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Hints, Tips and Solutions (Do NOT post requests for help here) If you have any useful general hints and tips for vintage technology repair and restoration, please share them here. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE! |
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19th Jan 2007, 10:57 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
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The importance of taking clear notes
Hi All,
Just a note to mention the importance of taking good clear notes and diagrams when removing components for refitting at a later date. Example........ I have been restoring a TV22 for a while, and prior to it's chassis wash I stripped all the wound components off the chassis - I thought I had documented the connections correctly..... However, when I had refitted the components I had several faults - no raster, brightness control not working..... So, Howler central - I had managed to connect the frame output transformer incorrectly, and to compound this fault, I managed to completely forget to reconnect HT to one part of the circuit..... So, Be warned! Notes and Photographs are an absolute must! Cheers Sean
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19th Jan 2007, 11:16 pm | #2 | |
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Quote:
That way (notes, photos, drawings, etc.) you can build up your own workshop manual. Especially relevant if you've incorporated some non-standard modification. Don't say to yourself "Yeah, yeah - I'll remember what that is for", etc. You won't. Years later, you'll look at it, recognise your own handiwork, and say "why did I do that?" Al / Skywave. |
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20th Jan 2007, 1:48 pm | #3 |
Nonode
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Apart from taking notes, I depend on taking copious digital photos from every angle as the set comes apart. On reassembly, this has proved essential time and again.
One non-radio example: recently I had to repair my grandfather clock. I had no previous experience of clock repair whatsoever and the poor thing ended up as a mass of cog wheels on the bench. Without the photos I wouldn't have had a hope of ever putting it together again; but instead I'm happy to report it's now ticking away solidly and keeping excellent time. Steve
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20th Jan 2007, 3:41 pm | #4 |
Heptode
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Another one in agreement with the point made! I have incredibly poor memory, a side effect of the medication that I must take in order to function satisfactorily in other ways. It could be something as simple as remembering how a chassis fastens into its cabinet after a repair, something not always apparent in a workshop manual or Trader service sheet, that would stump me if I didn't take pictures.
I have a "real" camera, but for documenting the correct assembly procedure for any engineering-related task, be it radio, car, household or otherwise, the 2 Megapixel camera on my telephone gives excellent close-up results and I invariably open a fresh folder in 'documents' on the pc, then name it for the device under scrutiny, finally all pictures are uploaded, text added with photoshop and a CD burnt that will read like a "Haynes" car manual, but that doesn't leave any vital bits to chance! Steve, regarding your clock repair, my Father is one of those irritatingly talented people who can look at a pile of round, brass components on a bench and, within minutes, have them assembled into something that tells the time. Clocks are very much not my particular strength, so the more pictures, the better on those rare occasions I have to delve into such a thing. Sounds long winded, and is, but I'm never left with spare bits after a job!
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20th Jan 2007, 3:47 pm | #5 |
Octode
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
I usually have loads of screws etc left over after restorations and have no idea where they should go! I normally do diagrams if I disconnect anything, I have just started on an early 50's Etronic and I did diagrams for the O/P tx and the mains on/off/volume switch. Josh.
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20th Jan 2007, 4:43 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Notes? What are notes??
Seriously though, Digital Photogtaphy is a good way of quickly getting a diagram of where things should go! Cheers, Steve P
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20th Jan 2007, 4:51 pm | #7 |
Dekatron
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
I think that digital cameras are one of the most useful tools that you can own, for dismantling and reassembling anything.
I do it all the time with radios, and even occasionally with clocks (!) although I have been working on both of those since the 1960s.
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20th Jan 2007, 4:57 pm | #8 | |
Dekatron
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Quote:
And I keep all the pics on my PC just in case there's a next time. They're also useful for posting here if someone asks a question and a picture answers it better than words could. My Nikon has an excellent macro facility, but close-ups always tended to be a bit overexposed, until I stuck a bit of masking tape over the flash. Nick. |
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20th Jan 2007, 5:07 pm | #9 |
Heptode
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Don't forget the digital camera can also be used to take pictures of all those scribbled notes you make as you go along. Very useful with the component or part in the shot as well. Yes, they could be scanned at some stage in the future, but it's very quick to do on the spot and can be really useful later on.
It's surprising how clear a page of notes and diagrams can be on the screen! Colin |
20th Jan 2007, 10:04 pm | #10 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Besides keeping notes and taking photos, it is a good idea to keep all parts removed in a box with a lid or in a ziplock bag. Also work over a plain smooth floor like linoleum so anything dropped can be easily retrieved. I still have nightmares from the time I was repairing an antique pocket watch and dropped a specially shaped screw into a deep pile carpet! I did find it weeks later.
