[BC] For you 'old-timers'...

[Chuck Lakaytis]

Decades ago, sorry for the pun,  I was swing trick supervisor at a US 
Army transmitter site.  I was carrying a Hewlet Packard frequency 
counter from the bench to one of the transmitters.  It was a monster, 
with columns  of digit displays.  I had my boots off, hey it was hotter 
then hell and it was at a late hour, and stepped on a wiring trench 
cover.  The next thing I knew I was laying on the floor, my arms hurt 
like hell, and there was a big dent in the counter.  The rest of the 
shift were staring at me and deciding whether to call the medics.

Turned out that there was a short in the power supply wiring to the 
case.  Afterwards we laughed and wondered if the power supply was 
designed by some idiot for Layfaytte.  (remember that crummy kit company).

Counter still worked after the power supply repair, dent and all.

> I wonder why they didn't use nixies for the digits.  Would that not have 
> saved considerable space and make the units more compact and more 
> straight-forward to read when "stacked" for multiple places?
>
> Regardless... this stuff pre-dates me, but I am absolutely fascinated by 
> it.   I'd really love to have one of those nixie tube clocks, but the 
> irony is I don't have the time to build one.   I guess I'll keep an eye 
> on ebay, but won't hold my breath...  ;)
>
> Chris Gebhardt
> VIRTBIZ Internet Services
> chris at virtbiz.com | (972) 485-4125
>
>
>   

--
Chuck Lakaytis
Director of Engineering, Alaska Public Broadcasting
135 Cordova Street, Anchorage, AK 99501
office   907-277-6300