Test Equipment Anonymous

Sorry for the delay in getting these up; "IRL" has been "extra-real" lately, IYKWIM.

First up, I'll just post pics of what we saw while we were there; as usual I was there almost an hour early and people were already set up & doing business, and attendance was pretty good.

And before anybody asks... I did not get the Apple II+.

Yes, I hemmed & hawed & wibbled over it, but in the end I realized it would only get in the way of my existing HP 85A project, and decided that, for the sake of my own sanity, there would have to be a hard line I wouldn't cross: No new vintage PCs until I have the 85A and the Zenith Z-120 done and/or disposed of.






















mnem
and here's my son, smartly modeling the latest in vintage audio transducers:

I wibbled very hard over the Freed-Eisenman Neutrodyne Receiver (6th pic); the guy had it priced obviously just high enough to make sure it went to a "collector", not a junk scavenger who'd just rip it apart. Something aboot the craftsmanship in every aspect of the thing just pushed all the right buttons... but I simply do not have anyplace safe to keep such a huge piece, especially after my haul of wiggle-meters...






















mnem
continued below...

mnem
This concludes the Sightseeing Tour portion of the show... Up next, The Haul:

THE HAUL:





















mnem
But wait! There's MORE!!

That one already has a cousin sitting on my mantle, and will soon be right next to it:


















mnem
Now how much would you pay... for me to stop...?

mnem
Damn, I took a lot of pics...

Yes, really... 6 posts.




















[EDIT:] Evidently I was too tired to count; I only posted 9 pics here, but linked to 10. That 5061B is from @bd139's trip to Poland...

mnem
whew...

It looks like an excellent swapmeet. Possibly a bit heavy on domestic electronics and light on TE and military gear.

I have a friend who has a jukebox like that. It was downstairs in the kitchen and he wanted it moved upstairs into the living room. We had to remove the autochanger mechanism to save weight and moved it separately. We had to make a wooden cradle to hold it temporarily. On the way upstairs we nudged some of the metal buttons on the rear and pushed them in. It took ages to sort out that problem.

Wow, some treasures there! (Although I'd skip the Engelbert Humperdinck LP.)

That lot should see you through the winter You are probably safe from those RF amplifiers, given the indicated voltages!

I used to want a Markus, and now they are a blast from the past[1].

Having tried to use one, I ran into a problem that is all too common in posts on The Other Plaice. What is a circuit's intended performance specifications, and how does it work.

[1] I always wanted an Encyclopaedia Britannia. I got one c1992, just before CDROM encyclopaedias and the web. It is now stored under the stairs.

Zenith wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 1:27 pm It looks like an excellent swapmeet. Possibly a bit heavy on domestic electronics and light on TE and military gear.

I have a friend who has a jukebox like that. It was downstairs in the kitchen and he wanted it moved upstairs into the living room. We had to remove the autochanger mechanism to save weight and moved it separately. We had to make a wooden cradle to hold it temporarily. On the way upstairs we nudged some of the metal buttons on the rear and pushed them in. It took ages to sort out that problem.

Yes, it was quite good. I have yet to triage most of it... like I said; IRL, etc. My son even found some trinkets.

mnem
I actually considered several times aboot asking how much on the jukebox... then I decided I'd better not; "I might just have enough..."

tggzzz wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 2:16 pm That lot should see you through the winter You are probably safe from those RF amplifiers, given the indicated voltages!

I used to want a Markus, and now they are a blast from the past[1].

Having tried to use one, I ran into a problem that is all too common in posts on The Other Plaice. What is a circuit's intended performance specifications, and how does it work.

[1] I always wanted an Encyclopaedia Britannia. I got one c1992, just before CDROM encyclopaedias and the web. It is now stored under the stairs.

I got the uWave stuff mostly to pass along to fellow members here... I have literally zero idea WTF they're good for or even reasonable safety precautions. The one oscillator is reasonably safe according to NadHacker; I might keep that to play with the 5334B.

My grand-dad bought me the Britannica when I was born... "Book of the Year" and everything. When I was 11, I started reading it. Finished when I was 13. Somewhen between then and the time my grammummaw passed away, it evaporated.

mnem
I kept my Marcus; mum wouldn't let me send him off to military school.

Nice haul. My father had one of those Heathkit M-1 "Handitesters". My brother currently has it.

mnementh wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 4:46 pm I actually considered several times aboot asking how much on the jukebox... then I decided I'd better not; "I might just have enough..."

Probably at least $3,000. Also they are quite big. The big Wurlitzer ones with bubbles go for a lot more.

Pinball machines are another thing like that.

Zenith wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 5:57 pm

mnementh wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 4:46 pm I actually considered several times aboot asking how much on the jukebox... then I decided I'd better not; "I might just have enough..."

Probably at least $3,000. Also they are quite big. The big Wurlitzer ones with bubbles go for a lot more.

Pinball machines are another thing like that.

Actually my understanding is closer to $10k for that AMI model in that condition. Apparently when it was introduced in the early 60s, a lot of the customers were put off by the radical styling change, so not that many were made. Now we look back and think it looks great, but it was a bit too futuristic back then. It came from the estate of a jukebox collector; he specifically instructed that it and several others were to go to the museum. The guys have been working on getting it into good working condition - it's in amazingly good shape.

