View Full Version : Antique Shop Pick
48971
Here’s an interesting antique shop pick. This is a Weston Model 1 DC Ammeter that was made by the Weston Electrical Instrument Corp. in Newark, NJ. It appears to be in like new condition.
Edward Weston was a pioneer in electrical measurement in the late 1880s and his Model 1 began its production run in 1888. It is the earliest mass produced laboratory type electrical meter that measured what was known in 1888 as “invisible energy.” The Serial Number is 59053 which places the meter’s production in 1915 to 1920. The original carrying case is missing.
I visit this antique mall in Ft. Myers, FL every year and have bought several items from this vendor. The meter has been sitting in his display case for several years and, since I used to repair and calibrate the Model 1 in the 1970s when I worked for GE, I decided to make him an offer that was accepted.
barretcreek
03-07-2021, 11:13
Very nice. Beautiful item.
Friend was rummaging around, like you in a junk shop in Baltimore. Found a main vacuum gauge for cheap and took it home. When he took it apart to start cleaning it he found the inscription on the back of the mechanism. "Patrick Henry. Fairfield Yard".
Very nice my dad collected meters when he was alive he would love that one thank you for posting
I always thought Thomas Edison was involved in developing early electrical measurement devices. He must have worked with Weston meters. I saved about a dozen antique GE portable box meters similar to the Weston Model 1 1888 meter from the dumpster just before I retired but the earliest date of manufacturing I could find on the GE meters was 1909. That was probably when the Weston patents expired.
Very nice. Beautiful item.
Friend was rummaging around, like you in a junk shop in Baltimore. Found a main vacuum gauge for cheap and took it home. When he took it apart to start cleaning it he found the inscription on the back of the mechanism. "Patrick Henry. Fairfield Yard".
The SS Patrick Henry was a Liberty ship built at the Fairfield Ship yard in Baltimore in 1941.
Is there any interest in old antique hand crank telephone stuff? I have an American Electric, (Chicago), hand cranked generator that was apparently used by linemen to test circuits. It works and is in amazingly good shape for a item that is going on 100 years old including the original leather carrying strap. It is marked "10000" or "00001" depending on how you look at it.
Is there any interest in old antique hand crank telephone stuff? I have an American Electric, (Chicago), hand cranked generator that was apparently used by linemen to test circuits. It works and is in amazingly good shape for a item that is going on 100 years old including the original leather carrying strap. It is marked "10000" or "00001" depending on how you look at it.
Red,
I did a quick Internet search on American Electric and hand cranked telephone generators. I found plenty of old Western Electric hand cranked telephone generators but nothing on American Electric. Can you post a photo?
Red,
I did a quick Internet search on American Electric and hand cranked telephone generators. I found plenty of old Western Electric hand cranked telephone generators but nothing on American Electric. Can you post a photo?
Sorry, but I can’t post pictures any more but Google “American Electric Collectors Association”. That will should get you pics of the device.
PM me a email addy and IÂ’ll send pics to you.
Very nice my dad collected meters when he was alive he would love that one thank you for posting
Do you still have his collection?
Sorry, but I can’t post pictures any more but Google “American Electric Collectors Association”. That will should get you pics of the device.
PM me a email addy and IÂ’ll send pics to you.
Red,
I found your generator on eBay.
Edit - It’s up for auction with a minimum starting bid of $60. Watch it to see if anyone bids on it. I suspect it’s value is probably somewhere around $100 to $125. If the 10000 refers to the amount of voltage produced, then it was used to test insulation resistance. Ringing generators would produce around 48 volts.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/antique-hand-crank-telephone-generator/193941200358?hash=item2d27cbdde6:g:L3sAAOSwIe1gRTF 7
pmclaine
03-12-2021, 08:19
After seeing this image....
https://i.imgur.com/KyLM1AOl.png
I decided I needed a Hallicrafter Sky Buddy.
Just bought this tonight....
https://i.imgur.com/Ot3ZOAul.jpg
After seeing this image....
https://i.imgur.com/KyLM1AOl.png
I decided I needed a Hallicrafter Sky Buddy.
Just bought this tonight....
https://i.imgur.com/Ot3ZOAul.jpg
The Hallicrafters Sky Buddy is a vacuum tube short wave receiver from the 30s and 40s. Nice find. Does it still work?
Edit: The soldier in the photo on the left is wearing a pre WW2 Brody helmet and could the rifle be an M1917? The only distinguishing features that I can see on the rifle are the front sight protector ears and possibly the stock’s whale belly near the floor plate.
pmclaine
03-13-2021, 03:33
The Hallicrafters Sky Buddy is a vacuum tube short wave receiver from the 30s and 40s. Nice find. Does it still work?
Edit: The soldier in the photo on the left is wearing a pre WW2 Brody helmet and could the rifle be an M1917? The only distinguishing features that I can see on the rifle are the front sight protector ears and possibly the stock’s whale belly near the floor plate.
Its a picture of soldiers on the Bataan Peninsula and the rifle is a Garand. They must of been desperate for news from the Sky Buddy. Guessing someone was cranking a generator.