John. |
21st Jan 2007, 4:38 pm | #11 |
Octode
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
I entirely endorse the sentiments of all on this thread. The digital camera - best, one that can take a good close-up and has a high res - is a great benefit to me, along with rough sketches and notes. Despite the copious photos I take there's always one view that is partly obsured, or I inexplicably miss during the dismantling. This gives rise to the 'Elarwe' syndrome* a few months later when I return to the box of bits for a belated rebuild!
*Elarwe, as in 'Where the 'ell are we?' Despite the limitations of my failing brain, the camera has considerable value, enhanced by the immediacy of image access - so you can be sure you've got the photo you intended! Another useful tool, especially if you enjoy talking to yourself, is a pocket dictophone, digital or analogue type. The former is handiest for quick verbal notes, though. -Tony |
21st Jan 2007, 9:20 pm | #12 | ||
Hexode
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Quote:
Quote:
Notes and sketches are also vital. Edward |
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22nd Jan 2007, 4:51 pm | #13 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
So i'm not the only one then ....
I think i've always taken notes on repairs that needed disassambly, as far back as i can recall anyway. Many years ago i got a battery operated video-tape camera, i used this on almost all my repairs as it only needed a minute or so of hand held coverage, plus a few spoken comments to cover a 'stage' of repairs or disassembly quite adequately for reassembly, and as a lot of my repairs were on motor cars, the owner could see what was involved easily without leaving the house. Since i've had my digital camera, i just take photos now, and they go into a folder for that project or repair. In some ways the video camera was more economical because after a two hour tape was full, i would simply start going over it. Thats quite a lot of coverage at a couple of minutes per item. But with the digital camera my collection of various photos is now getting cumbersome, i think i should delete the lot, or just save a few. With the video tape it was never more than one video cassette, but now with the camera its taking up a lot of space on my hard drive. I use masking tape a lot for various things, i can group screws together and label them with a short bit of masking tape, if bits of wood break off, i can stick them back in place with a bit of tape. To be glued and finished later, like bits of veneer and such. HB pencil writes ok on masking tape. Little bits of broken bakelite case or attachments like trim can easily get lost, so thats what i do. I often repair broken bakelite bits using araldite. Sometimes a repair may have to wait a long time for a particular bit, thats when the brief notes and individual container of parts is very valuable. John |
23rd Jan 2007, 5:01 pm | #14 | |
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
On some radios I have taken pictures of the undersides - in case the project took more than a few days. Digital cameras are great for this purpose, since at least on mine, I can save the pictures on a diskette and call them up as I need.
Then there's also the crude little sketches I do when I remove an IF transformer from the chassis. Electrical tape is great for when you're opening up a radio and have to remove the tuning condenser wheel from the shaft. Wrap electrical tape around the rim to minimize disturbance to the dial cord. Old pill vials come in handy for saving screws. Quote:
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7th Apr 2007, 5:38 pm | #15 |
Triode
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Northampton, East Midlands, UK.
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Me 61, apprenticed as R&TV service engineer. This was beaten into me with a500w solder iron! You only take the wavechange switch out of a fourband radiogram chassis once and fail to take proper drawings!
Old Dave. |
7th Apr 2007, 5:41 pm | #16 |
Triode
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Oh! I forgot. Tuning dial chord drives!!!
And these computer teckies think C++ is difficult. (Philips were the worst!) Even Older Dave. |
7th Apr 2007, 5:46 pm | #17 |
Rest in Peace
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Absolutely right, everybody.
Notes and photographs are a form of measurement, and as I, my father, and his electronics teacher (Prof. Freddie Williams) have each incanted to our students ad nauseam: "To MEASURE is to KNOW". (Lord Kelvin said it first, but not in such succinct words !) It's always so obvious .... IN RETROSPECT ! Carry on, Team |
7th Apr 2007, 6:31 pm | #18 |
Nonode
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
And to measure more than once then THINK about what the results mean!
Regards,
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7th Apr 2007, 7:53 pm | #19 |
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
For conciseness I didn't add what Freddie ( and the rest of us) used to add to Lord Kelvin's precept:
"... but be Bl***dy sure you know WHAT you're measuring !" The "and how" is implicit in that. |
7th Apr 2007, 8:44 pm | #20 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: The importance of taking clear notes
Also worth remembering Crow's Law.
Stated by John Crow, a reader in English at Kings College London who once said... "Do not think what you want to think until you know what you ought to know". One of the ways we get to know what we ought to know is by taking clear notes. |