Restoration or Parts Teardown- You Decide! [Sonizon SO-100]

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

To understand more about electronics, and gain access to my designs and inventions, click here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab

[@TheShadow19962810]

Mr Carlson's Lab I have question have you ever repaired a geiger counter?

[@bautistaconcon5719]

@@TheShadow19962810 I a`m just a new in electronic sir.

[@flyguille]

but, you has the probe?

[@johnparichuk8367]

I'm in favor of restoration. I hate to see old tube equipment junked. I have test equipment I've brought back to life that I may never use, but I had to do it! By the way, what's the situation with the Vedolyzer?

[@TheMB2333]

Hi. Kind of off the beaten path with this question but what the heck. There was a lot of talk about capacitors here and I also know you are into cars (or at least yours). Any thoughts theoretically about a super cap portable car battery charger that can basically take the smallest amount of power from your car's battery, store the energy in the super caps, and actually use it then to give a burst back to the car battery to charge it back up and get a start. You may know Scottie Kilmer's car channel (he's coming up on 3M subs and 900 million total views) and he raved about them. Too good to be true? They are about $115 and about 1/2 the size of a laptop. Any thoughts not specifically about the unit, but about the concept?

[@followthetrawler]

Definitely restoration - it looks very interesting!

[@sneugler]

I think it’s a super interesting piece of old equipment, never seen anything like it before. Would love to see a restoration. It’s a bonus that everything is in great cosmetic condition already.

[@alfredneumann4692]

Restoration! But you must build the head-device. I would like to see measuring metal-thickness.

[@BruceNitroxpro]

Alfred Neumann , Don't even TRY building that "head device." It took many, many long lab hours to develop that tool. Better to try E-bay or some way of BUYING it... or even BORROWING one (perhaps to copy?).

[@otm646]

I've used a device like this 1,000s of times. It's not as exciting as you'd imagine. KZbin has enough videos of it in action to show you how it works.

[@phonebackup8132]

I vote for the restoration of it. I could use this thing.

[@thomasjones-kg5zi842]

What would you use it for?

[@phonebackup8132]

@S12Bn0122 K12jjs00988 I would not pay what it's worth, given that a more accurate device could be had for less. I'm a tech myself and just think it's a cool vintage piece, if it were mine I would fix and calibrate it and use it to test my welds.

[@tasmedic]

Have you got a probe for it? If not, you're screwed.

[@dougmcartin3881]

Interestingly Magnaflux Corp is still very much alive and well doing material testing. You should send them an email to see if they still have documentation for this unit. You never know.

[@paul-c7541]

Paul, That's a restoration project, if the company is still going you may get the head unit for free, if they have a museum they may want it off you, it looks a high quality piece, so don't give up on it ,give it one of your excellent restorations.

[@BruceNitroxpro]

This will be right up your alley, as they used to say. Seriously, it is a short, perfect way to showcase an electro-mechanical device about which few viewers have any knowledge, as well as share how that old "wobulator knockoff" was used, "way back when!" (I will turn 78 on July 4th of this year... 2019). de KQ2E

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Have a great birthday Bruce!

[@BruceNitroxpro]

@@MrCarlsonsLab , Thank you, Paul. Still going! LOL Did you make up your mind about this unit in the interim?

[@BruceNitroxpro]

Bruce Nitroxpro , Hey! I made 80 this year! If you could find the head unit, a LOT of time and effort would be cut off of this project.

[@coilsmoke2286]

I recognize the "Magnaflux" name from building/rebuilding engines. The magnetic flux reveals microscopic imperfections in steel heads and blocks. That thing can determine penetration depths of fluids into metal surfaces too

[@philipburrows]

A piece of equipment to restore and keep as a piece of electronic equipment history. A beautiful piece of equipment. Keep up the good work as you fuel my interest in electronics.

[@electronicsworkbench]

This type of device might have been used to check boiler plates in steam powered stuff that required sounding when this technology was available. Boilers are used still in many older buildings for steam heat and hot water source. Sheet metal thickness, tool metal stock consistency, the list can go on and on. This looks like an interesting project. If you can find the control head, that might be just the right reason to restore it. I know having too many irons in the fire is detrimental to one's own goal set. Your restoration videos are really good and gives excellent insight into the technology of the period which is why I am restoring my Dad's Heathkit equipment and SB series radio set. Always look forward to another one of your videos on Patreon too! Keep up the great content!

