OLD OLD OLD TECHNOLOGIES

[the_peeve]

I am really into old technologies that were abandoned for obvious or odd or strange reasons. Feel free to add on to this thread, any old tech's that still amaze!

I am really into the history of  Stanley Steam cars, built by Stanley Motor Carriage Company. Although steam cars and vehicles had been pretty much been phased out by 1930, there was a period of 1902 to 1911 where Stanley couldn't be beaten. They had kick ass cars that were extremely fast.

In 1906, they constructed a race car using a frame built from a canoe cut in half for early aerodynamics. The two Stanley brothers were geniuses. That car went 146 miles an hour on the Daytona Beach track! In 1906!



In 1907, they tried again, and got the car up to 154 mph, but the car drove into a rut on the beach, and the boiler flew off and blew into the air. The driver, Fred Mariott was injured and so was the company.

Competitors used this accident to make steamers seem dangerous and tend to blow up. Which you heard about for many years and even today. Automotive Propaganda. But there was no report ever of a Stanley Steam ever blowing up because they built the engines with valves to off-set overheating.
But it was the end, the gasoline combustion engines were favoured and they would soon come with a very popular starter. Stanley Steamers were given a bad name, basically. Which is a real shame because I wonder how much another two decades of experimentation on steam engines for cars would have taken us. 

The following is one of my favourite videos on youtube. It is of the owner of a 1906 Stanley Vanderbilt Race Cup car. You will see him blast away other vehicles from the period and beyond. I talked to the owner and he told me he could get this beast going 110-116 mph.  His top speed is about 65mph in the video. Jay Leno has some excellent videos too of these beasts of a race car!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4rDjTN2JMs

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Jay Leno also has the distinction of having the oldest car ever to be stopped for speeding.

"  I'm not the type of person who buys a car to impress people-most women are not really impressed by a guy in a 1909 White Steamcar. I do have the distinction, however, of having the oldest car stopped for speeding on the freeway. My 1906 Stanley Steamer. I got tagged at 76 miles per hour. The cop was more intrigued that it was made of wood, and it was carrying an open flame, than the idea that I was going 76. But when you go by a cop in a wooden car that's on fire, going 76, they tend to go, "Hey, hey. What's that?"  "

Different interview:

"  I have the record for the oldest vehicle to be done for speeding. It was a 1912 Stanley Steamer, and I had it cranked up to 75mph on a freeway. I’m kind of proud of that, especially considering the engine is steam-powered and makes less than 10bhp. The cop who issued the citation was remarkably straight-faced and unimpressed with my feat, which I thought was a little unimaginative of him. How could you seriously issue a speeding ticket to something with the same engine as a small steam locomotive? "

 

 

[albrecht]

"The last days of an old technology are almost always better than the first days of a new technology."- Jay Leno

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a6228/jay-leno-and-his-doble-steam-cars/

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/listen-to-a-tiny-machine-from-1890-make-birdsong

[the_peeve]

Hey, thanks, guys.

There are still some reminders of those old Steam racers. Ever so often someone will draw flames onto the side of their car. They may not know it, but that is in homage to those Stanley racers that had been literally burned into auto racing.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

"The last days of an old technology are almost always better than the first days of a new technology."- Jay Leno

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a6228/jay-leno-and-his-doble-steam-cars/

2200 lb-ft (of torque) at the rear wheels. Impressive is an understatement. Nothing road legal produced today puts out that kind of torque.

[the_peeve]

That's really cool.

"The smoothness and force of the acceleration, however, never fail to amaze meâ€"it's like the Hand of God pushing you along. I was running at 85 mph the other day, and there was more to go. It's dead silent on the road, just wooooooooshhhhhh!!! Back in the day, Hughes was clocked at 132.5 mph on a Texas highway, faster than anything with an internal combustion engine. It proves what I've always believed: The last days of an old technology are almost always better than the first days of a new technology."

[albrecht]

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/listen-to-a-tiny-machine-from-1890-make-birdsong

Wow. That was cool. Very realistic. I forgot where, Rock City?, some other roadside attraction?, I recall a museum of sorts with old 'penny arcade' items. Sort of like the old fortune tellers but all kinds of neat mechanical displays, horse races, historical scenes,  n stuff.
Ps: so I hear different things, I always suspect crap, but thought once as a kid I saw real fleas (had magnifying glass type of thing as I recall,) but are any 'flea circuses' real?  Wiki says some are real? But seems suspect.

