opened up an antique (60s-era) high-voltage power supply at work to fix a loose connector, and that thing had the biggest flyback transformer we've ever seen in it--like the size of a box of tissues

which explains the periodic clicking it makes when in use--it must be operating that thing at extremely low frequency, for it to need such a large transformer. Probably around 2-5 Hz judging by the clicking.

It's from that era when "fully transistorized" was a selling point
-F

and characteristic of that era, there were only maybe three transistors in the thing, along with a bunch of diodes

front panel was two galvanometers for showing the voltage and current, a single-turn potentiometer for setting the current limit, and most interestingly of all, four potentiometers driven by *gears* to rotary displays on the front, with a window to show through the number they're set to

the ones digit could spin freely, while the other three had rollers for ten detents in each
-F

I should open that thing up again and get some pictures, I can think of some people here who'd probably find it fascinating

this was back when HP made stuff to last, and last it has--everything in there seems to be original, and all we needed to do was screw down a panel nut to fix a loose output connector and it works perfectly, still in calibration even as far as we can tell with the equipment we have
-F

speaking of people who'd find it fascinating, ping @starkatt, @lorxus, and @Kyresti

and maybe @chr too
-F

@starkatt @lorxus @Kyresti @chr if anyone wants to see the photos i took today, look downthread from here! they will be coming as soon as we can get them off our phone
-F

Follow

Pictures with no image desription, high-voltage electronics from the 60s 

Here's a picture of the whole thing!
-F

re: Pictures with no image desription, high-voltage electronics from the 60s 

And here's closeups of a few different parts
-F

picture of a spider re: Pictures with no image desription, high-voltage electronics from the 60s 

also here's a friend who showed up to watch
-F

re: Pictures with no image desription, high-voltage electronics from the 60s 

@Felthry hell yeah I love classic HP chonk.

re: Pictures with no image desription, high-voltage electronics from the 60s 

@starkatt i miss old HP and we weren't even alive for it to be a thing
-F

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Awoo Space

Awoo.space is a Mastodon instance where members can rely on a team of moderators to help resolve conflict, and limits federation with other instances using a specific access list to minimize abuse.

While mature content is allowed here, we strongly believe in being able to choose to engage with content on your own terms, so please make sure to put mature and potentially sensitive content behind the CW feature with enough description that people know what it's about.

Before signing up, please read our community guidelines. While it's a very broad swath of topics it covers, please do your best! We believe that as long as you're putting forth genuine effort to limit harm you might cause – even if you haven't read the document – you'll be okay!