RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
Gary: The guy that marketed that 40 db power pad was actually a rep, a real character. I still have the data sheet and picture somewhere here in my library. He used to tell me his real money came from making and selling waders. BTW I do have the schematic and JPEG of the Cushman 40 db pad with the fuse inside. Should I send it to someone? Ciao, Tony, K3WX 73 Gary K4FMX Hi Tony, That was Don Simons. I think that he is still a rep but last I heard from him he was in Loveland, Co. He even left the rep business for a few years selling his waders. :) 73 Gary K4FMX
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
The idea of the dual meter unit was to be able to quickly go thru a circuit without having to touch the meter to change ranges or change to AC or DC. If you stuck it on a DC circuit it would read that right. If you stuck it on an AC circuit it would read that. Also you could read an AC voltage riding on top of a DC voltage. One meter would display the DC and the other the AC value. Kind of handy sometimes. I may have a catalog sheet of it somewhere around here but I haven't run across it in some time, Yes the mod box was ok but didn't sell to well. The other item I assume that you meant lineman. That was a very slick box and sold well. It was a line level meter with tone generator and audio amp/speaker and mike. It had the commonly used tone remote tones built in so you could check the line level at those frequencies. Usually people bought two of them, one to use on each end of a line being tested. You could talk back and forth to the guy on the other end and send each other tones and measure levels each way. 73 Gary K4FMX There were very few combination analog/DVM's at service instrument prices and the DMM's that had bar graphs didn't have the resoloution for trends at the time. I can only think of a few off hand such as the Keithly,Simpson had an early one in a 260 type case with Nixies,Ballentine $, and Fluke . I think Heath had one for a short time too. I'd love to see a picture of this meter. I'm still trying to grasp what was so special about two separate meters for AC and DC. There had to be some of Bill's magic either comparator presets, audible alarm or some neat thing that would make service easier. While the subject is odd Helper stuff, remember the Mod Box or the Sineman?
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
No Gary. I meant Sineman. I'm fully aware of the lineman. That was a bit overpriced for what it did. We had two Nortel units that we bought ex-telco that did the same thing elegantly. The Sineman was a unit that we received a mailed brochure. I'm looking at it now. The description: Microprocessor controlled test set features: AC voltmeter,Sineadder,Line Level meter,Single and DTMF tone decoding and portable battery operation $550 for a short time. The drawing of the unit shows a square box with a large meter and 16 digit keypad on the right. Bridge and terminate switch. 4 controls labeled Mode, Scale,Vol., Level. This doesn't have the typical appearance of Helper products. It looks like a keypad entry version of the Toner 3,Lineman,Sinadder 3 with DTMF decode added. This arrived after Susan took control of the company. I can scan this and upload it if anyone is interested. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gascha...@... wrote: The idea of the dual meter unit was to be able to quickly go thru a circuit without having to touch the meter to change ranges or change to AC or DC. If you stuck it on a DC circuit it would read that right. If you stuck it on an AC circuit it would read that. Also you could read an AC voltage riding on top of a DC voltage. One meter would display the DC and the other the AC value. Kind of handy sometimes. I may have a catalog sheet of it somewhere around here but I haven't run across it in some time, Yes the mod box was ok but didn't sell to well. The other item I assume that you meant lineman. That was a very slick box and sold well. It was a line level meter with tone generator and audio amp/speaker and mike. It had the commonly used tone remote tones built in so you could check the line level at those frequencies. Usually people bought two of them, one to use on each end of a line being tested. You could talk back and forth to the guy on the other end and send each other tones and measure levels each way. 73 Gary K4FMX There were very few combination analog/DVM's at service instrument prices and the DMM's that had bar graphs didn't have the resoloution for trends at the time. I can only think of a few off hand such as the Keithly,Simpson had an early one in a 260 type case with Nixies,Ballentine $, and Fluke . I think Heath had one for a short time too. I'd love to see a picture of this meter. I'm still trying to grasp what was so special about two separate meters for AC and DC. There had to be some of Bill's magic either comparator presets, audible alarm or some neat thing that would make service easier. While the subject is odd Helper stuff, remember the Mod Box or the Sineman?
