AT Voltmeter

  • Thread starter Paul Hovnanian P.E.
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Paul Hovnanian P.E.

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I picked this gizmo up at the local junque shoppe. Pics on a.b.s.e. It
appears to be an r.f. tuned cavity. Any info or comments?

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Paul Hovnanian mailto:paul@Hovnanian.com
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2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2.
 
On Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:25:59 -0700, "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
<paul@hovnanian.com> wrote:

I picked this gizmo up at the local junque shoppe. Pics on a.b.s.e. It
appears to be an r.f. tuned cavity. Any info or comments?
Click to expand...

Sensitive Research Instrument Corp (Singer Metrics or Singer Gertch)
made mostly electrostatic voltmeters. I couldn't find anything
Sensitive Instruments made that might be RF related. I have no clue
what an "AT Voltmeter" might be. The Ballantine 390 is listed as an
"A-T Voltmeter" but I don't want to download 38MBytes just to see the
catalog.

This looks like the Ballantine version of the same cavity:
<http://www.surplussales.com/EQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIP-19.HTML>
Kinda looks like the micrometer adjusts a big piston capacitor, and
not a RF cavity, but I'm gussing.

I don't think that glass device is an acorn tube. Not tall enough,
not enough leads, no filament, and not enough external connections. My
guess(tm) would be either a spark gap or a neon lamp protector.
There's a number on the bottom of the glass envelope, which might
help.

Value? No clue.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
 
On Fri, 07 Oct 2016 08:34:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:


This looks like the Ballantine version of the same cavity:
http://www.surplussales.com/EQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIP-19.HTML
Click to expand...

More of the same:
<http://www.surplussales.com/equipment/Close-ups/eqp-bal-390_L.html>

Still no clue on what it does. The wooden box makes me think it's
part of some test setup. The labels on the connectors in the photo
would have been helpful.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
 
On 10/7/2016 12:23 AM, Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
Just picked this gadget up at the local junque store. Apears to be an r.f.
tuned cavity. It has a acorn tube inside with marking "5 mA" that I can't
identify. Any info or ideas as to what this might be worth? If nothing, at
least it has a nice barrel micrometer on the end that I can put to use.
Click to expand...
Tucker has a manual for it for 20 bucks.
http://www.etestmanuals.com/Search.aspx?Mfg=SRI
 
Tom Biasi wrote:

Tucker has a manual for it for 20 bucks.
http://www.etestmanuals.com/Search.aspx?Mfg=SRI
Click to expand...

I saw that. But it's more than I paid for the gadget.

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize. " - Tom Lehrer
 
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:25:59 -0700, "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
paul@hovnanian.com> wrote:

I picked this gizmo up at the local junque shoppe. Pics on a.b.s.e. It
appears to be an r.f. tuned cavity. Any info or comments?

Sensitive Research Instrument Corp (Singer Metrics or Singer Gertch)
made mostly electrostatic voltmeters. I couldn't find anything
Sensitive Instruments made that might be RF related. I have no clue
what an "AT Voltmeter" might be. The Ballantine 390 is listed as an
"A-T Voltmeter" but I don't want to download 38MBytes just to see the
catalog.

This looks like the Ballantine version of the same cavity:
http://www.surplussales.com/EQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIP-19.HTML
Kinda looks like the micrometer adjusts a big piston capacitor, and
not a RF cavity, but I'm gussing.
Click to expand...

This exactly wht it is. The make/model number lead to this page:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/mbrs/recording_preservation/manuals/Ballatine%20A-
T%20Voltmeter%20Model%20390.pdf

and this is what I've got. The little 'acorn tube' is a glass encapsulated
thermocouple. It even says '5 mA' on it.

I don't think that glass device is an acorn tube. Not tall enough,
not enough leads, no filament, and not enough external connections. My
guess(tm) would be either a spark gap or a neon lamp protector.
There's a number on the bottom of the glass envelope, which might
help.
Click to expand...

The little 'acorn tube' is a glass encapsulated thermocouple. It even says
'5 mA' on it.

Thanks!

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
I think you left the stove on.
 
More info: The Ballentine Model number lead me to this description:

"Attenuator-thermoelectric highfrequency voltmeter" and patent:

https://www.google.com/patents/US2933684

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Bumper sticker: You're too close for missiles. Switching to guns.
 
On Fri, 07 Oct 2016 15:59:15 -0700, "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
<paul@hovnanian.com> wrote:

More info: The Ballentine Model number lead me to this description:

"Attenuator-thermoelectric highfrequency voltmeter" and patent:

https://www.google.com/patents/US2933684
Click to expand...