[@JanicekTrnecka]

The ingenuity of old vacuum tube instruments surprises me every time. Restoration of course!

[@Metalchemist]

It would be a crime to tear down a beautiful piece of test gear like this for parts. I vote for restoration!

[@darrensworkshop6783]

Restore the Sonizon as I would like to see it working and measuring metal thickness. Great content. Thanks

[@DougHanchard]

I had a used Sonizon Unit and it came in handy for many years. Magnaflux Corporation is a superb company that catered to the heavy equipment and aerospace industry. I used it to check cast iron engine block thickness of the cylinder walls and the water jacket pockets. 1950 to 1975 cast iron engine blocks used very crude casting and iron foundary sand molds. As a result, core shift would occur because the grade of the steel was inconsistent. So when it came time to find a used engine to rebuild for racing purposes, it was important to make sure sand core shift had not occurred between the cylinder bores. If they did and a machinist over sized the bores for bigger pistons, the cylinder wall thickness may not be sufficient and be vulnerable to cracking under high power loads and increased heat. Wall thickness needed to be over 0.125" after machining. If the block is a Siamese design with no water jackets, we still wanted 0.250" of wall thickness between the two inner cylinders. Mine was lost in a flood over a decade ago and wish I had it back. I just looked in my shop to see if I still had the probes or manuals but sadly I do not. I hope you restore it, though I can't afford to buy it. I wish I could. These are really high quality analyzer machines. I bought mine from guy who got it at a Spar Aerospace auction when they were selling off all its "old" stuff in Toronto. Look forward to the restoration of this unit!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks for taking the time to write, and look around in your shop too!

[@1inDnile]

What did the probe\head gear look like,would it be easy to build?

[@edwardcat5247]

enjoyed reading about this interesting application....

[@jwhite1016aol]

If he did a channel giveaway and we all voted on most deserving recipient based on your story you'd win

[@qpn6ph9q]

Restore it please. It looks so different from the usual test gear. Plus those high quality components are icing on the cake.

[@MrRadioGypsy]

Can you locate a pickup head/sensor for it? Or possibly **fabricate** one?

[@southjerseysound7340]

He's got some amazing gear that he's designed from scratch like his Super Probe and cap tester. I doubt it'd be a issue. I am continually impressed by the work he's done and his is the ONLY Patreon that is worth supporting.

[@harrystevens3885]

Definitely restoration in my opinion could even belong in a science and industrial museum , seems a unique piece to me, very interesting video

[@shermanikk]

You have to restore this thing, it's awesome! So well preserved too, clearly very well taken care of it's a perfect candidate.

[@Screamingtut]

Space Technology Laboratories (STL), then a division of Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., designed and produced the identical payloads for Pioneer 0, 1 and 2. Now known as TRW Inc.

[@mattorlich298]

Hi Paul! Space Technology Labs became TRW. The STL was located in Inglewood California & moved to Redondo Beach California and Became TRW. After the move not all equipment received updated property tags as TRW property. The tags with references to M3 and M1 also appear to be an early form of a "Property Movement Authorization" or "PMA" that would track equipment as it was moved or checked out of the equipment pool to other locations. Buildings M3 (Manufacturing 3) and M1 (Manufacturing 1) are still around! TRW was purchased by Northrop Grumman and is still going strong. If you're ever in the area, you might schedule a visit on the last Saturday of every month to visit the W6TRW electronic swap meet which is held near those buildings. Who knows, you might even find your missing probes.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks for the info Matt!

[@mattorlich298]

Just to be clear, TRW was purchased by NG & TRW is no longer in business. The TRW campus was considered to be very futuristic during the 1960-1970 time frame. As it turns out, , Hollywood would show up on the TRW campus and film some of the popular 1960's TV shows such as Star Trek and the Man from UNCLE in front of selected TRW buildings. Bottom line is that you do have a bit of aerospace history in your collection - I would like to see it back in service.