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
Ok, I never saw that one. That was after my time with them. There was another small company in Indiana that was started by a couple of ex wavetek guys that build a line test box too. It would fully simulate DC and tone remotes, measure line levels etc. Was a pretty nice box but pricey. I can't remember the name of it now. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dawn Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 4:29 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) No Gary. I meant Sineman. I'm fully aware of the lineman. That was a bit overpriced for what it did. We had two Nortel units that we bought ex- telco that did the same thing elegantly. The Sineman was a unit that we received a mailed brochure. I'm looking at it now. The description: Microprocessor controlled test set features: AC voltmeter,Sineadder,Line Level meter,Single and DTMF tone decoding and portable battery operation $550 for a short time. The drawing of the unit shows a square box with a large meter and 16 digit keypad on the right. Bridge and terminate switch. 4 controls labeled Mode, Scale,Vol., Level. This doesn't have the typical appearance of Helper products. It looks like a keypad entry version of the Toner 3,Lineman,Sinadder 3 with DTMF decode added. This arrived after Susan took control of the company. I can scan this and upload it if anyone is interested. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gascha...@... wrote: The idea of the dual meter unit was to be able to quickly go thru a circuit without having to touch the meter to change ranges or change to AC or DC. If you stuck it on a DC circuit it would read that right. If you stuck it on an AC circuit it would read that. Also you could read an AC voltage riding on top of a DC voltage. One meter would display the DC and the other the AC value. Kind of handy sometimes. I may have a catalog sheet of it somewhere around here but I haven't run across it in some time, Yes the mod box was ok but didn't sell to well. The other item I assume that you meant lineman. That was a very slick box and sold well. It was a line level meter with tone generator and audio amp/speaker and mike. It had the commonly used tone remote tones built in so you could check the line level at those frequencies. Usually people bought two of them, one to use on each end of a line being tested. You could talk back and forth to the guy on the other end and send each other tones and measure levels each way. 73 Gary K4FMX There were very few combination analog/DVM's at service instrument prices and the DMM's that had bar graphs didn't have the resoloution for trends at the time. I can only think of a few off hand such as the Keithly,Simpson had an early one in a 260 type case with Nixies,Ballentine $, and Fluke . I think Heath had one for a short time too. I'd love to see a picture of this meter. I'm still trying to grasp what was so special about two separate meters for AC and DC. There had to be some of Bill's magic either comparator presets, audible alarm or some neat thing that would make service easier. While the subject is odd Helper stuff, remember the Mod Box or the Sineman? Yahoo! Groups Links
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
I think one was called the Lineman? and another the Toner? I added some dtmf and burst tones to my Sinadder 3 with aftermarket stuff from CES and others. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gascha...@... wrote: Ok, I never saw that one. That was after my time with them. There was another small company in Indiana that was started by a couple of ex wavetek guys that build a line test box too. It would fully simulate DC and tone remotes, measure line levels etc. Was a pretty nice box but pricey. I can't remember the name of it now. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dawn Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 4:29 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) No Gary. I meant Sineman. I'm fully aware of the lineman. That was a bit overpriced for what it did. We had two Nortel units that we bought ex- telco that did the same thing elegantly. The Sineman was a unit that we received a mailed brochure. I'm looking at it now. The description: Microprocessor controlled test set features: AC voltmeter,Sineadder,Line Level meter,Single and DTMF tone decoding and portable battery operation $550 for a short time. The drawing of the unit shows a square box with a large meter and 16 digit keypad on the right. Bridge and terminate switch. 