Model Boat Mayhem

Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Jonty on March 28, 2009, 06:40:19 pm

Title: Craftsmanship
Post by: Jonty on March 28, 2009, 06:40:19 pm

  This should interest anyone with a liking for vintage hifi or memories of valve radio control equipment:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-9843011-47.html

  Looks as if he made most of the equipment himself too.

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Tug-Kenny RIP on March 29, 2009, 10:38:54 am

Well, there's 18 minutes of fascination. Thank you for that. Very clever.



ken

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Vintage on March 30, 2009, 07:24:47 pm

Absolutely brilliant & quite hypnotic..

Thanks for the link  :-))

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: sinjon on March 31, 2009, 08:34:05 am

I have no idea what a vacuum tube is or does, but that is absolutely stunning.

Colin

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Tug-Kenny RIP on March 31, 2009, 10:45:21 am

Quote from: sinjon on March 31, 2009, 08:34:05 am

I have no idea what a vacuum tube is or does, but that is absolutely stunning.

Colin

I was brought up with em!  Known as Valves for old Radios !!!  Still got hundreds in my workshop. They used to cost  10/6 pence each (50P) and now some are worth over 40  pounds.

I shall be starting an Ebay splurge when I need some more money for a new boat !!   ok2

ken

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: malcolmfrary on March 31, 2009, 11:30:56 am

Like many others, I have often thought "If I had the right tools, I could do it".  Thats me firmly put back in my proper place.  Hats off to a true craftsman.
Although, I do have a Swiss Army knife.......

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: tigertiger on March 31, 2009, 01:09:47 pm

Quote from: Tug---Kenny on March 31, 2009, 10:45:21 am

Quote from: sinjon on March 31, 2009, 08:34:05 am

I have no idea what a vacuum tube is or does, but that is absolutely stunning.

Colin

They used to cost  10/6 pence each (50P) and now some are worth over 40  pounds.

I wouldn't mind betting that in them days 10/6 would buy you something similar to what you would get for 40 quid today. O0

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Circlip on March 31, 2009, 04:15:03 pm

Surprising what you could do with a couple of 3D6's and a micro switch   :-))   Although only one at once, none of yer 2.whatever Gigs.

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Jonty on March 31, 2009, 08:36:51 pm

  That, Colin, is what you used in the days before transistors came along. And this is what you used it for (a 30 + 30 watt stereo amplifier. The heat output was tremendous and life and reliability a fraction that of a transistor unit.

  And the other photo is what the works looked like before we had PCBs or ICs and so on.

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: roycv on April 01, 2009, 07:05:39 pm

Nice one Jonty.  I used to work on punched card data processing calculators, they were about the size of a small car and had a plugged program board in the front.

Most of the calculating was done with double triodes i.e. 2 of what the video guy was making in one glass tube. (a shilling each (5p).  (12 AU 7's and 13 D 5's). 
I would carry about 50 or so with me when we did maintenance and use most of them as well! The art was to get at the valve and change it before it went intermittent. From memory I would think there were upwards of 700 valves in a calculator, and the largest, perhaps 2000.  I actually have fond memories of these machines, 95 %  of the time they were very easy to fix.

They consumed quite a lot of power and there were a pair of glass tube rectifying diodes nearly a foot high which glowed electric blue, very impressive but just do not touch! They seemed to last forever I think I only ever changed one in 6 years with 30 machines to look after.
That was back in 19hundredandfrozentodeath.

This is my teaching granny to suck eggs bit.........
The graphs being drawn out were I am pretty sure the Ia/Vg characteristic curves which shows the effect on the anode current of varying the grid voltage.  A nice straight slanted line giving undistorted amplification.

Excellent video, how on earth do you find things like this?
regards Roy

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Bartapuss on April 01, 2009, 08:57:13 pm

There's some very upmarket music systems which use valves as part of their design so you can see them glow but also some aficionados state you can't beat the effect they have on music/sound reproduction.

Title: Re: Craftsmanship
Post by: Jonty on April 01, 2009, 08:58:56 pm

Hello, Roy

Picked that one up on the H J Leak discussion site on Yahoo.