[Phono-L] Last Edison factory gets a reprieve
Here's an interesting article about how the last of the original unrestored Edison factory buildings in West Orange, NJ is avoiding being demolished and is being given a new lease on life: http://go.sparkpostmail.com/f/a/_hPUlARvdIHulXDrYi0U6w~~/AABF2wA~/RgRZ3qp2P0EIAGv96kh9bB9XA3NwY1gEAFkGc2hhcmVkYQhzdGFuZGFyZGANNTIuMzguMTkxLjIzN0IKAAH2dv1Xn3pShVIYYXJjaGl2ZUBtYWlsLWFyY2hpdmUuY29tCVEEAERZaHR0cDovL3d3dy5jbm4uY29tLzIwMTYvMTAvMTEvdHJhdmVsL3Rob21hcy1lZGlzb24tYmF0dGVyeS1mYWN0b3J5LWRldmVsb3BtZW50L2luZGV4Lmh0bWxHAnt9 It's amusing that one of the reasons for the reprieve is that the Edison cement of which it is constructed has steadfastly resisted several attempts by wrecking balls to bring it down. The Old Man's obstinacy lives on. Greg Bogantz --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://go.sparkpostmail.com/f/a/AvZnqTZUbVSwug8oe8qWGw~~/AABF2wA~/RgRZ3qp2P0EIAGv96kh9bB9XA3NwY1gEAFkGc2hhcmVkYQhzdGFuZGFyZGANNTIuMzguMTkxLjIzN0IKAAH2dv1Xn3pShVIYYXJjaGl2ZUBtYWlsLWFyY2hpdmUuY29tCVEEAEQfaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXZhc3QuY29tL2FudGl2aXJ1c0cCe30~ ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org
Re: [Phono-L] C-4 DD stylus
I don't think that playing DDs is what this stylus was intended to do. To be effective for playing vertical cut discs with a lateral pickup, the stylus assembly has to have the tip considerably offset to the side relative to the line of the shank. This allows the assembly to be a lever that translates vertical motion to lateral motion. This stylus looks like an early jeweled tip intended for lateral pickups or reproducers. Greg Bogantz On 2/16/2018 3:20 PM, Ron L'Herault via Phono-L wrote: Could the stylus in the attached image be for an Edison C-4 to allow it to play Diamond Discs? Ron L ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org
Re: [Phono-L] Looking for a 1941 RCA crystal phonograph cartridge
Gee, I'm the owner of the Electrola group, but it's been so long since I joined it that I can't remember exactly how to do it :o) Also, they've changed it several times since I joined. Anyway, it's a "listserve" just like this phono-l listserve which means that you can access it via the website and also you can sign up to both send and receive messages from the group via email. Here's the website of the Yahoo Groups assortment: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/dir From this page, enter "Electrola" in the "search groups" box at the top of the page. This will take you to the Electrola home page. There you can click on the purple button titled "join group" near the middle of the page. There you can input your name and email data and choose how you want your messages delivered. I think you can also still join the group by sending an email to the following address with the word "subscribe" in the title line of your email: electrola-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Welcome aboard! Greg Bogantz On 4/24/2018 7:45 PM, Richard Rubin via Phono-L wrote: Thanks, Greg. How does one subscribe to the group? *From:* Phono-L <phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org> on behalf of Greg Bogantz via Phono-L <phono-l@oldcrank.org> *Sent:* Monday, April 23, 2018 12:53 AM *To:* Richard Rubin via Phono-L *Cc:* Greg Bogantz *Subject:* Re: [Phono-L] Looking for a 1941 RCA crystal phonograph cartridge You might also want to post this request to the Electrola group on Yahoo that specializes in the early electronic phonos of all makes. We pretty much discuss everything up thru the 1950s and later. email to: electr...@yahoogroups.com <mailto:electr...@yahoogroups.com> Greg Bogantz On 4/22/2018 6:24 PM, Richard Rubin via Phono-L wrote: Greetings. I'm looking for a complete RCA crystal cartridge from 1941 -- if it is stamped with the part number 38598, 39919 or 38453, and looks like the ones in the photos, I'm interested. This cartridge would have been used in several radio-phonograph consoles, including the RCA V-210, RCA V-215 and RCA V-225. If you have one or know of someone who might, please let me know. (Don't worry if the crystal is dead -- I expect it to be.) Thanks! ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe:phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org <mailto:phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email_source=link_campaign=sig-email_content=emailclient_term=icon> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email_source=link_campaign=sig-email_content=emailclient_term=link> ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org
Re: [Phono-L] Looking for a 1941 RCA crystal phonograph cartridge
You might also want to post this request to the Electrola group on Yahoo that specializes in the early electronic phonos of all makes. We pretty much discuss everything up thru the 1950s and later. email to: electr...@yahoogroups.com Greg Bogantz On 4/22/2018 6:24 PM, Richard Rubin via Phono-L wrote: Greetings. I'm looking for a complete RCA crystal cartridge from 1941 -- if it is stamped with the part number 38598, 39919 or 38453, and looks like the ones in the photos, I'm interested. This cartridge would have been used in several radio-phonograph consoles, including the RCA V-210, RCA V-215 and RCA V-225. If you have one or know of someone who might, please let me know. (Don't worry if the crystal is dead -- I expect it to be.) Thanks! ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org Unsubscribe: phono-l-unsubscr...@oldcrank.org