4 controls labeled Mode, Scale,Vol., Level. This doesn't have the typical appearance of Helper products. It looks like a keypad entry version of the Toner 3,Lineman,Sinadder 3 with DTMF decode added. This arrived after Susan took control of the company. I can scan this and upload it if anyone is interested. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gaschafer@ wrote: The idea of the dual meter unit was to be able to quickly go thru a circuit without having to touch the meter to change ranges or change to AC or DC. If you stuck it on a DC circuit it would read that right. If you stuck it on an AC circuit it would read that. Also you could read an AC voltage riding on top of a DC voltage. One meter would display the DC and the other the AC value. Kind of handy sometimes. I may have a catalog sheet of it somewhere around here but I haven't run across it in some time, Yes the mod box was ok but didn't sell to well. The other item I assume that you meant lineman. That was a very slick box and sold well. It was a line level meter with tone generator and audio amp/speaker and mike. It had the commonly used tone remote tones built in so you could check the line level at those frequencies. Usually people bought two of them, one to use on each end of a line being tested. You could talk back and forth to the guy on the other end and send each other tones and measure levels each way. 73 Gary K4FMX There were very few combination analog/DVM's at service instrument prices and the DMM's that had bar graphs didn't have the resoloution for trends at the time. I can only think of a few off hand such as the Keithly,Simpson had an early one in a 260 type case with Nixies,Ballentine $, and Fluke . I think Heath had one for a short time too. I'd love to see a picture of this meter. I'm still trying to grasp what was so special about two separate meters for AC and DC. There had to be some of Bill's magic either comparator presets, audible alarm or some neat thing that would make service easier. While the subject is odd Helper stuff, remember the Mod Box or the Sineman? Yahoo! Groups Links
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
While the subject is odd Helper stuff, remember the Mod Box or the Sineman? I'm a late comer to picking up extra Helper Instrument Equipment but I now have a modest collection of a few items like the Sineadder and a few of the antenna match boxes. I hadn't thought about it for a while but I even have a Mod Box somewhere. It's not nearly as useful as some of their other products still are, but it's at least neat to try and read the manual. I have a Helper Instruments Catalog (one of their last) in my collection (somewhere). I expect my digital scanner to be back on line later this month and I'll be able to make pdf copies available free to any and all parties. cheers, s.
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
On Mar 24, 2010, at 11:06 PM, Gary Schafer wrote: Yes he did build some for a few years. They were never a big seller as the price was pretty high. They did work pretty well. It did not have a digital display, only analog meters. There were lights that showed what range it was on. You could read AC on one meter and DC on the other. Handy for some things. I kind of remember him playing around with an attenuator pad to go ahead of a service monitor. I don't remember the wattmeter part though. There was a guy in California making a 40 db power pad to use ahead of a service monitor. It was made during the Singer monitor era to go in front of it. It had a port for the transceiver and one for the signal generator and another for the receive input on the monitor. It worked pretty well. There may be a few floating around yet. Gary: The guy that marketed that 40 db power pad was actually a rep, a real character. I still have the data sheet and picture somewhere here in my library. He used to tell me his real money came from making and selling waders. BTW I do have the schematic and JPEG of the Cushman 40 db pad with the fuse inside. Should I send it to someone? Ciao, Tony, K3WX 73 Gary K4FMX While we're at it, what ever happened to the watt meter that fed a power pad like a termaline with an attenuated output? Was that talk, or did they ever do anything with that?