[@oscarilmio7148]

Paul Collins has said well, to restore it is worthwhile and to look for a museum that contains all these pieces is the same (also because I don't see the usefulness of a system of measurement of the thickness of the metals in an electronic laboratory ...). I think, moreover, that you can allow yourself to have your own museum of perfectly restored and functioning historical instruments, this idea turns on my mind since I saw, in your videos, all those "dated" tools (which I would also like to have (a bit of envy)). It would be exceptional to see you restore an old instrument, create one that has the same functions but in a "modern" way and then put that old tool in your personal museum. Anyway, congratulations, as always.

[@jtorres3156]

Restoration for sure. Nothing better than Mr. C explaining and resurrecting all that comes across his bench.

[@cameronsteel6147]

That capacitor is so smooth!! And an interesting way to generate a sweep.

[@chrisvinicombe9947]

That's a nice piece. I'd enjoy seeing a restoration and creation of a probe for it.

[@mickgrimes9078]

this is one of the most well put together piece of hardware ive ever seen of this vintage. its crazy how tidy and clean it all is. the quality of the components, its design... it just blows me away. it really would be sad to see it be cannibalized... but sometimes thats what ya gotta do.

[@PaulinesPastimes]

It is a vexing decision. It is such an interesting piece of test equipment that is obviously very well and carefully made and it would be such a waste to scrap it. But then again, what could you use it for? I think it has to be preserved really. There must be a use for it or maybe you could pass it on to someone who really needs such a nice space age thing to use. I was going to say put in on the shelf but it could get lost in amongst all the other pieces of equipment there. Fascinating.

[@Julian_Bester]

you know what i like about this guy..? he dumbs everything down with out making us feel dumb

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

I think you forgot the word "Out" in your last post.

[@thatee1006]

Beautiful bit of kit. It'd be fantastic seeing a restoration!

[@douglaspollard4585]

Mr. Carlson, we used a similar device at Clark Inspection in Tulsa OK. back in the day,to find any inclusions , voids, artifacts,or anomalies in aircraft quality billets before they machiinied them (non ferrous metals).the billets were polished to provide a good surface for our sensor and oiled to make good contact.it was kind of like sonar for metal we could detect very small targets even in 4-6 inch thick pieces .in 3 dimensions, we could locate the exact position of the flaw.the HF sound reflected back from the opposite surface inside the piece making a reference for the CRT to use to measure from we found very few flaws it was truely an "event" to find one.

[@jonpardue]

I vote for modification or non-modified repurposing. Such a fine power supply for a laboratory. Since a Magnaflux power pack is not rare, but the particle-detecting magnetic head is obsolete and expensive, perhaps at least a set of adapter cables with matching plugs and terminals could allow it to be used as a power supply for the lab. Possibly thread additional interesting wire connections through a bushing or grommet in the unused hole in the rear panel. Cheering you on no matter what you do, thanks for investing your time to make videos. Mr. Carlson' s plans with schematics and other videos are worth a lot more than the 2 dollars he gets from my Patreon budget. Fantastic learning experience on this channel.

[@wildonpriddy1800]

Worked at tube turns co, in Louisville, Kentucky. Between 1964-1973,repaired magnaflux equipment used in inspection dept.,magnetic flux induced in material to be tested,ispeceted under black light to detect flaws in material.

[@Uncle-Duncan-Shack]

That's a lovely bit of equipment. I had to go digging of course and found some interesting reading on the use of this and how it works. The detection method is resonance, hence the sweep generator.

[@winstonsmith478]

Last calibration in 1972. That's about the time of the serious aerospace industry crash in the US thanks to the end of the Apollo Program. Engineers were ending up pumping gas at service stations. Can't find anything about this on-line.

[@ericpaul4575]

It was last calibrated 4 months before I was born.

[@BruceNitroxpro]

@@ericpaul4575 , and only about 31 years after I was born! Details, details!

[@joeambly6807]

I like how you were so excited to try this out you broke your golden rule. :-)

[@heywood62]

I say try restoring first. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Love your videos.

[@briana3467]

It's for checking metal thickness, chrome plating,zinc galvanize,foils, sheets, and so on. Other units check casting wall thickness for optimizing cores. Quality control in automotive industry.

[@dublegi-hr8kq]

Restoration, definitely. Even if only for all the things we could learn about how it works. Think about what a wonderful resource your channel is for all those who want to learn.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

At 17:49 You know there is a lot of in depth experience & knowledgeable understanding behind the examination of equipment when the examiner can state - "Very nice looking tube."

