Having been donated a homebrew "L" antenna tuner, with
an unidentified roller coaster (about 1 1/4" in diameter, with
a plastic facia turns counter marked "antenna loading" with the
plastic facia looking like a CRT's barrel distortion, any ideas
as to its origin, anyone?) but a fairly large domestic tuning
capacitor, I needed to remove the gunge that had accumulated
after some years in a garden shed.

Lo! And behold! An ideal tool is to be found in dental floss,
a bit difficult to thread it between to start with, (hook it with
a paper clip) but once going, it's in its element!

"G "Guglielmo" Evans G4SDW" wrote in message
...
Having been donated a homebrew "L" antenna tuner, with
an unidentified roller coaster (about 1 1/4" in diameter, with
a plastic facia turns counter marked "antenna loading" with the
plastic facia looking like a CRT's barrel distortion, any ideas
as to its origin, anyone?)

if it has a black plastic face it sounds like the one from old Collins TCS
12 u.s.navy tx. got one here also! also brought back waves of nostalgia
from the days of REAL hammery!

doug. gm3oav.

"doug" wrote in message
...
"G "Guglielmo" Evans" wrote in message
...
Having been donated a homebrew "L" antenna tuner, with
an unidentified roller coaster (about 1 1/4" in diameter, with
a plastic facia turns counter marked "antenna loading" with the
plastic facia looking like a CRT's barrel distortion, any ideas
as to its origin, anyone?)
if it has a black plastic face it sounds like the one from old Collins TCS
12 u.s.navy tx. got one here also! also brought back waves of
nostalgia from the days of REAL hammery!

Doug, brilliant...in response to your heads up, a quick google brought
up numerous pictures to confirm it.

Thank-you...arigato gozaimus!

The next question for all is....how to clean up the green verdigris that is
on some parts of the coil, and also the brass pulley that runs up
and down the coil.....ie...how to clean it but without doing damage
for the future. (And I suppose that means that taking that exercise with
yesterday's antenna exercise that in the space of 24 hours I will
have done everything that Mrs.Nugatory has ever done, plus
all the other experiments (including some mistakes about
which I'm not the least embarrassed) as well!)

brasso and a tooth brush!
or brown sauce!

mike

"G "Guglielmo" Evans G4SDW" wrote in message
...

"doug" wrote in message
...
"G "Guglielmo" Evans" wrote in message
...
Having been donated a homebrew "L" antenna tuner, with
an unidentified roller coaster (about 1 1/4" in diameter, with
a plastic facia turns counter marked "antenna loading" with the
plastic facia looking like a CRT's barrel distortion, any ideas
as to its origin, anyone?)
if it has a black plastic face it sounds like the one from old Collins
TCS
12 u.s.navy tx. got one here also! also brought back waves of
nostalgia from the days of REAL hammery!

Doug, brilliant...in response to your heads up, a quick google brought
up numerous pictures to confirm it.

Thank-you...arigato gozaimus!

The next question for all is....how to clean up the green verdigris that
is
on some parts of the coil, and also the brass pulley that runs up
and down the coil.....ie...how to clean it but without doing damage
for the future. (And I suppose that means that taking that exercise with
yesterday's antenna exercise that in the space of 24 hours I will
have done everything that Mrs.Nugatory has ever done, plus
all the other experiments (including some mistakes about
which I'm not the least embarrassed) as well!)

"mikeFNB" wrote in message
...
brasso and a tooth brush!
or brown sauce!

mike

"G "Guglielmo" Evans G4SDW" wrote in
message ...

"doug" wrote in message
...
"G "Guglielmo" Evans" wrote in
message
...
Having been donated a homebrew "L" antenna tuner, with
an unidentified roller coaster (about 1 1/4" in
diameter, with
a plastic facia turns counter marked "antenna loading"
with the
plastic facia looking like a CRT's barrel distortion,
any ideas
as to its origin, anyone?)

Snipping here....
Actually, toothpaste works very well. Its a detergent
and very mild abrasive which will often remove oxidation
without taking off too much metal. Brasso is too strong and
leaves a residue behind. There are cleaners with reducing
agents such as _Barkeepers Friend_ which are quite effective
in removing oxidation but they may also remove all the
plating where something has only a thin plating of silver or
chrome. Remember, the oxidation itself is metal that has
been removed chemically from the surface of the object. I
don't know of any way of replacing it other than replating
which is not always practical. Your roller inductor is/was
very likely silver plated.
Use the mildest cleaner first and more powerful agents
only if it doesn't work.
A toothbrush is an excellent cleaning tool.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

G "Guglielmo" Evans GfourSDW wrote:

The next question for all is....how to clean up the green verdigris that is
on some parts of the coil, and also the brass pulley that runs up
and down the coil.....ie...how to clean it but without doing damage
for the future. (And I suppose that means that taking that exercise with
yesterday's antenna exercise that in the space of 24 hours I will
have done everything that Mrs.Nugatory has ever done, plus
all the other experiments (including some mistakes about
which I'm not the least embarrassed) as well!)




Give it a good clean with IPA first to get rid of the grime then one of
the pan scourers intended for non stick pans usually removes most of the
oxidization. Don't use anything too abrasive as the silver plating is
can be rather thin.

Steve H

P.S. Sorry about having to change your call but the news server has it
down as a "bad word"

Years ago I was told to use women's Lipstick for cleaning surfaces where the
smoothness of the final finish is important! They said it is very mildly
abrasive. I think I'd test it for residue before I got too carried away.
Also be a little careful of the color?

They said to apply it with something smooth such as a piece of chamois on a
popsicle stick?

Good Luck!

Young



"G "Guglielmo" Evans G4SDW" wrote in message
...
Having been donated a homebrew "L" antenna tuner, with
an unidentified roller coaster (about 1 1/4" in diameter, with
a plastic facia turns counter marked "antenna loading" with the
plastic facia looking like a CRT's barrel distortion, any ideas
as to its origin, anyone?) but a fairly large domestic tuning
capacitor, I needed to remove the gunge that had accumulated
after some years in a garden shed.

Lo! And behold! An ideal tool is to be found in dental floss,
a bit difficult to thread it between to start with, (hook it with
a paper clip) but once going, it's in its element!