter far better than the digital displays ever will. Yep ... For aligning tape decks when looking for peaks and dialing in bias, the peak needle and then the drop you needed was easy to see. Digital meters would bounce all over with their refresh rates. Analog meters ruled.. Dave.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 2 hours ago, DrB said: I'm getting old.. I can remember when you could go to any drug store and test tubes. Here is mine and it does get used. Dave.. Hickok made good stuff. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 1 hour ago, DrB said: Yep ... For aligning tape decks when looking for peaks and dialing in bias, the peak needle and then the drop you needed was easy to see. Digital meters would bounce all over with their refresh rates. Analog meters ruled.. Dave.. Many expert engineers fail to remember that Analog readout gives you "rate of change", and allows you to predict when an event will occur, while a digital readout gives you precision when you don't need it. digital displays simply lights all the display elements at once during the change of input data. Hence, Analog tach's rule also. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubdriver Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 (edited) Nice Hickok! I have a couple floating around in various states of repair. As for meters, horses for courses - it's tough to beat an analog display for seeing trends or peaking; digital is easier to read at a glance. I have both here, for use as appropriate. And I'll see your Triplett: And raise you a Simpson 269 : Gotta love old boat-anchory gear. I'm currently working on a REALLY old Electro Instruments digital voltmeter (the chassis behind the Simpson in the photo above) - the display is made up of stacked edge-lit lucite plates, each with a number etched into it, and the voltage measurement is taken by comparison to a reference, using a series of stepper relays. I have just replaced all the hardened and broken rubber isolation bushings that held the stepper relays in place - now there are some caps to go through as well. -Pat Edited August 11, 2019 by Cubdriver 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 10 minutes ago, Cubdriver said: Nice Hickok! I have a couple floating around in various states of repair. As for meters, horses for courses - it's tough to beat an analog display for seeing trends or peaking; digital is easier to read at a glance. I have both here, for use as appropriate. And I'll see your Triplett: And raise you a Simpson 269 : Gotta love old boat-anchory gear. I'm currently working on a REALLY old Electro Instruments digital voltmeter (the chassis behind the Simpson in the photo above) - the display is made up of stacked edge-lit lucite plates, each with a number etched into it, and the voltage measurement is taken by comparison to a reference, using a series of stepper relays. I have just replaced all the hardened and broken rubber isolation bushings that held the stepper relays in place - now there are some caps to go through as well. -Pat I have some left over General Radio, Tektronix, and HP gear too. Unfortunately it will go to the dump since few around here see any value in it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubdriver Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubdriver Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 Truth be told, I'm not sure how my house hasn't collapsed yet. (And I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I have no SWMBO to temper my inclination to take in stray test gear.) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrB Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 5 minutes ago, Cubdriver said: Truth be told, I'm not sure how my house hasn't collapsed yet. (And I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I have no SWMBO to temper my inclination to take in stray test gear.) I am the same way both with test equipment and audio gear. It always follows me home somehow.... Dave.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 10 minutes ago, Cubdriver said: Truth be told, I'm not sure how my house hasn't collapsed yet. (And I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I have no SWMBO to temper my inclination to take in stray test gear.) I'll see you and raise you a set of microwave components that are: a mmwave 90 GHZ transmitter and receiver, with waveguide, SWR measurement/adjustment and calibration. New! Can fit into a manila envelope. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 We're not old, amigos. We are simply ahead of behind the times. I love that old stuff. When it the last time your equipment exuded a pleasant odor? Or could heat a room? 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 1 minute ago, tous said: We're not old, amigos. We are simply ahead of behind the times. I love that old stuff. When it the last time your equipment exuded a pleasant odor? Or could heat a room? Or had the hum that sometimes sounded like it was alive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrB Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 8 minutes ago, janice6 said: I'll see you and raise you a set of microwave components that are: a mmwave 90 GHZ transmitter and receiver, with waveguide, SWR measurement/adjustment and calibration. New! Can fit into a manila envelope. I'll see that and raise with a couple of panel meters, A Triplett Ampere Meter A Dressen-Barnes D.C Voltmeter and an API VU meter. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, DrB said: I'll see that and raise with a couple of panel meters, A Triplett Ampere Meter A Dressen-Barnes D.C Voltmeter and an API VU meter. Touche. I have many of those too. I have a cardboard moving box of them. No one wants them anymore. I have a solid state digital dual channel Tektronix that's destined for the dump too. Edited August 11, 2019 by janice6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubdriver Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 12 minutes ago, DrB said: I am the same way both with test equipment and audio gear. It always follows me home somehow.... Dave.. Yeah, right? God forbid I could have had an interest in collecting something small and light, like shotglasses or the like Nope, I go to California for work and visit the surplus place and find boat anchor meters and the like that I then have to ship across the country... 19" rack width x about 20" deep x about 7" tall. About 50 lbs. Each. The bottom one is the voltmeter. It can measure DC voltage. Period. Add the upper one, and it will also do AC voltage, and resistance. After I build two missing interface boards. Great fun to pack them to ship, too- Bottom layer: Top layer: They did survive the trip unscathed, but my credit card was not vary happy with paying their passage! -Pat 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, Cubdriver said: Yeah, right? God forbid I could have had an interest in collecting something small and light, like shotglasses or the like Nope, I go to California for work and visit the surplus place and find boat anchor meters and the like that I then have to ship across the country... 19" rack width x about 20" deep x about 7" tall. About 50 lbs. Each. The bottom one is the voltmeter. It can measure DC voltage. Period. Add the upper one, and it will also do AC voltage, and resistance. After I build two missing interface boards. Great fun to pack them to ship, too- Bottom layer: Top layer: They did survive the trip unscathed, but my credit card was not vary happy with paying their passage! -Pat Those were new when I first used them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrB Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Cubdriver said: Yeah, right? God forbid I could have had an interest in collecting something small and light, like shotglasses or the like Nope, I go to California for work and visit the surplus place and find boat anchor meters and the like that I then have to ship across the country... 19" rack width x about 20" deep x about 7" tall. About 50 lbs. Each. The bottom one is the voltmeter. It can measure DC voltage. Period. Add the upper one, and it will also do AC voltage, and resistance. After I build two missing interface boards. Great fun to pack them to ship, too- Bottom layer: Top layer: They did survive the trip unscathed, but my credit card was not vary happy with paying their passage! -Pat I can go pull out some of my heavy artillery but it's too late in the night. Nice stuff. There is an electronics surplus store here. Thank god they moved further away... Dave.. Edited August 11, 2019 by DrB 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubdriver Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 7 minutes ago, tous said: We're not old, amigos. We are simply ahead of behind the times. I love that old stuff. When it the last time your equipment exuded a pleasant odor? Or could heat a room? Pretty much every time I turn it on! It does have a very distinct scent - warm dust and I'm not sure what else, but it is unmistakable, and kind of nice in a weird sort of way... A fan helps to circulate the aroma, too. Air fresheners for techie-geeks! -Pat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubdriver Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 And I did more digging and found that the internal oscillator is working, the signal is getting lost somewhere along the way. And haven't had time or inclination to go further on it - it remains in the ever growing repair queue... (This, unfortunately, is not a proper YouTube video - there were no cat cameos in this one. ) -Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maser Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 And you boomers have the nerve to make fun of us millennials and our technology! ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 It's not nerve. It's the only fun we have left. Other than Wheel of Fortune. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now