[@adrianschneider4441]

Unless really desperate for some parts, I suggest to restore. Unusual piece of equipment.

[@justinspeer8481]

Adrian Schneider I think his reserves have reserves 😂

[@Erzahler]

Mr. Carlson: I worked at a heavy maintenance base for a major airline around the turn of the century, back when we were still flying DC-9's, MD-80's & MD-88's. Later manufacturer Service Bulletins (SB) from McDonnell-Douglas and Airworthiness Directives (AD) from the FAA required us to perform magnaflux inspections of the control surfaces in addition to the regular SB-required x-ray inspections. These were done about every two years when the aircraft was in for its scheduled heavy maintenance check, to address possible metal fatigue. The inspectors used a unit very similar to your Sonitron (different brand) for the magnaflux examinations. Two fluids were sprayed (one dye fluid and one magnetic fluid) onto the surface to be inspected. If you can find a service manual for this unit, I think you should definitely restore it! I like to see old tube gear being given new life. Even if you eventually repurpose it, I sure would like to see it restored. A suggestion: perhaps you could restore this then sell or rent it to a vintage automobile restoration shop. A unit such as this one might fit in perfectly with such a shop which would probably find it very useful! 73 de NØJAA.

[@stefandumoulin1872]

When I was an aircraft maintenance student, we had a unit that said magnaflux 3000. It was a massive device that was used to do non-destructive testing for defects like hairline fractures. I believe it used eddy currents and it had an amp-meter that went waaaaaaay over 11. We weren't allowed to touch it in our first years. I would say restore it, it is a very cool piece of kit Love your videos thank you very much :)

[@loukashareangas4420]

I vote for Restoration as well, even though you moight not have any practical application for it!

[@jackhandy8821]

Hi Mr Carlson, I worked at a steel mill "Pacific Steel Casting" for many years and I was the plant electrician and had to repair many times our Magnaflux machines that we used to test for cracks in our castings! They Magnaflux units were in special dark rooms were castings were placed on a steel table and one by one the operators attached a clamp to the casting and sprayed a special dye on the casting and then he pressed a foot switch and the high voltage "frequency" went through the part and while holding a "Black light" he could see cracks in the steel! I was always amazed at the process and the Magnaflux units were from the 60's and still performed quite well! Our units were about 3 feet by 3 feet square so compared to yours much smaller lol! Yea I would definitely like you to go through it...

[@saxhorn1508]

Space Technology Laboratories was a division of TRW. Supported the ICBM program. The “M” in the move tags refer to Manufacturing buildings 1 and 3 in What is now Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

You are correct.

[@waynethompson8416]

Hey Paul! By all means REPAIR IT!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE repair it!!! Would love to see it operating and to test something with it. I too love that motorized capacitor...it is indeed so very amazing how quiet it is. I find myself wanting one even though I have absolutely no use for it, nor would I most likely ever use it. Really do appreciate your videos...they are so very educational, informative, interesting, and enjoyable to watch!

[@southjerseysound7340]

Please restore and I'd be interested in the unit if it were to be offered for sale. But just the engineering alone in the motor is amazing. It's one of the smoothest running motors I've seen in AGES.

[@AJMjazz]

Restore! It looks like a fun restore project. Fabricating the sensor unit seems to be the most difficult part of the process. Great video!

[@phillipyannone3195]

It looks like most commenters say restore. I agree, it would be nice to see it restored and learn about how it works.

[@borayurt66]

Restoration. I would love to see it work, very intriguing device.

[@jaypotter789]

I am a retired aerospace engineer. The company that I worked for was required to perform "magnetic particle Inspection" on critical welds for our government contracts. Magnaflux was one type of test by the quality inspectors to spot defective welds. I hope that this helps you decide the fate of this beautiful instrument.

[@mydime7045]

I would like to see it restored. From the one picture I saw, it looks like it uses an ultrasonic contact probe with an aluminum oxide wear plate and the piezo element is just undernieth that. They look similar to those manufactured by Krautkramer Branson. Building one on your own may not be impossible, however, there are a lot of processes that would make it quite difficult to get anything useful for that (the details are a bit extensive to get into here). The interconnect also looks like it uses a 3 foot long coax cable, most likely RG-58 (50 ohm) as that is most common for ultrasonics. You would just have to match up the appropriate connectors for each end. Just so you know, my experience is as an Engineer that recently retired after 25 years in ultrasound, mostly medical but also a bit of industrial, everything from megasonic wafer cleaners to high frequency imaging arrays.

