08-07-2011, 10:20 AM
I'm certain that it's not an electrolytic - much more likely to be say a 0.1uF. I've attached a pic of the underside of a 'Barker 88' chassis, c 1945 from which you'll spot several similar ones, with an indented band around each end of the metal jackets. I've taken a close look and they are indeed Sprague make. Barkers were a furniture store and had radio sets made for them to sell in their stores and the sets were branded 'Barker'. It's said that '88' stands for 8 valves, 8 Watts output from a push-pull pair. Barker sets seem to have used whatever valves and components that could be found at the time. EG, the listed output valves were a pair of 6F6G, but the data says that alternative valves may be found, such as 6V6G, KT61, or KT63. I've not checked to see if those are direct equivalents, but it's not relevant to this post anyway - it just reaffirms that in the immediate post-war years, many valves and components were either ex WD surplus, or were still coming off the same assembly lines as had been used for the war effort before switching to domestic production, so radio manufacturers used whatever they could lay their hands on.
As an aside, drifting yet further off topic, ironically, though military equipment had to be reliable and rugged, it didn't need to be long lasting - I believe that the average life of a Lancaster bomber at the height of the war was just 19 weeks, and indeed, many aircrew died not due to hostilities but crashed during training, so 1155s and 1154s and the like, didn't need to last even a year from a pragmatic point of view. Conversely, domestic radios used in a less hostile environment were in use daily for many hours, and needed to last several years.
For me, it's as much the socio-economic history of these old sets and pieces of test gear that as fascinating as restoring and owning them. I guess that's partly due to my being of a similar vintage - VE day - which signalled the end of the war in Europe, was five weeks before my sixth birthday!
Hope you soon have the Hunt's analyser working Rob!
David.
As an aside, drifting yet further off topic, ironically, though military equipment had to be reliable and rugged, it didn't need to be long lasting - I believe that the average life of a Lancaster bomber at the height of the war was just 19 weeks, and indeed, many aircrew died not due to hostilities but crashed during training, so 1155s and 1154s and the like, didn't need to last even a year from a pragmatic point of view. Conversely, domestic radios used in a less hostile environment were in use daily for many hours, and needed to last several years.
For me, it's as much the socio-economic history of these old sets and pieces of test gear that as fascinating as restoring and owning them. I guess that's partly due to my being of a similar vintage - VE day - which signalled the end of the war in Europe, was five weeks before my sixth birthday!
Hope you soon have the Hunt's analyser working Rob!
David.