[the_peeve]

http://stanleymotorcarriage.com/SteamPacingBike/index.htm

The very first motorcycle made by Sylvester Howard Roper ran on steam from a coal burner. How sad is it, that the very first inventor of the motorcycle is killed on one?

[triola]

Here's some old, old tech. I found this when I was 16, up in the rafters of a garage and was told to take it in payment for work I'd done for 'Radio Doc's' widow in lieu of cash. I've had it for 52 years now.

1924 A-C Dayton X-L-5 dealer's display glass-case. It's original, complete, no damage, no restoration done. I've only seen one other: http://radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=6599

[the_peeve]

wow. that is cool!

[ItsOver]

Here's some old, old tech. I found this when I was 16, up in the rafters of a garage and was told to take it in payment for work I'd done for 'Radio Doc's' widow in lieu of cash. I've had it for 52 years now.

1924 A-C Dayton X-L-5 dealer's display glass-case. It's original, complete, no damage, no restoration done. I've only seen one other: http://radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=6599

That IS very cool.  I assume it doesn't work.

[triola]

That IS very cool.  I assume it doesn't work.

I've never tried to fire it up, but given it's over 90 years old, It'd be a safe bet that the caps wouldn't make the trip - dielectric breakdown for sure.

These old rigs used an A, B and C battery, so would need to cobble up a pretty well regulated power supply to heat it up after recapping. Could probably check the emission/transconductance of the 201As with a tester though, if the heaters work.

Not much else is critical, it's xfmr coupled, might have some resistors that changed value, but it's pretty basic, no wires, just nickle bussbars connect everything.

[73s]

[attachment id=1 msg=769237]
Found this in an antiques shop. I posted it to an antiques radio forum and they thought it was a 1920's vintage kit radio (there's no logo anywhere and some of the mountings aren't aligned very professionally). Whoever built it had better skills with mounting parts than I do, that's for sure. There's about 2 vacuum tubes in it, that's it (one is missing). Never tried to get it back on the air. My learning curve on the old tech is still a little steep and I just haven't had the time to play.

[ItsOver]

I've never tried to fire it up, but given it's over 90 years old, It'd be a safe bet that the caps wouldn't make the trip - dielectric breakdown for sure.

These old rigs used an A, B and C battery, so would need to cobble up a pretty well regulated power supply to heat it up after recapping. Could probably check the emission/transconductance of the 201As with a tester though, if the heaters work.

Not much else is critical, it's xfmr coupled, might have some resistors that changed value, but it's pretty basic, no wires, just nickle bussbars connect everything.

Thanks for the details.  A very neat piece of tech history.

[RcCle]

[attachment id=1 msg=769237]
Found this in an antiques shop. I posted it to an antiques radio forum and they thought it was a 1920's vintage kit radio (there's no logo anywhere and some of the mountings aren't aligned very professionally). Whoever built it had better skills with mounting parts than I do, that's for sure. There's about 2 vacuum tubes in it, that's it (one is missing). Never tried to get it back on the air. My learning curve on the old tech is still a little steep and I just haven't had the time to play.

Plug it in!  Had an old RCA (I think) cabinet radio in the attic when I was young.  I plugged it in and it made this ominous hum...  I actually think the thing still worked, but I panicked..

[73s]

Plug it in!  Had an old RCA (I think) cabinet radio in the attic when I was young.  I plugged it in and it made this ominous hum...  I actually think the thing still worked, but I panicked..

Can't, not in present state.  It's missing a tube and probably more than that.  I've got a Philco of similar vintage that does work though.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Here's some old, old tech. I found this when I was 16, up in the rafters of a garage and was told to take it in payment for work I'd done for 'Radio Doc's' widow in lieu of cash. I've had it for 52 years now.

1924 A-C Dayton X-L-5 dealer's display glass-case. It's original, complete, no damage, no restoration done. I've only seen one other: http://radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=6599

O----M----G ! ! !  That's in beautiful condition. Any cracks in the bakelite ?  I've been waiting for someone to post some old radios.

 

Some info:  http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/a_c_xl_5_balanced_radiocast_r.html
                     http://www.indianaradios.com/A-C%20Dayton%20XL-5%20Glass%20Cabinet%20Radio.htm
                     http://radioatticarchives.com/masterlist.htm
                     http://radioattic.com/priceguide2.php?span=a
                     http://www.gifarmer.com/radio/index.shtml

Schematic PDF: 
http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Resources/download.asp?FN=\M0041093.pdf

Here's my baby, except -  mine's in better shape than the one in these pics and the sound quality is phenominal. 

