[littletractorguy]

The husband of a coworker of a coworker of mine (that'd be a co-worker, once removed) was cleaning out his garage or basement or something, and was going to recycle some of the things he found, including a voltmeter... Somehow, my officemate (who was looking for a replacement voltmeter) wound up getting his hands on the box of random stuff, which turned out to be not QUITE what he was expecting (in a not-so-good way)... But rather than chucking the whole box, he saved it for -- you guessed it -- ME! Now, I KNOW I'm not in the same league as a certain other member on this forum for collecting cool old stuff, but I still wanted to share....

First off, THIS:

The EICO 221 VTVM, circa 1963, which if I recall correctly was sold as a DIY kit. Obviously, looking at the position of the needle, with the settings where they are and no probes attached, this particular meter is a bit of a doorstop. However, LTGal is JUST FINE with this piece of technological art decorating any room in hour house... Especially if we can have the ruby red light glowing on it...

Now, THIS little gem...

Some interwebby research tells me that Electronic Developments (Surrey) LTD folks were pioneers in the post WWII boom in hobbyist radio-controlled vehicles/aircraft. As far as I can tell, this "escapement" was a component of the steering gear for an RC plane, and was probably made sometime around 1948-1950. I'll probably NEVER use the thing, but its still pretty cool! Complete with the instructions, AND the price tag! I just hope my co-worker's coworker's husband's RC plane isn't missing a crucial piece of steering gear! :14_6_5:

 

[DJ in WV]

That multimeter is a VERY nice piece and a VERY expensive piece in it's day. An uncle of mine is an electrician and he still has, and uses, several of those. He says that there hasn't been a meter made in many years that is the same caliber as those.

 

[littletractorguy]

That multimeter is a VERY nice piece and a VERY expensive piece in it's day. An uncle of mine is an electrician and he still has, and uses, several of those. He says that there hasn't been a meter made in many years that is the same caliber as those.

And you know the WORST part, DJ? I'm SURE, as a youngster, I had a DIFFERENT one of these (possibly the same model) which might have actually WORKED... And I gutted it... :banghead3

(With age comes wisdom... if not maturity!)

 

[DJ in WV]

If I had a nickel for every thing that I gutted and could kick myself now for doing so, well, let's just say that I wouldn't have to work now.

 

[Diesel Powered]

Neat old treasures. I'd like to have a multimeter like that. :fing32:

 

[Tractor-Holic]

I inherited a Laffeyette Volt/Ohm meter from my dad,its probably 1950's or 60's vintage..still works ,but I haven't found a replacement 22.5V battery for it at a price I can justify paying,seeing I rarely use it ,and it still works for measuring voltage and ohms with the other 1.5V battery it has...I'm not sure what the 22.5V one is for really...

Speaking of old stuff,I found my younger brothers "Commadore 64" computer,still in its original box,down in the cellar not long ago....too bad its practically worthless or useless for anything more than a paperweight now...who would ever buy one of those???...

 

[littletractorguy]

Speaking of old stuff,I found my younger brothers "Commadore 64" computer,still in its original box,down in the cellar not long ago....too bad its practically worthless or useless for anything more than a paperweight now...who would ever buy one of those???...

You should throw that puppy up on Craigslist there, T.H.... You might be surprised... ESPECIALLY if you still have the original box and any of the original docs. Some of those go for more money than you think, some of them just go for free to people that want/use them/collect them. I just missed including my father-in-law's Atari 5200 in a bulk shipment of vintage Atari's a co-worker of mine was sending to a vintage computer users group in California...

 

[Tractor-Holic]

My younger brother already e-bayed his Atari and all the games he had for it,and a ton of Star Wars and Star Trek memrobelia he collected,and Dongeuons and Dragons games,etc...
I'm sure if the Commadore was worth 2 cents it would have already been long gone!...its not "mine" to sell really,so he'll be the one to profit from it if its worth anything,not me...

I'm sure as I clean out the house I'll be finding a lot more "useless" things,its become a dumping ground for a lot of stuff we got when we had to clean out homes of relatives that passed away long ago...not much of it worth anything unfortunately...

 

[tomw0]

Most VOM's have a screw near the pivot point of the needle that allows you to zero the mechanism. I think the screw moves one end of a spring mount- a mount that holds a spiral spring - so there is either more or less tension on the needle. That is in addition to the zero adjust knob that adjusts the zero point based on resistance in the probes, etc.
I still have my RS VOM kit I assembled in the fall of '78 used when I put together the GR2000 I gave my Mom & Dad. Their 1st color TV that had more colors than green...
It has both electrical zero adjust and a screw at the needle. As the battery ages, the V part of the V=IR formula changes what the meter needs to show 'zero' ohms. I think the I part changes, too.
tom

 

[littletractorguy]

Most VOM's have a screw near the pivot point of the needle that allows you to zero the mechanism. I think the screw moves one end of a spring mount- a mount that holds a spiral spring - so there is either more or less tension on the needle. That is in addition to the zero adjust knob that adjusts the zero point based on resistance in the probes, etc.
I still have my RS VOM kit I assembled in the fall of '78 used when I put together the GR2000 I gave my Mom & Dad. Their 1st color TV that had more colors than green...
It has both electrical zero adjust and a screw at the needle. As the battery ages, the V part of the V=IR formula changes what the meter needs to show 'zero' ohms. I think the I part changes, too.
tom

Thanks for that, Tom! I did, in fact, forget about the "manual" adjustment screw... The other thing I could do is swap out the 40 year old 1.5 v D dry cell that's soldered into this machine with a new one... I may give that a shot and see if that brings thing back into line... I'll be sure to take pics of the old one, its a real classic!

 

[matt167]

My younger brother already e-bayed his Atari and all the games he had for it,and a ton of Star Wars and Star Trek memrobelia he collected,and Dongeuons and Dragons games,etc...
I'm sure if the Commadore was worth 2 cents it would have already been long gone!...its not "mine" to sell really,so he'll be the one to profit from it if its worth anything,not me...

I'm sure as I clean out the house I'll be finding a lot more "useless" things,its become a dumping ground for a lot of stuff we got when we had to clean out homes of relatives that passed away long ago...not much of it worth anything unfortunately...

A working Commadore 64 is worth between $30-70 depending on what's included for just the computer/keyboard, power brick and a video connection. I bought an original working C64 2 years ago for $44 on an Ebay auction and I was lucky to get it that cheap. Came with an owners manual and 2 programming manuals in the original box. I had to buy a Datasette for $30 and a 1541 5.25" floppy for $40, and a set of A/V cables for $20 before I could actually do anything with it.