StroboTac 631-B

This was a perfect storm. While running my normal route on a Saturday morning I saw two guys setting up a sale. When I see people setting up I always ask if it’s “too early to look.” These guys waved me in with a smile.

I looked around and commented on all the interesting things they had. I always do that, no matter what I see, to start a conversation.

Turns out one of their dad’s had passed away and they were clearing out some of his things. They volunteered that the dad had worked for Pan Am. Judging by some of the items for sale I guessed he might have been an engineer or mechanic. I love wooden boxes and I was drawn to a small, dovetailed box. It was a vintage hole punch kit. Next to it was a small metric ratchet set that I knew my son would like.

 “How much?”

“How about a dollar for both.”

I gathered several more items and then asked about an old vacuum tube volt meter sitting among other random items in a gray bin.

“You can have the whole box for $5.00”

I knew I could get 35-45 dollars for the meter so I jumped at it.

“Cool”, I said,  “ I love old electronics”.

Then one of the guys disappeared into the house for a minute and came out with a black metal box with a lens on the front. He said if I liked old electronics I might like this. He said it was a strobe light but the bulb was burnt out. He suggested if I could find a replacement bulb it might be something I could use for Halloween. It had knobs and meters and calibration port. I knew it was more than just a strobe light but I didn’t know what it was or how it was used. We didn’t even talk about a price, he just set it in the gray bin with the rest of the items. Finally, I saw an older Husquarna chain saw that looked remarkably clean. He said all it needed was a carb cleaning.

“How much?”

“How about 15.00 dollars for the chain saw, everything in the gray bin, the ratchet and the wooden box (hole punch set)”

“Deal!”

When I got home I found out the “strobe light” was a Strobotac 631-B made by General Radio in Cambridge Ma.

 

It was used for measuring RPMs on an industrial level. There were several selling on eBay for 100+ dollars, but those were in working condition. While I was on the computer I searched to see If I could find a replacement bulb but had no luck. I went back out to the garage and plugged the Strobotac in to my workbench and tried different combinations of switch positions but it, indeed, looked dead. I turned around to light a cigar and when I looked back there was an orangish glow coming from the lens. Of course, I thought, it was a tube device and needed to warm up. I tried some more switch positions, expecting to see a bright white strobe…. still just glowed. I found a YouTube video of a guy using a StroboTac 631-B (I love YouTube). Turns out, the orange glow was normal. It was working!

 I’ve begun a little restoration work on the strobe, just to clean it up, then It’s going on eBay for sure. I did a carb cleaning on the chain saw and it fired right up. I’ll resell that in one my own sales. The ratchet set went to my son, and I’m keeping the hole punch set for my own workshop.

So what else was in the gray bin? More on that next time.

Oh, yes, I did ask if they had any old Pan Am memorabilia, they didn’t. Shucks.