[@justinspeer8481]

I think it is a great restoration candidate. Understanding how the measurement head worked or can work (perhaps better based on your design) will be fascinating.

[@FineTuneCBShop]

I'd restore it if you had a use for it or a potential buyer does. Nice piece of history and good video.

[@MrZintac]

Restoration. Building M3 is at NASA Ames Conference Center now. But no telling how old the building is or its prior use. You may have a test unit that sent man to the moon. Restore it !! :)

[@billbates883]

I would be really interested to see a full restoration Paul, especially if you can recreate the sensor/transmitter head unit! God bless, Bill.

[@andrewjones6693]

Most of this is way over my head, but I enjoy listening to your analysis and explanations. I'd say the hardest part would be to replace or protect that plastic moving screen scale. If you can do that and find/fabricate the measuring device, I'd say go for the restoration.

[@yambo59]

As Coil Smoke below commented, I know from car engine rebuilding they use a Magnaflux process with dyes or powdered metal to check cylinder heads and engine blocks for cracks not visible to the eye. Dont know if this device is used for such things but Magnafluxing is a common process in car engine rebuilding and machine shops to check for very fine cracks and defects.

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

Thanks Paul! Sounds like you want to restore it. It would be cool to see!

[@gregorythomas333]

Personally I would restore it...it is a really fascinating piece of equipment...it already fires up...and like you said there are probably not many still around....would be a great keeper!

[@VW7472]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but magnaflux is also used for finding or showing cracks in metals used on engine blocks and other things to test stress cracks etc.

[@awizardalso]

I would suggest keeping it as is, except replacing the capacitors that need replaced. I like antique electrical equipment. I do have a Hickok Model 752 tube tester. It may need to be restored. It has 2 light bulbs as fuses. the line fuse is a #TS81 bulb and the bias fuse is a #49. The first time I tried to use the tester, the bias bulb burned out. I also have an old Varistat, that's rated at 2000 watts. I did wire the output of an 18 volt transformer in series with the input to the Varistat and in phase with the line input. I did design a circuit to use a voltmeter that only works from 95 volts to 135 volts. I haven't got to it yet, but I plane to use the output from the Varistat to an outlet on my test bench. I do like your videos and the one for checking the polarity of different capacitors was useful.

[@mbender8653]

I'd say either find the head that goes with it & test that, making sure it works else you're wasting your time. A fine piece of electronic/mechanical gear, minus a matching sensor, will look just as good sitting on a shelf whether it's internals are restored or not.

[@georgekoerner6591]

I love your videos from a true Master of electronic theory and practice!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thank you very much!

[@robharley9838]

"R-E-S-T-O-R-E find out what it means to me......" sorry Aretha, couldn't resist.

[@BruceNitroxpro]

Rob Harley , Oh, my God! So perfect... trips off the lips so easily! LOL

[@SkyWire88]

cute

[@martinda7446]

I had to stare at that for a bit....

[@pulesjet]

That CRT set up has been used for a zillion forms of test equipment. 100 years ago in the Military we used a TDR time-domain reflectometer to locate shorts and opens on commutation lines using the vary same CTR and Grid lines. Precision Capacitors used in timing circuits were hard to find at the time. Oven Temp controlled Oscillators were the only means to hope for accuracy of any type LOL. That light sensor set up was most likely use in timing to control motor speed. Think Early PWM. Tied to a AGC driving the motor drive voltage regulating motor speed. SAVE IT ! Museum Quality Material...

[@ccrazychris]

Hi Paul, definatley restore. I thought it might use pulsed ultrasound but obviously it's swept CW, continuous wave. If the thickness of the metal is a half wavelength at some frequency then you will get a peak in the returned signal and if it's a quarter wave thick then you will get a null. Because the transducers used are probably fairly narrow band then that is why you would need a range of operating frequencies for different metal thicknesses. For CW ultrasound you need a pair of transducers, one for transmit and one for receive. The tricky bit is arranging the two transducers so the ultrasound from the TX transducer doesn't get picked up or block the RX transducer. PZT ceramic transducers are available in a whole range of frequencies, shapes and sizes.