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
The Mod Box was a great idea during it's time. Only the IFR-1000 at the time had the provision to use a microphone with a pre-emhasis network. Most all the service monitors only allowed an internal tone or external audio gen. Some allowed the mix of both. The Mod box was sort of like a microphone and two source tone mixer. The Power pad was neat b/c unlike an isotee or throughline power attenuator, you could combine both ends of a service monitor, especially one with duplex/offset generation to a device at the same time. Leave it attached permanantly and take into account the attenuation and never worry about accidently frying it. We bought a couple of the Com-Ser (Neo-Lampkin) units. Still have one. These were single port devices based on a thick film hybrid in a big heatsink. They made some neat add-on stuff too. They had a banded, two way amplifier/preselector that raised the flea power output of some of the earlier monitors to +dbm levels, preslected the input and output for clean output and microvolt sensitivity of the monitor for OTA monitoring. Moot point with later monitors of the 80's. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Tony Faiola fai...@... wrote: On Mar 24, 2010, at 11:06 PM, Gary Schafer wrote: Yes he did build some for a few years. They were never a big seller as the price was pretty high. They did work pretty well. It did not have a digital display, only analog meters. There were lights that showed what range it was on. You could read AC on one meter and DC on the other. Handy for some things. I kind of remember him playing around with an attenuator pad to go ahead of a service monitor. I don't remember the wattmeter part though. There was a guy in California making a 40 db power pad to use ahead of a service monitor. It was made during the Singer monitor era to go in front of it. It had a port for the transceiver and one for the signal generator and another for the receive input on the monitor. It worked pretty well. There may be a few floating around yet. Gary: The guy that marketed that 40 db power pad was actually a rep, a real character. I still have the data sheet and picture somewhere here in my library. He used to tell me his real money came from making and selling waders. BTW I do have the schematic and JPEG of the Cushman 40 db pad with the fuse inside. Should I send it to someone? Ciao, Tony, K3WX 73 Gary K4FMX While we're at it, what ever happened to the watt meter that fed a power pad like a termaline with an attenuated output? Was that talk, or did they ever do anything with that?
[Repeater-Builder] RE: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
That was an auto ranging voltmeter. They were rather expensive at the time, compared to nowadays. As I remember it you could select auto range, or lock it in a particular range. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Alicia Mehrdad [mailto:abcza...@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:26 PM To: gascha...@comcast.net; skipp...@yahoo.com; Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com Subject: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) Hello gentlemen, I found your e-mails on line and I was wondering if you could help me figure out what type of equipment is this, I have a Voltadder Part No. VA 502 from Helper Instruments, it has two windows with a needle meter type and in between the windows it has some lights and number going down. please see example below. -DC + Volts db AC, 500+ 50 150+ 40 50 +30 15 +20 5 +10 1.5 0 db .5-10 .15 -20 . Your help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
Whoa! Bill actually went through with this? I never seen this as a production item although the idea of a service bench Analog/Digital voltmeter was something he was interested in doing. The DMM's A/D section was to go to an integrator and drive a meter for peaking or nulling. My understanding was this was going to be a service grade instrument with a 3 1/2 autoranging digit DMM basic. Was this a protoype? Are there any pics? While we're at it, what ever happened to the watt meter that fed a power pad like a termaline with an attenuated output? Was that talk, or did they ever do anything with that? --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gascha...@... wrote: That was an auto ranging voltmeter. They were rather expensive at the time, compared to nowadays. As I remember it you could select auto range, or lock it in a particular range. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Alicia Mehrdad [mailto:abcza...@...] Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:26 PM To: gascha...@...; skipp...@...; Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com Subject: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) Hello gentlemen, I found your e-mails on line and I was wondering if you could help me figure out what type of equipment is this, I have a Voltadder Part No. VA 502 from Helper Instruments, it has two windows with a needle meter type and in between the windows it has some lights and number going down. please see example below. -DC + Volts db AC, 500+ 50 150+ 40 50 +30 15 +20 5 +10 1.5 0 db .5-10 .15 -20 . Your help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
