Last weekend, Lawrence and I went to Pittsburg to help Maeve clean almost the last of Slim’s stuff out the garage. Here are some of the first interesting items from the vanload we brought back. Some of this I’m keeping; some I’d love to place in a good home.
SWR and Power Meter
This is going to Cort.
He writes:
I’d like the Comet SWR/Power meter… Yes, I have a MUCH MUCH better one now… But that was the one Slim and I did ALL of the early repeater stuff with. There’s a lot of sentimental value attached to it. I was having a HELL of a time trying to get reasonable readings. He showed up with that one day and it made life so much easier. It was one of those “gold standard” items for us for a number of years.
Antenna
Don’t know what kind, but that’s an F connector on the bottom. Yours if you want it — any offer that includes shipping cost will be accepted.
TrunkLine Millenium Active Headend Combiner 95-AHC16
This combiner takes CATV signals that are already RF modulated and merges them onto a single feed. I believe this had never even been opened until I took these pics. Available claimed.
Datavideo Timebase Corrector
A card to go in a PC — as far as I can tell not even connecting to the bus for anything but power — to stabilize video sync before capture. By my estimation, a relic of bygone days, and available upon request claimed.
Vidicon Tubes
Although I’d never actually seen them before, I recognized these pretty quickly as videocamera imaging tubes, and the labelling identifies them as Vidicon.
Available if there’s any interest:
| Qty | Condition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | apparently new in plastic case | RCA 7735B |
| 2 | not visibly damaged | RCA 7735B in GE box |
Probably a CRT — keeping |
||
Probably a CRT — keeping |
||
| 1 | unopened | WA0EDA (?) in soft paper |
| 1 | “Used / beam current varies” | Hitachi 7735A used in box |
| 1 | face shattered | RCA 7735A, loose |
Speaker in Swivel-Mount Enclosure
Perfect prop for the next Brazil.
Slim’s Portable Powered Speaker
This is a cute little Slim-built powered speaker. That appears to be a PL-259 plug with the tip broken off on the front — I’m not sure what the logic was behind using that connector. I’m thinking I should replace the connector and hang this on the wall above the workbench.
Inside, a 9V battery clip and audio amp module.
Glass Heating Plates
This looks like some kind of experiment. Electrically-heated glass plates, half assembled. Slim was very interested in optimizing PCB production; maybe this was a test for heating etchant? Maeve takes hot tea and was always looking for a way to keep the pot warm; maybe this was a test for a teapot pad?
HeathKit Programmable Wind Chimes
I just missed the HeathKit era and never had the opportunity to assemble one (although I have of course assembled other electronics from kits, just not HeathKit). Here’s an electronic “wind chime,” complete and completely unassembled. Wow.
I’m torn between the opportunity to finally build a HeathKit, and the desire to preserve this forever just as it is. 
Indicator Light Bezel
I love this! Wish I’d found more of them, but so far only the one. Er, two. Well, the one bezel that’s a two.
The connector on the amplified speaker thingie is a “microphone connector”. That’s how I’ve always known it anyway. Used for high impedance, unbalanced microphones about a lot of decades ago.
Wow, lots of fascinating stuff. That swivel-mount speaker would go well with an old RCA microphone (but such a pairing would probably be anachronistic). And to be honest, I’d keep the HeathKit pristine, but that depends on your own ultimate goal for it. It would probably be worth more unbuilt, if you were looking to trade/swap/sell.
I wouldn’t mind the vidicons—I collect old tubes (well, everthing) and would like to include some old imaging devices.
The Antenna is one of them new fangled HDTV yagi’s
I’d love to have the Datavideo Timebase Corrector, as well as the Headend Combiner, and as i’m quite sure you’ll not be giving away the heath kit, I won’t even ask for it!! ;>)
BTW I, and several of my friends, use to call them Grief Kit, cause they usually caused a lot of it… ;>)
Thanks
Dan
Neil, I’d love to get some of the tubes to someone who’s keeping old Vidicons alive, but of course I don’t know whether there’s anyone out there still doing that. Would you be using the tubes in equipment, or just collecting them as tubes? I ask because if you’re just collecting, I wonder whether you might settle for the tube that’s slightly cracked and maybe one or two of the ones that are known to be old, or whether you’d really be looking for (believed to be) perfect ones.
