| Getting ready for the day. [Left to right] Bob Erickson, Ron Williams
& Robert Garner likely
talking about reinstalling the cleaned, porcelain block with two terminals broken
loose, no replacement in Visual Storage machine,
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| Crimping Eyelet - Lots and lots of details to help assure long term, safe
running of our system. Robert Garner gives a *big* squeeze crimping an "eyelet"
to the new 1401 power cable. (The elusive
Allen Palmer is almost in the picture ;-))
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| The elusive Allen Palmer is caught outside of a 729 tape drive. He is shown in
the required position for studying how to test a 729 power supply box, which is
definitely heavier than a 60 pound sack of cement. The capacitors
have already been checked. This unit outputs 7 voltages (up to 140 volts)
and has lots of connections for
external circuit breakers and jumpers of various sorts. Last week trying to remove this
power supply from the 729 tape unit reduced three serious men into
"The Three Stooges" ;-))
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| "Fire In The Hole" - a military phrase broadcast when preparing to fire on a
rifle range. This is the first time power has been applied to this power supply
in several decades. Dave Cortesi has more faith than Robert Garner?
And again, the elusive Allen Palmer is almost in the picture ;-))
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| Reversing Phases
- well, something like that
- OK, so I'm faking it!!
OK wise guy! - you tell what they are doing!
| First Twinkle - Ron Williams' little voltage checker plugged into the 1401 system
110 volt utility circuit. It does not sound like much, but at the end of a long day,
it is 5:30, this is the first sign on life in the 1401 system in more than a decade.
OK, All DC power supplies are turned "OFF" - but it took quite a bit to reach this point.
- The Elgar 50 Hz 3 phase unit secured, installed and connected.
- The 1402 power circuits restored to approximate factory configuration
- Nice new power cable and plug
- Three phase power in correct phasing
- A number of circuits, including "Emergency Power OFF" on the 1401 verified
Bob Erickson (left) and Ron Williams are tired but happy.
When commissioning a major telescope, there comes a time called
"First Light" -
when lots of things work fairly well, and a first image attempted.
Our project is not there yet - but a "twinkle" is a
welcome visible sign of progress :-))
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