Yes he did build some for a few years. They were never a big seller as the price was pretty high. They did work pretty well. It did not have a digital display, only analog meters. There were lights that showed what range it was on. You could read AC on one meter and DC on the other. Handy for some things. I kind of remember him playing around with an attenuator pad to go ahead of a service monitor. I don't remember the wattmeter part though. There was a guy in California making a 40 db power pad to use ahead of a service monitor. It was made during the Singer monitor era to go in front of it. It had a port for the transceiver and one for the signal generator and another for the receive input on the monitor. It worked pretty well. There may be a few floating around yet. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dawn Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 4:37 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) Whoa! Bill actually went through with this? I never seen this as a production item although the idea of a service bench Analog/Digital voltmeter was something he was interested in doing. The DMM's A/D section was to go to an integrator and drive a meter for peaking or nulling. My understanding was this was going to be a service grade instrument with a 3 1/2 autoranging digit DMM basic. Was this a protoype? Are there any pics? While we're at it, what ever happened to the watt meter that fed a power pad like a termaline with an attenuated output? Was that talk, or did they ever do anything with that? --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gascha...@... wrote: That was an auto ranging voltmeter. They were rather expensive at the time, compared to nowadays. As I remember it you could select auto range, or lock it in a particular range. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Alicia Mehrdad [mailto:abcza...@...] Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:26 PM To: gascha...@...; skipp...@...; Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com Subject: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) Hello gentlemen, I found your e-mails on line and I was wondering if you could help me figure out what type of equipment is this, I have a Voltadder Part No. VA 502 from Helper Instruments, it has two windows with a needle meter type and in between the windows it has some lights and number going down. please see example below. -DC + Volts db AC, 500+ 50 150+ 40 50 +30 15 +20 5 +10 1.5 0 db .5-10 .15 -20 . Your help would be greatly appreciated. thank you. Yahoo! Groups Links
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502)
Gary, You're thinking about the Power Pad. We used those for IMTS. IIRC, that wasn't just a regular attenuator, but was a three port device like you said and a fantastic product. Helper was looking into a combination power pad and watt meter right around the time between the Modulation Monitor and the SM512. Com-Ser came out with something like that about the same time integrated into a combination DVM/Wattmeter/Tone Audio counter with a switchable 20/40 db load/pad. That was a great idea too, but it never sold well. They incorporated the same idea into their later service monitor BR1100? Even added an Octopus to the scope section. There were very few combination analog/DVM's at service instrument prices and the DMM's that had bar graphs didn't have the resoloution for trends at the time. I can only think of a few off hand such as the Keithly,Simpson had an early one in a 260 type case with Nixies,Ballentine $, and Fluke . I think Heath had one for a short time too. I'd love to see a picture of this meter. I'm still trying to grasp what was so special about two separate meters for AC and DC. There had to be some of Bill's magic either comparator presets, audible alarm or some neat thing that would make service easier. While the subject is odd Helper stuff, remember the Mod Box or the Sineman? --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gascha...@... wrote: Yes he did build some for a few years. They were never a big seller as the price was pretty high. They did work pretty well. It did not have a digital display, only analog meters. There were lights that showed what range it was on. You could read AC on one meter and DC on the other. Handy for some things. I kind of remember him playing around with an attenuator pad to go ahead of a service monitor. I don't remember the wattmeter part though. There was a guy in California making a 40 db power pad to use ahead of a service monitor. It was made during the Singer monitor era to go in front of it. It had a port for the transceiver and one for the signal generator and another for the receive input on the monitor. It worked pretty well. There may be a few floating around yet. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dawn Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 4:37 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) Whoa! Bill actually went through with this? I never seen this as a production item although the idea of a service bench Analog/Digital voltmeter was something he was interested in doing. The DMM's A/D section was to go to an integrator and drive a meter for peaking or nulling. My understanding was this was going to be a service grade instrument with a 3 1/2 autoranging digit DMM basic. Was this a protoype? Are there any pics? While we're at it, what ever happened to the watt meter that fed a power pad like a termaline with an attenuated output? Was that talk, or did they ever do anything with that? --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Gary Schafer gaschafer@ wrote: That was an auto ranging voltmeter. They were rather expensive at the time, compared to nowadays. As I remember it you could select auto range, or lock it in a particular range. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Alicia Mehrdad [mailto:abcza...@] Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:26 PM To: gaschafer@; skipp025@; Repeater- buil...@yahoogroups.com Subject: Helper Instruments (Voltadder VA 502) Hello gentlemen, I found your e-mails on line and I was wondering if you could help me figure out what type of equipment is this, I have a Voltadder Part No. VA 502 from Helper Instruments, it has two windows with a needle meter type and in between the windows it has some lights and number going down. please see example below. -DC + Volts db AC, 500+ 50 150+ 40 50 +30 15 +20 5 +10 1.5 0 db .5-10 .15 -20 . Your help would be greatly appreciated. thank you. Yahoo! Groups Links
