TOT: my grovelling about in the stock rooms continues

On the floor under a lot of junk I found three packs of five of RS stock number 484-2864. I remember why we used to use these. It was to stop high voltage spikes on a system that used 24V DC line power, and it worked. Now that must have been a long long time ago, because that system was ripped out in its entirety and replaced in the mid 1990s, and my attempts to keep the old system working were at their height five to ten years before that. Actually it more a case of bringing it back from the dead! I just looked that stock number up. The product is still exactly the same. I wonder what price I paid for those 15 unused thyristors in 1990? More or less than their price now?

I also found a box with some very childish writing on it. As soon as I saw it I remembered what had happened. Carolyn would be about five, and she was 'helping' me. I showed her how I was writing labels on boxes, and wrote one for her to copy. It said '1/4" washers.' I remember it as if it was yesterday. Here is her attempt. She's 35 now.

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Today I found a large number of those black flyleads that used to come with every VCR and satellite receiver. How did I come by hundreds and hundreds of these? Well for one thing there was one with every satellite box we fitted at a head end, and of course it wasn't used. Any normal person would have thrown the unused lead away at that time, but not me, oh no...

I found a box carefully labelled 'Spares for Mr Bilsland'. This had all the unused bits for a 1.8m steerable dish I installed in 1987. There were other, similar boxes. My goodness they were good, profitable times. We made a stupid amount of money out of those early steerable dishes. Then all of a sudden everyone was at it and the prices dropped to a silly level, so I stopped doing them. Anyone want a 'transition'?

To be honest this stock sorting job is becoming rather depressing. It's like going through your old photograph albums. It reminds me of how much past I have, which by implication suggests that my future might be limited. The evidence of so much work, all now done and dusted, really does make me feel very old. I'm amazed that I got through all that lot in one piece. Never fell off a roof, never lost a finger, never got gobbled up by a big dog, never got fatally electrocuted, never got killed in a van accident (never even had one!). I've been very lucky.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright
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A device very commonly used in home-made light dimmers/drill speed controllers. I made many of them for various members of the family.

Reply to
Woody

Can't have been *that* long if they had a 999-9999 stock number rather than a 999-999 number

Reply to
Andy Burns

Only half wave though, you would be better off using a triac.

Having said that, when I ran a mobile disco in the early '70s my home built light show used three BT106 thyristor each in conjunction with a bridge rectifier. Worked very well.

Reply to
Graham.

What date do you reckon?

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

Bearing in mind how much junk there is and how little valuable equipment also how depressing you are finding the exercise would it not make more sense to hire a skip and bung the lot in and have done?

Reply to
Broadback

There just might be something useful among it all. Heh heh.

Reply to
harryagain

Ah yes, well the time to start worrying is when you move a few boxes and find a family of Latvians living behind them of course.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

I'd take a punt that they stuck with 6 digits until late eighties/early nineties ... oh hang on, maybe that /does/ count as a long time ago!

Reply to
Andy Burns

I suppose so. Emotionally, I feel like that at the moment. But actually there's quite a lot of good stuff there. I mean, a little tiny pack of 'f' plugs is £6, and there's a hell of a lot of that sort of thing. Boxes of good quality Bellings -- £20 a box? There's a lot of cable; CT125, CT167, CT100 twin, RG59 + 2, etc. I found a pack of 100 crimp BNCs for RG59 this afternoon. A lot of 'good stuff' is going to have to be slung though. I mean, scart leads are right out of fashion and I doubt they'll ever come back, and I have hundreds.

Hil came and sat with me and we listened to Howard Leader on Radio Lincs all afternoon, and that bit of company made the whole thing seem more light hearted. We had a good laugh at some of the stuff I unearthed.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

That would tie in with my memory.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

Should be grateful;-!,,

Tried the cables and metal junk at the scrappies?, we've just had a clear our exercise here lot of old clobber has gone and a bit more to go yet ..

Trouble is I remember where each and every bit came from and what job it was used on..

I'll miss work .. sad but true;)...

Reply to
tony sayer

Weren't they used in the Philips G8 chassis?..

I used a couple back to back to make a Triac in a heating boiler its lasted some 25 odd years now;!..

Reply to
tony sayer

Try sticking it on fleabay. I was looking at a 50 ohm matching harness there this PM went for 30 odd quid plus 7 carriage!, was flabbermegasted you could make one for less then that!...

Reply to
tony sayer

There's not much metal in TV cable. As cable it's worth much more, and it will be used, slowly but surely, by Paul. Although I wonder if his son Oscar might end up with some of it when Paul retires in 2044...

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

What, poor old Howard?

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

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