Nice. It's all in the patent. Apply some RF to one end of the tube.
The micrometer controls the capacitive coupling to the thermocouple,
which produces enough voltage to move a millivoltmeter. I guess today
it would be called a thermal RF power meter or bolometer. The big
advantage is that it stays calibrated longer than other schemes of its
day (1956).

I have no clue what you might be able to do with it. Rip out the
thermocouple and you have a rather precise adjustable capacitor. You
might try selling it to someone with a calibration lab or museum of
antique secondary calibration instruments.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
 
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:25:59 -0700, "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
paul@hovnanian.com> wrote:

I picked this gizmo up at the local junque shoppe. Pics on a.b.s.e. It
appears to be an r.f. tuned cavity. Any info or comments?

Sensitive Research Instrument Corp (Singer Metrics or Singer Gertch)
made mostly electrostatic voltmeters. I couldn't find anything
Sensitive Instruments made that might be RF related. I have no clue
what an "AT Voltmeter" might be. The Ballantine 390 is listed as an
"A-T Voltmeter" but I don't want to download 38MBytes just to see the
catalog.

This looks like the Ballantine version of the same cavity:
http://www.surplussales.com/EQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIPMENT/TESTEQUIP-19.HTML
Kinda looks like the micrometer adjusts a big piston capacitor, and
not a RF cavity, but I'm gussing.

I don't think that glass device is an acorn tube. Not tall enough,
not enough leads, no filament, and not enough external connections. My
guess(tm) would be either a spark gap or a neon lamp protector.
There's a number on the bottom of the glass envelope, which might
help.

Value? No clue.
Click to expand...

The link below is to the website of a deceased friend who collected
antique electronics. About 2/3 down the page are a number of their early
thermocouple based meters, along with a little of the history of
Sensitive Research. I have one of the 'Polyranger' meters that he mentions.

Randy Guttery was a US Navy Veteran, and a Broadcast engineer in
Meridian Mississippi. He was an excellent electronics tech, as well.

http://www.comcents.com/te.php

--
Never piss off an Engineer!

They don't get mad.

They don't get even.

They go for over unity! ;-)
 
On Thu, 27 Oct 2016 17:14:59 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

The link below is to the website of a deceased friend who collected
antique electronics. About 2/3 down the page are a number of their early
thermocouple based meters, along with a little of the history of
Sensitive Research. I have one of the 'Polyranger' meters that he mentions.

Randy Guttery was a US Navy Veteran, and a Broadcast engineer in
Meridian Mississippi. He was an excellent electronics tech, as well.

http://www.comcents.com/te.php
Click to expand...

Thanks. Of the test equipment shown, I think I have either used,
owned, or still own much of it. If ever get tired of the stuff, I'll
open a museum. I've seen some Sensitive Research stuff at various
times, but was never into calibration or metrology, so they were of
little interest. Thanks much.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
 
The inventors were employees of US National Bureau of Standards and wrote a
paper on their invention:

http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/44/jresv44n1p15_A1b.pdf
 
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 27 Oct 2016 17:14:59 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

The link below is to the website of a deceased friend who collected
antique electronics. About 2/3 down the page are a number of their early
thermocouple based meters, along with a little of the history of
Sensitive Research. I have one of the 'Polyranger' meters that he mentions.

Randy Guttery was a US Navy Veteran, and a Broadcast engineer in
Meridian Mississippi. He was an excellent electronics tech, as well.

http://www.comcents.com/te.php

Thanks. Of the test equipment shown, I think I have either used,
owned, or still own much of it. If ever get tired of the stuff, I'll
open a museum. I've seen some Sensitive Research stuff at various
times, but was never into calibration or metrology, so they were of
little interest. Thanks much.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. I did some work in a Metrology lab, while at
Microdyne. My latest addition to my home shop is a Boonton 9200A digital
RF Milivoltmter. It will replace the analog 92B model that I've had for
decades. It's too bad that it doesn't have the second channel, or
IEEE-488 interface.

The S-R Polyranger had been donated to a Vocational Electronics course.
It was given to me, when the school system dropped the course. I was on
the Board of Advisers for that course.

--
Never piss off an Engineer!

They don't get mad.

They don't get even.

They go for over unity! ;-)
 
Thanks to you and Jeff for the links. I think I've got enough to figure this
beast out.

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a pleasant Terran revolution.
 
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