It can play both 45s and 7" 33-1/3 RPM records - there's a little pin that sticks up from the centering post that tells it what is on the platter. A large hole 45 doesn't touch it, so the post pops up to center the 45. The 7" 33-1/3 records have the same small hole as an LP, so they push the pin down. The changes the platter drive speed to play the slower turning disc. They're mechanical marvels, and even more so when we stop and think how spoiled we are these days with 3D capable CAD programs and modeling while these were painstakingly drawn up on paper.



The selector pin is at about 9:00 in the 45 sized part of the hub:








-Pat

Thinking back, I was told this one cost $4,000 around 2012. I can't recall whether that included shipping and import duties or not. There is something of the robot from "The Forbidden Planet" about it.

I took a lot of pictures because we had to dismantle it to get it upstairs. Digital pictures cost nothing and we didn't want to be left guessing which bits went where. It looks like a slightly different model from the one previously discussed. The striking curved thing, showing the titles on offer, is notoriously easily damaged, so that was removed first.

Not only is it a mechanical marvel but the electronics are well thought out as well. I believe the output tubes are an unusual type and are hard to find. There were problems getting it to run properly on 50Hz rather than 60Hz mains, but someone had produced and was selling a fix.

The juke box in the kitchen before dismantling and taking it upstairs. The mechanism removed and resting on the cradle. It wasn't sensible to rest it on a sofa. Towards the bottom of the picture there's a metal disc with a ring of studs. We managed to push a few of the studs in, which caused strange behaviour. This one I'd class as in very good condition, with a few signs of wear, but not factory fresh. It works flawlessly.

That's the song selector - note that the two arms are configured on their ends to press either the inner or outer ring of pins. Inner pins coincide with one side of the record; outer with the other. When a customer made a selection, that arm assembly would rotate until the appropriate end was over the pin corresponding to the desired selection, then a solenoid would push the inner ends out causing the arms to see-saw and push the corresponding pin in. A microswitch on the opposite side of the disc would then detect the now protruding pin and cue up the appropriate record, then another solenoid would push the pin back out, resetting it. I need to bring my good video camera up there and get some good recordings of it in action.

Output tubes are 6973s in push-pull configuration.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6973.html

I did actually take a video of the mechanism, but it was a handheld iPad and the audio is terrible and it's rather dark.
https://pmanning.smugmug.com/VRCMCT-Pho ... -WmgvFPR/A (can't put it on YouChoob as there's music)

It was 2016 when we solved the problems of dismantling it, moving it and re-assembling it. It took most of a day. I only scratched the surface of how it worked. It's a fascinating thing and I can see why people value them, but I'm glad I don't. I'm happy to admire them from a distance.

Zenith wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 9:55 pm ...
There is something of the robot from "The Forbidden Planet" about it.
...

Lovely evocative description!

"Here's one I prepared earlier" viewtopic.php?p=10331#p10331 w.r.t. Piccadilly Circus and Petula Clark.

(That was and probably still is a classic phrase from a UK children's TV programme)

tggzzz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 9:42 am "Here's one I prepared earlier" (That was and probably still is a classic phrase from a UK children's TV programme)

Still is. I used to use it when I was teaching to introduce a demonstration and the kids knew the reference. In my final job, we often had to make things light-tight (surprisingly difficult), and the careful wrapping of stuff in kitchen foil held by black insulating tape was known as "the Blue Peter bit".

"Here's one we prepared earlier" is a common dodge, when demonstrating things where something takes too long to do in the time allotted for the programme, or where something can go wrong. It might be a fiddly set up procedure or having to wait for glue to set.

Fifty years ago I was talking to someone working with photomultipliers which could detect single photons. They said things you'd think would be lightproof, such as folded metal seams and screw threaded fittings, were not; a few photons would always find their way through. Making something light proof was something they found hard. By their standards film cameras were not lightproof.

Cubdriver wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:35 pm

Zenith wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 5:57 pm

mnementh wrote: ↑Tue Sep 30, 2025 4:46 pm I actually considered several times aboot asking how much on the jukebox... then I decided I'd better not; "I might just have enough..."

Probably at least $3,000. Also they are quite big. The big Wurlitzer ones with bubbles go for a lot more.

Pinball machines are another thing like that.

Actually my understanding is closer to $10k for that AMI model in that condition. Apparently when it was introduced in the early 60s, a lot of the customers were put off by the radical styling change, so not that many were made. Now we look back and think it looks great, but it was a bit too futuristic back then. It came from the estate of a jukebox collector; he specifically instructed that it and several others were to go to the museum. The guys have been working on getting it into good working condition - it's in amazingly good shape... (SNIP)

-Pat

Wow, Pat... thanks for the infodump. And the one after that. I've worked on a few 100-disc CD carousels which were obviously descended from this very engineering.

Good thing I didn't ask "How much... " and make a fool of myself...

mnem
"It is better to hold your tongue and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." ~grand-dad

mnementh wrote: ↑Sat Oct 11, 2025 12:07 am Wow, Pat... thanks for the infodump. And the one after that. I've worked on a few 100-disc CD carousels which were obviously descended from this very engineering.

Good thing I didn't ask "How much... " and make a fool of myself...

mnem
"It is better to hold your tongue and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." ~grand-dad

One of these years I'll cross paths with you at a swap meet, though with my nocturnal inclinations I usually arrive closer to or after the end than the beginning. This is probably a good thing as I have far too much stuff already and really shouldn't be bringing more wayward test gear home...

-Pat