[@paulsullivan6392]

I vote for restoration. Perhaps build the head sampling unit and then donate the unit to a local community college or trade school welding program. It is so pristine cosmetically it seems a shame to scrap it for parts.

[@miduan4]

Absolutly restoration - it is a rare piece of electronics. It would be interesting to see how it works.

[@tseckwr3783]

Thanks for all your hard work.

[@jeremytravis360]

The decision rests on two things. Firstly, do you have a use for it, or could you sell it and make some money. Secondly, the market and use for this type of equipment would depend on if this type of equipment is still made. Sometimes companies still make it and in a market driven wold price is everything. I used to love professional equipment and if something was beyond economic repair I would always strip it for parts. Thanks for a great video and explanation.

[@lionelguy]

Paul, this test device is really a museum piece. Very few exist, and the probe is almost unobtainium. I suggest build the probe, do a recap, fix the plastic graph transparency, then shelve it. It really has no practical use, other than checking thicknesses of metal and welds.

[@FailedSquare]

Restoration is always the best move on old equipment like this! There will never be any more of them in existence so we need to keep the ones we've got now.

[@derofromdown-under2832]

Unless you're going to use it to measure the thickness of the copper on your blank PCB's, I vote to scrap it for parts... Otherwise if you do do a resto, it will be an excellent paper weight... Once again Paul, an excellent presentation... 10/10

[@davidelliott8016]

I think it would be an interesting restore, but it would be nice to see how you do strip down a piece of equipment for parts tear down, and what is worth keeping and how you organise the parts you salvage. Great videos, very informative!

[@countzero1136]

Definitely a restoration job I think. Far too much old gear gets thrown away and that's a real shame as some of this stuff is getting very rare nowadays, and I do love seeing restoration videos :)

[@Maskddingo]

Those adjustable coils with the litz on them are really cool.

[@TheRadioShop]

That a really super nice piece of test gear. Most likely has a bit of history also. I would restore it myself.

[@harrilumme1875]

Restoration would be highly interesting. Hope that you have the schematics available. I would be amazed if you can recreate the working probe head just by reverse engineering the circuit. Still hoping to see the Vedolyzer to come to an conclusion. You did so unbelievable things with that unit as well. Thanks for consistently high quality videos, Paul!!

[@billmoran3812]

I know the vintage test equipment guys will want to restore it, but honestly I don’t see a use for it. It’s probably worth stripping and keeping the parts, tubes etc. That motor driven capacitor might be handy to drive a vintage sweep circuit, it’s in really good condition. Doesn’t look like that instrument has had much use.

[@voltagefreak6350]

By all means, save it. A recap and a transducer should be an interesting project.

[@NathanOkun]

Restoring it is definitely something that would be of interest to us. Also, if you find out exactly what type of materials it was used on, you might have occasional use in your lab, though you might want to rent it out to hobbyists who are making or restoring things (old equipment or cast items) where they might need thickness information to do a proper job. This "high tech" device would beat trying to get calibration tool feelers inside something, especially if you had to drill a hole first into a closed, hollow space.

[@FervusFulgar]

I vote for a restoration. I wonder what it could be re-purposed for as I don't know what the lab could use it for. That is a beautiful work of electronic art.

[@nicholas7810]

It sure is a real beauty. Personally I would like this to be preserved, given how well made and neat it is. Though if it doesn't prove useful then really it is better off going towards something that is.

[@dkmmhdk]

I'd say restoration especially as it looks to be in good shape and almost already working .

[@deathblowhere]

Hey Paul! Restoration I vote for!) Very interesting & unusual piece of equipment. Some while ago I had performed some metal thickness measurements - it was the little probe and handheld main unit with tiny LCD.. But your device looks very robust and gorgeous! I like old school electronics! PS. This gold bike chain is thing of beauty is the joy forever!! )) Cheers! Phil.

[@geirendre]

Definitely restoration is the way to go with this. It's much more valuable as a working unit than the parts it's made of. Will be interesting to see how you restore the plastic scale, or make a new...

[@blackdevil72]

Please restore this. As you said you don't know how much of them are left. For me its always important to keep the kind of equipment and appliance working. Because some time that one dumb thing you though you could throw away can end up in a museum.

