February is turning into a bad month for progress on the repair/build front.

When I first secured this blog (sometime in 2006) my intent was to review some of the repurposed equipment I use. I shot that idea down, so as to avoid tempting the rarity index from pushing these devices into a price bracket beyond my means. ((I realize that notion hinges on enough people actually giving a shit about what I do, but I feel it's a forgivable cautious motivation none the less)) So, this page lay dormant for a while until the repair log theme surfaced; meanwhile it would seem as if holding my enthusiasm at bay did nothing to ward off the upward creep in value of these units I enjoy working with.


I'm still a bit wary, though as tooling (slowly) progresses to the point at which scratch manufacturing of these systems is possible, I foresee a more forthcoming flow of information. Free information is what divides us from the animals.


There also remains the notion of trade secret, espoused by the protective artist. That with knowledge of the ingredients, one's edge or advantage is lost. I've more or less crawled beyond that juvenile framework upon which so many have hung a delusional veneer of originality to conceal the regurgitated processes within. In short, different people produce different compositions when seated at a given set-up, assuming of course that said set-up has the inherent potential to overstep the ruts carved by one trick ponies.


Naturally, I mean none of my marginally vitriolic language above to be focused on any one individual or group, why give such individuals weight with which to work? No, universal truths should be shared by all, equally. The balance of beneficial and detrimental facts being an oft times ugly meter of the position of things. Reality, if you prefer..

Barring actually getting anything done, let's have a look at the pile and see what relics are situated toward the top. Of course, current placement in the upper strata means nothing in the big scheme of things. Once I do something stupid like lose a tool the orientation of stuff tends to be disrupted.

PACO E-200-C

I've been meaning to dive into an RF test generator for a while now, and it looks like the Precision Apparatus CO E-200-C is going to be my test bed. The goal, of course, is to squeak out something usable in the framework of audio while avoiding extensive modification. Of course, before I begin down that path, the unit must be gone through. Note the omission of a power switch..

..and, once this "fused" plug is severed and forever dropped into the odd parts bin, the omission of a fuse. I'm also not brimming with excitement regarding the circuit they've built to clean the hash out of the AC mains:
Why yes, those SEALDTITE caps DO tie to chassis ground.

Though I am gratified that this capacitor isn't sweating nitroglycerine, I'll wager what it is sweating is less than swell.
Obviously ready for retirement. I trust the rabid preservationists out there will forgive me my inability to source* replacement paper caps with cloth covered wire, I'll probably reuse that clamp though. (* or having sourced, the inability to justify the cloth wire premium) It would be cool though to drop another stick of dynamite into it, but since the enclosure is without peep slots I'll be happy with some new production shiny capacitor instead.

The OSC circuit itself is a thing of beauty, somewhat self contained on the rotary range selection bank. It's pretty much this section that convinced me to leave the fundamental circuit intact and attempt to implement the device at the frequencies it was built for. Simply put, I really don't want to hack any parts into this section, seeing as how it's a fine example of the quality of build that was more or less commonplace prior to the methodical erosion of quality ushered in by greed during the waning years of the 20th Century.