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THE AM BULLETIN BOARD => QSO => Topic started by: W8ACR on September 17, 2018, 12:23:05 AM



Title: What is it?
Post by: W8ACR on September 17, 2018, 12:23:05 AM
Can somebody tell me what this is and what it goes to? My best guess is a voltage regulator unit of some type. Maybe I'll really get lucky and somebody will have a manual of some sort. :)

Thanks, Ron


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: KE7NL - Jack on September 17, 2018, 09:23:19 AM
Turbo Encabulator Modular Duractor 8)


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: N1BCG on September 17, 2018, 09:46:27 AM
Interesting.

It has a low current power supply (6X4 rectifier), 12AT7, 6AU6, OB2 regulator, a relay tube, and two mechanical relays. The "Raise" and "Lower" neon lamps are clues and could be related to transmitter power control, but a lot of other functions are missing.

HUH!

At first I thought it might be a power supply/monitor amp for a Gates broadcast audio console but the component configuration is wrong.

The Set Voltage and Set Limit controls suggest that it may be a voltage monitor that performs a function if the sampled voltage exceeds the threshold limit.

My guess is that it's either a line voltage monitor with relay trip settings or somebody did a great job of repurposing another Gates product (I've never seen a Gates product use that color paint).

Will have to ponder this some more...


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: AJ1G on September 17, 2018, 10:41:12 PM
I think Clark has pretty well zeroed in on it being an AC power voltage monitor, perhaps for a standby generator at a transmitter site.  If you look closely you can see the “alternating current” label on the meter scale.

Wish I knew where my 1966 Gates broadcast equipment catalog went...when I was a 14 year old JN back then, one of our neighbors was a Gates sales engineer.  When he heard I had just gotten my ham ticket, he gave me a copy of the catalog, which was a hard bound tan book with several hundred pages of glossy black and white photos and descriptions of transmitters, audio boards, and accessories that I would drool over in study hall if I wasn’t reading the 64 Handbook, or other such stuff in the 621.384 non-fiction section of the HS library.  I’ll bet l’m not the only one who remembers that Dewey Decimal System number.  It’s right up there with 3885 and 7290!


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: N1BCG on September 18, 2018, 11:52:39 AM
Today's guess (there are many) is that it's a generator voltage controller where the "Set Voltage" control is used to establish the operating voltage and the "Set Limit" control is used to establish the voltages above and below (width) at which a correction is made. The "Raise" and "Lower" indicators show which control relay is active.

Got tubes to put in and try out?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's guess!


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: AJ1G on September 18, 2018, 05:41:34 PM
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Gates-Harris/Gates-Catalog-96-1965.pdf

It’s on page 214 waaay in the back of the 1965 Gates catalog. Controller for motor driven single or three phase variacs up to 70KVA.  The relays look similar to those used in the Central Electronics 20A for T/R switching.

americanradiohistory.com site has many many years of Gates catalogs, and I assume other manufacturers as well.  Don’t go the site unless you can afford to get lost there for a few hours!



Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: W8ACR on September 19, 2018, 12:19:10 PM
Wow! Thanks Chris and Clark. It's amazing that this stuff can be found in old catalogs that somebody put online.

I guess that there is no practical amateur radio use for this, particularly without the second matching unit. The cabinet is kinda cool though with its dropdown front. This could be a very neat cabinet to build a low power cw rig using a 2E26 or some similar tube, or maybe a speech amp. I'll try to get creative, and post a pic of my creation later. What would you guys like to see this thing become?

Thanks again, Ron W8ACR


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: N1BCG on September 19, 2018, 01:10:44 PM
What would you guys like to see this thing become?

Weeelllll,

That’s a tough one. How would we like you to spend your time and money? Yikes.

As-is it could possibly be used as a line voltage monitor with alarm outputs. A related purpose would be a field-intensity monitor/alarm for AM. I actually have one that is unmuted (becomes active) when I key up. Incredibly, it came in handy as recently as three days ago by detecting an antenna problem and possibly preventing transmitter damage.

There are even more “out there” ideas but these stay close to the original functionality.


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: WD4DMZ on September 21, 2018, 08:03:24 PM
Turbo Encabulator

Hahah. As an aside, the turboencabulator was in the General Electric Company Master Handbook back in the 50s and 60s. It was created as a joke to see if it would be published by Schenectady in the handbook. Have not heard that term in decades. Somewhere around the piles of old manuals in the shed I have a copy of the specs. As I recall the picture was some sort of amplidyne or small MG set.

Rich


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: KB2WIG on September 21, 2018, 11:04:36 PM

Rockwell now has the patents and the development.

Rockwell Retro Encabulator .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w

klc


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: WD4DMZ on September 22, 2018, 03:52:26 PM
GRIN!

Thanks, Rich


Title: Re: What is it?
Post by: Opcom on October 01, 2018, 10:12:48 PM
Connect it up to a G.E. Inductrol. No brushes, continuous adjustment, motor driven.
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