[pmmunro]

Andy,

Congratulations on acquiring an "Ammunition Box Avometer" - now you're into serious Avometer collecting, but you have to get it working, and that may be a bit of a challenge.

Paragraph 48 of the manual states that 8 screws need to be removed but there are 12 screws, 3 at each edge of the front panel. I have one here that is loose in it's case as I haven't put the screws back yet and they all seem to have a corresponding fastening in the rim of the case. However, in your photograph they all seem to have been removed. Other than that there doesn't seem to be anything else holding the unit in its case. It could be that there's a perished sealing gasket sticking the front panel to the case rim. It might be worth puting a very broad lever between the panel and the case and applying some careful but sustained leverage for a time to see if this will release it. I'm thinking of a piece of steel plate, possibly most of the length of the front panel edge and about 200mm long with the edges beburred and the corners rounded. You'll have to judge if the retaining force is from some almost inelastic part or if it is just gasket adhesion.

I think Dave (The Phillpot) has one, so perhaps he can advise.

Inside it's a true work of art. I hate to think what they cost to make; the 1962 price list gives the price as £162 - 10s Nett, which I take to mean they weren't subject to purchase tax, probably because they were classed as industrial equipment. A Model 8 cost £24 - 0 -0d at the same time, so a CT38 cost the price of 6.77 Models 8s. Taking the final price of a Model 8 at £900, had the CT38 still been available, it could have cost £6094.

You will probably want to find a CT151 calibrator, 10S/16444 which goes with the CT38, another work of art, if you don't already have one.

PMM