This one is great shape looks like someone updated the resistors and the seller is going to replace the paper caps. He says it works now but it will be a bit cleaner when I get it.
https://i.imgur.com/RuStJ94l.jpg
Yes, it’s a Garand. Fresh caps should eliminate humming.
pmclaine
03-13-2021, 07:00
Yes, it’s a Garand. Fresh caps should eliminate humming.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge...Im going to ask for more.
The back of the chassis has screw terminals for an antenna connection. My goal is to pick up one "weak" AM station that plays music period with the radio. Any suggestions on a suitable antenna?
I have a second one of these I may move once I determine my new radio is complete. If anyone else is a nostalgic person....
https://i.imgur.com/henGXH8l.png
https://i.imgur.com/BfdciXNl.png
Strong station....
https://youtu.be/fRBa1UMB_bs
The weak station...
https://youtu.be/4AM8UJDtbtI
My contribution: he's smoking a cigarette. I had a radio similar to that. After our town was flooded folks threw out loads of stuff. There was an electric organ sitting up by the hiway. I asked for it and took it home. Every time you plugged it in it blew the fuze. I'm no musician so I couldn't have played it anyway. It was sitting outside of the garage when this soldier cutting through our place asked me if I would trade the organ for an old time radio. I made the deal and got "something" like what's pictured. I put it out in the Shed and strung a wire over to the house for an antenna. I listened to very scratchy talk in foreign languages. Something that might have been Morse code. Some channel just produced some kind of oscillation. I played with it for a while and then joined the navy and sold the radio to someone for maybe $25. One of the better deals I ever made.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge...Im going to ask for more.
The back of the chassis has screw terminals for an antenna connection. My goal is to pick up one "weak" AM station that plays music period with the radio. Any suggestions on a suitable antenna?
I have a second one of these I may move once I determine my new radio is complete. If anyone else is a nostalgic person....
https://i.imgur.com/henGXH8l.png
https://i.imgur.com/BfdciXNl.png
Strong station....
https://youtu.be/fRBa1UMB_bs
The weak station...
https://youtu.be/4AM8UJDtbtI
Here’s some information on antenna length.
https://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=390841
Forty feet ought to do it. That is one heck of a radio. Sky buddy, with the H on the other side. I most certainly didn't have that radio.
What I did do was try to make a crystal radio previous to. Grafite pencil lead and what ever. I actually think I got a little sound out of it for one thousandth of a second. I was wearing head phones.
https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Bookshelf-Gernsback/Gernsback-The-Sky-Buddy-Saga.pdf
More on the Sky Buddy Model S19 R:
https://www.manualslib.com/brand/hallicrafters/
How to build the inverted “L” antenna:
https://www.wise-geek.com/what-is-an-inverted-l-antenna.htm
The original Sky Buddy sold for $29.50 in 1936. Inflation calculator says that $29.50 is worth $556.81 in today’s dollars.
https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/
The SS Patrick Henry was a Liberty ship built at the Fairfield Ship yard in Baltimore in 1941.
Merc-- the SS Patrick Henry was the first Liberty ship built.
Merc-- the SS Patrick Henry was the first Liberty ship built.
The SS Patrick Henry was scrapped where she was built - in Baltimore in 1958. Most were scrapped but a few remain. We were aboard the liberty ship SS American Victory last year that’s currently docked in Tampa, FL. We got to see the engine room and electrical system that’s off limits to everyone else.
http://www.americanvictory.org/
pmclaine
03-14-2021, 08:39
https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Bookshelf-Gernsback/Gernsback-The-Sky-Buddy-Saga.pdf
More on the Sky Buddy Model S19 R:
https://www.manualslib.com/brand/hallicrafters/
How to build the inverted ?L? antenna:
https://www.wise-geek.com/what-is-an-inverted-l-antenna.htm
Very helpful.....and informative....Thank you.
Very helpful.....and informative....Thank you.
Let us know how it performs with your antenna.
pmclaine
03-14-2021, 10:45
Let us know how it performs with your antenna.
It may be a bit before I get the second radio with the updated guts....unsure how I will convince Mrs S-19 stringing wires out the window is a good idea.
My goal is one oldies station....fingers crossed.
It may be a bit before I get the second radio with the updated guts....unsure how I will convince Mrs S-19 stringing wires out the window is a good idea.
My goal is one oldies station....fingers crossed.
If all you’re going to listen to are AM-FM radio stations, a 31 inch antenna should work.
pmclaine
03-16-2021, 06:39
If all you?re going to listen to are AM-FM radio stations, a 31 inch antenna should work.
I will try a loop antenna at first to see how it goes.....
Merc-- Thanks for the information on the SS American Victory. Just a point of order, the SS American Victory is not a liberty ship it is a Victory class ship, the liberty ship was a smaller, earlier class. I have always marveled at the production rates of war material including these classes of ships in WWII.
Merc-- Thanks for the information on the SS American Victory. Just a point of order, the SS American Victory is not a liberty ship it is a Victory class ship, the liberty ship was a smaller, earlier class. I have always marveled at the production rates of war material including these classes of ships in WWII.
I stand corrected. You’d think I’d have known, being an old Navy man.
Ramping up the various industries to meet the challenges of WW2 was astonishing. I often wonder if we could do it again today.
I stand corrected. You’d think I’d have known, being an old Navy man.
Ramping up the various industries to meet the challenges of WW2 was astonishing. I often wonder if we could do it again today.
Yea -- Me too!!
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.