airline technical apparatus

[Andy Le Blanc]

I've found an old wards PA..... looks to be in very good shape....all original
a large suitcase that comes apart to form the speakers
cat no. H4225 ..... 12" cinaudagraph speakers with the stamps
FB 12-11........ 2349.......62-2462....... any guesses as to date?

[Andy Le Blanc]

finally got a camera...... and time to use it

[Andy Le Blanc]

it looks to in good shape ... havent found the moment to see if itll go yet
could make for one hell of a harp amp

[Andy Le Blanc]

it was too good to be true...... I started to get suspicious ...finding missing
washers upon disassembly...... it has a replacement stancor interstage as an
inverter....... electrical tape patches...... the rest looks good.... Ill be lucky if the caps are any good......
nice dress...... one thing I noticed
the grid leads to the power tubes are twisted..... I just posted that one
should not...... hmmmmm.......

[Andy Le Blanc]

heres the brand of tranny used thru-out....... It appears it needs an appropriate
replacement interstage for phase inversion... the choke is pictured

[Andy Le Blanc]

heres a better view of the power componants ....... the ohmite is a replacement
buried in there are Dutch or German(?) parts "TOBE DEUTSCHMANN CORP"

[Andy Le Blanc]

nice old parts ..... I havent been able to gather too much by way of a date
of manufacture..... post war haze maybe ..... like the speakers I suspect
many parts are made by firms formerly under defense contract .... clouded by merger

[Andy Le Blanc]

it fires up..... sort of....... the power side needs caps .... three of these
Id like to not have to install twistlocs...... it would make for a more useable
amp but its much nicer to respect its originality..... time to start digging....

[Sonny ReVerb]

You might be able to take the cans apart and put new smaller caps inside. I haven't done this, but I've heard tell... Maybe someone else can offer some real world experience. This gives you the vintage look with modern reliability.

Actually, I found a link to an example:

http://www.boatanchors.org/filtercap.htm

Sonny

[Andy Le Blanc]

thats not a bad idea..... all the connectors are this old amphenol type
its not current production of course....... but if any body has em.....
with extra plugs I can fab a houseing too....

[rfgordon]

I'll take a stab at some of the numbers for you. The 62-2462 follows the Montomgery Wards OEM product marking scheme. You'll see other Wards parts marked as 62-XXXX. I have an old Wards Airline guitar amp in our studio marked that way.

I believe the date stamp is 2349: 23rd week of 1949. The more familiar date code scheme, such as 137923 or 1376923 wasn't in very wide use in the post WWII years. Very little in the way of consumer electronics were manufactured from 1939 - 1945, so it's likely this came later. The styling looks pre-1950s. The unit may have been built from prewar or wartime parts. For example, the speaker frame has an integral bracket for a field coil, which would have been common in prewar times.

You didn't post a tube-view pic, so I can't judge from the tube types. Pre WWII consumer gear commonly had tubes with plate cap connections. These were largely phased out during the war years because those types of tubes are less reliable when subjected to vibration, such as when used in aircraft radios and avionics.

That's my 2 centavos worth.

[Andy Le Blanc]

thank you for the date........ this one is old enough for info the be scarce
the pre is a separate box with a handfull of 6J7' side mounted..... I have
more gather'd from old consoles ive scrounged......

it looks like I'll be able to use the plugs from the bottom of the caps as
adapters ...... the cans are thin aluminium and cut easily..... the rest of the
cap is a cardboard tube sealed with paraffin stuffed into the can.....
good idea that looks like it'll work...... thank you for the link.....

[Noel Grassy]

What a cool looking amp.
Are the "corrugated pasta" components resistors? I've never seen anything
resembling those do-dads.

[Andy Le Blanc]

ya ...... ancient history...... a very long way from SMD's
the color code dates to between the wars...... 20's...... but thats all Ive
found..... havent found any references to type yet