Dan, interesting to hear you say the antenna is HDTV — that’s what Cort said also.
The timebase corrector and the headend combiner are yours. I’ll send an email to make shipping and payment arrangements.
You’re right that there’s no point asking for the HeathKit.
Dan, this antenna is little, like a little over 1′ across. Is this something that would pick up over-the-air digital HDTV for me, if I have a TV with a digital tuner?
I have one, and they don’t work very well… the double UHF bowtie on a rotor is *MUCH* better… you need a *REALLY* good signal for OTA ATSC HDTV, and rabbit ears, no matter how cute won’t work worth crap!!
Nice looking SWR meter. I have a couple of that style, and they usually work quite well. It might be interesting to know if it’s optimized for HF, VHF, or UHF work. Some of the really fancy ones have the meter movement separate from the sensor, and you can use different sensors for different bands.
The antenna looks to be a variation of a LPDA (Log Periodic Dipole Array):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LPDA
It’s probably for the UHF television band, but it’s hard to tell the size.
The head-end combiner looks to be an RF amplifier/mixer for a CATV
system.
As for the vidicons, I prefer Image Orthicons. There are few tubes to rival the RCA 5820.
Also, are you sure those are all vidicons? The 2AP1s sound like CRTs (and, if so, I think I could use one). The 2AP5 “blue” sounds like a
blue phosphor version of a 2AP1 (The first number is usually the diameter, while the Pn refers to the phosphor used.).
The speakers are nice, but I’d probably toss an active filter in, with an adjustable bandwidth.
As for the heating plate, Ferric Chloride etches better when warmed. Back when I was etching boards, I’d heat the etchant with a hot plate (but, never, never, never boil Ferric Chloride; you really don’t want it splashing!). Also, for doing surface mount components, you can sometimes use something like that to heat the boards to melt the solder. I’ve seen one place that uses an electric skillet for surface mount soldering.
Unbuilt Heathkits usually go for big bucks on that electronic auction place.
Indicator light bezels are cool, but are becoming a thing of the past. You usually don’t need them with LEDs.
Dave
Dave, I hadn’t looked up the 2APx yet, and you’re right that they look to be CRTs. I’ve been wanting to build a mini-scope, so these are perfect; but I’d part with one of the 2AP1s. Email me your shipping address and I’ll send you one.
Slim might have been experimenting with the glass plates for heating etchant — except he already had a nice tank with high-powered pump that could completely etch a board in about 30 seconds. I hadn’t though about SMT reflow, though — I’ll have to try out the plates and see if they get warm enough for that.
I’m not interested in selling the HeathKit.
Keith, as someone mentioned, the 2APx are CRTs–for portable ocilloscopes or small indicators.
The WA0EDA looks like a ham call sign: WAzeroEDA; curious to know what it is.
Yes, I would agree that the good vidicons should go to someone that will need or use them. I have a 7735 (new) that I hope to use in a few years when my grandson will be old enough to learn electronics.
I would like the broken Amperex 4508 and the Matsushita S4097; the RCA K1008 if it is too worn to be useful. Your call on the broken 7735.
The unknown word on the Hitachi label is probably ‘beam’.
Thanks, Neil
Neil, I thought the WA0EDA looked like a call sign too — and a familiar one, since I just double-checked and it’s Slim’s. Given that the package so labeled is wrapped in paper like the other CRTs, I’m guessing it’s going to be another one of some type.
Email me your shipping address and I’ll pack you all the tubes you mentioned — sounds like you have a pretty good home for them. If the broken 7735 you’re referring to is the one I indicated has a shattered face, I’m delighted to be rid of it — I don’t imagine it’s good for anything other than to show someone what a tube looks like.
Hi Kieth
Nice collection. I just bought an older house and on the wall was a heathkit td-1089 chime assembled. It was disconnected and I tested it and it operates but I dont think it is programmed correctly. I would love a copy of the programming instructions.