[@johnopalko5223]

I looked up Space Technology Labs. Interesting! I wonder if your unit was used in the manufacture of spacecraft, ICBMs, or something else entirely. It's too nice to part out. Either restore it to working order or keep it as a museum piece.

[@Lucien86]

I would say restore if possible. A fascinating and obviously once very expensive piece of equipment.. With the design and that colour coded switch this has a real Thunderbirds vibe/look to it, that alone makes it interesting even if its not possible to make it usable.. That is the only difficulty, that probe head is probably a very specialist piece of equipment and might not be easy to duplicate.. Great video.

[@ccrazychris]

How would you fabricate a CW transducer ? You need a pair of PZT or lead zirconate titanate crystals next to each other but slightly angled inwards to get a focal point at a certain distance. To make sure you transmit and receive as much ultrasound as possible you also need a quarter wave matching impedance between the PZT crystal and the metal you are testing, this is mechanical impedance and not electrical. These days pulsed ultrasound is used because you only need a single crystal and you also get around the TX RX blocking problem with CW transducers. It's history definately a keeper.

[@Slartibartfas042]

Not sure if repair/ restoration would make really sense, but the scope seems to be optically in pretty good nick! So, somehow I'm refusing to say "sacrifice it and get the nice parts out of it". From what you said about that device it looks like it is some kind of Impulse reflectometer to measure the runtime until reflection of an impulse coming back. The Y-axis in fact seems to be the runtime, the X-axis would be the amplitude of the returning signal and you can see the original signal sent into the transducer as top-most bar to the right. The thicker the (Coating-?) layer would be, the longer it will last the shockwave caused from transducer to travel through the layer and being reflected. When it comes back it as made it's path through the layer twice, so you could calculate the thickness (or just read out of the somehow calibrated scale for some materials). I could imagine that the device would be pretty much worthless without the transducer, and I don't know if the scale (timebase) would be working for measuring coax cable length and such? The colour codes might come from the different kind of paint that maybe is used for coating and, of course, will have different propagation velicities of the shockwave in it. So maybe the colour has to be taken seriously as colour? Think of rocket tanks and boosters that have to be checked for paint layer thickness? I'm not sure if it really is to measure the metal thickness itself!

[@KillerNetDog]

Magnaflux products are usually to check for cracks in metals. I would love to see this in use.

[@santi308]

it is nice to see this device fully restored and all functional, is a beautyful equipement with excelent tubes and the motor/cap thing work as new. But the problems are the sort of plastic film on screen and the fact you need find or make a test probe/sensor is tricky. Obviously for you, making it should not be a problem but who knows. If I had this equipment in my hands I would transform it into an oscilloscope or a curve tracer, and I would use the cap/motor to do something weird like a mechanical tremolo or something

[@NathanOkun]

Note also that this device can find internal defects in a manufactured item (or even a natural item like a gem stone), such as cracks, voids, inclusions, bad welds, and so forth. This may have been its primary use. This would be useful to anyone making any cast or metallic forged items, as it would save a lot of time working on something that will be found in the end to be defective from the get-go. People cutting gems/polishing mineral stones might want to know if an opaque item has something wrong inside.

[@drulli1]

Restore it, so special and beautiful. It deserves it.

[@daveturner5305]

Wow, you just have to restore this unusual beast!

[@richardredcastle7911]

Beautiful craftsmanship. Got to save it.

[@AB-kf4pw]

I just saw this and would recommend restoring it. First of all, it was owned by a company that ultimately became TRW. Depending on what year this device was made and when & where exactly it was used, this could be an historical piece used during the height of the Space Race. The most recent calibration shows '72, so this is within the Apollo Era (and determining if it was used with rockets, satellites, or what exactly is a fascinating prospect for research). Considering it has the original "property of" label, it'd be interesting to look into that and see if you can associate it with any launch vehicles, satellites, etc. that came out of the facility where this was used. Apart from those who could use it today for practical applications, some may also enjoy owning and using a piece of equipment that served a purpose with a trailblazing company during a remarkable time in space exploration. Depending on its history, someone may want it as-is to be a shelf queen, but keeping it alive and functional makes it that much cooler for someone.

[@donaldshulman6771]

hey Paul - No question, a restoration is the only way to go!!!!