Re: [Phono-L] Columbia Grafonola - electric motor question
Ron has a good point. Most of the early electric motors that were used in the first electrified phonographs were of the "universal" type. I seem to remember seeing this type in the early Columbia electrics. Meaning they had windings of wire in both the armature and in the stator magnets. This is unlike the pure induction motors that were typically used by Victor in this period. The rotor of an induction motor has no obvious wire in the rotor that comprises a winding, so it's generally easy to identify it as an induction motor. The armature of a universal motor has a commutator with electrical contact brushes that is required to switch and energize the several sections of the armature at the correct times to interact with the magnetic poles in the stator. Motors of this type can run on either AC or DC current, hence the term "universal". Since the household power commonly in use at that time could be anything from low voltage to high voltage DC (the Edison system) or variations of AC voltages, universal motors were found to be the most compliant with these early electrical systems. Maybe as a consequence of the several voltages available back then, most of the early universal phono motors were designed to operate on a fairly low voltage of around 24 to 60 volts or so. So in order to use them with 120 volts power that is universal throughout the USA today, you need to add a "ballast" resistor in series with the motor to reduce its operating voltage to whatever it was designed for. Some of these motors have an identification plate attached to them that states their operating voltage range. But some don't. So unless you have some other service data that tells you what the motor voltage should be, you have to figger that out by trial and error. The easiest way to do this is to hook up the motor to a variable voltage device such as a variable autotransformer, typically referred to as a "variac" or a "powerstat". These devices have a continually variable output voltage, usually determined by a knob that slides a contact brush around the periphery of a toroidal winding on a magnetic core. Then slowly raise the voltage on the variac up from 0 and observe the operation of the motor. Motors such as these had their speeds dependent on their applied voltage. In order to make them suitable for phonograph use where you want a constant speed, the motor assembly usually had a mechanical flyball governor attached to it which operated in a manner similar to the flyball governors that were used on spring motors. The electric motor functions as a torque motor and its speed is controlled by the mechanical braking action of the governor. So you would need to have the governor mechanism attached and functioning while you try to determine the motor voltage. Crank up the variac until the governor engages the brake mechanism to provide the desired platter speed of 78 or 80 rpm. If you have the motor mounted in the player, play a record which will produce some additional drag on the motor and raise the variac voltage until the playing record is running at the desired speed at the outermost diameter (greatest drag). Then notch the variac voltage up a little more, say 5% to 10% or so to provide some reserve torque for "draggy" records. Note the voltage you are providing to the motor. Then you can either leave the variac in place permanently, or you can figger out how to reduce the 120 volt household voltage to what the motor wants to see. You can do this by inserting a big, power-hungry wirewound resistor in series with the motor, which needs to dissipate a lot of power and will get VERY HOT in operation, which is why they are typically wound on a ceramic core. This is what most of the player manufacturers did in their original designs. This allows the motor to continue to be used with either DC (maybe if you're still living in the downtown New York City subway system) or typical AC. If you only plan to use the motor with AC, you can look for a fixed transformer that provides the required voltage change that you need. You'll need to use a fairly hefty transformer for this application since the motor is probably consuming 25 watts or so and the transformer will have to provide sufficient current for the job. In summary, your Columbia motor is probably a low voltage universal type. So you DO NOT want to hook it up directly to your 120 volt household current. Doing so will burn it up pretty quickly. Perform the variable voltage check described above to determine the proper motor voltage and then find a way to step down your household 120 volt outlet power to what the motor wants. Greg Bogantz On 11/6/2019 5:11 PM, Ron L'Herault via Phono-L wrote: You should be able to figure out what connects to what with visual inspection and a meter that measures continuity. Most of the old motors went through some kind of resistance