       

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/paco_am_fm_stereophonic_tuner_st_45.html

Mine's a 1963. You'll notice from the pics that there are seperate tuners for AM & FM. There is a seperate tube that acts as a tuning indicator and shines the prettiest neon blue you've ever seen when you pull in a station. It's a horizontal bar that fills the stronger the station is. Very Cool !  It's also got an AFC switch and a seperate selector for a multiplex setup. She pushes 2.1 volts to the speakers (Double what the new ones push), and pulls distant stations with ease. I've got a simple dipole ($3.00 ebay) antena for FM and a coiled loop for AM plus I'm running a Select-A-Tenna. I replaced the caps, but when I first got it, after checking it over, I fired her up and played her for about two months until the new caps came in. Not a crackle or a snap. As high of quality as a McIntosh. She's an absolutely beautiful piece of electronics and I love it.

I love Radio Porn, so SUYT  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  (Show us your Tubes.) 

[73s]

Here's my baby, except -  mine's in better shape than the one in these pics and the sound quality is phenominal. 

I love Radio Porn, so SUYT  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  (Show us your Tubes.) 

Hey man beautiful radio there! I still need to re-cap my old Philco. I've got the schematics and know-how for the job, just no time! It also needs a new tuning dial light. But it still works.

If I get back to it I will post pics.

[Dyna-X]

Officially now antique at over 50 years old, here are the controls for simulating missions of the Gemini spacecraft in 1966.  The analog today (pun possibly intended) would be a bunch of Dells in cubicles and a server rack.  Gone are all the guages, potentiometers, lights and toggle switches Note the cool green digital clock above the panels.

Left to right the astronauts are: William Anders, Richard Gordon, Charles "Pete" Conrad, and Neil Armstrong.

[K_Dubb]

Here is my Philco, I think model 70 from 1931:



Still loud, but there's also a loud, low hum which may or may not be original.

[Walks_At_Night]

Here is my Philco, I think model 70 from 1931:



Still loud, but there's also a loud, low hum which may or may not be original.

K Dubb - you rule!  That's awesome

[K_Dubb]

K Dubb - you rule!  That's awesome

Thanks!  I bought it from a real old-fashioned radio repair man who'd refurbished it for his own living room -- I don't know anything about this stuff but I remember he mentioned replacing all the capacitors, whatever those are, among other things.  So I hope it's good for a while.

[73s]

Thanks!  I bought it from a real old-fashioned radio repair man who'd refurbished it for his own living room -- I don't know anything about this stuff but I remember he mentioned replacing all the capacitors, whatever those are, among other things.  So I hope it's good for a while.

That looks great! Mine has not been refurbished. But still works. I'll post pics.

[K_Dubb]

That looks great! Mine has not been refurbished. But still works. I'll post pics.

Thanks!  Cool, love to see the tubes all lit up.

[K_Dubb]

Here's another of mine all lit up.  Don't know much about the company or the year, but the baseball game comes in fine:



Sorry about the dust in there.  I don't dare touch anything.

[73s]

[attachment id=1 msg=771275]
Here's my Philco, non-restored.  Pictures not so great. Surprisingly it works well and has a nice sound. Just needs a facelift.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Here is my Philco, I think model 70 from 1931:



Still loud, but there's also a loud, low hum which may or may not be original.

A low hum generally indicates a bad or corroded ground. Check your base plate voltage (carefully - you're dealing w/ high potentials.)

For a good place to start, check this page.

That's a sweet little Philco BTW. Classic style.

[K_Dubb]

[attachment id=1 msg=771275]
Here's my Philco, non-restored.  Pictures not so great. Surprisingly it works well and has a nice sound. Just needs a facelift.

Beautiful art moderne style!  I don't think I've ever seen a dial like that before.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Thanks!  I bought it from a real old-fashioned radio repair man who'd refurbished it for his own living room -- I don't know anything about this stuff but I remember he mentioned replacing all the capacitors, whatever those are, among other things.  So I hope it's good for a while.

If the caps have been replaced, you should be good to go, as long as the transformer isn't in bad shape. Capacitors suffer from electrolytic breakdown. If you see brown goo on them, replace them before firing up the radio.

Safety tip: Never touch the internal workings  (tubes, baseplate, etc) on an energized radio. Yes, it's common sense, but temptation and curiosity killed the cat.