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Shown in the open wagon up front are 2 (I can tell by the yokes) General Electric 60" WW 2 anti aircraft searchlights that had 160 amp DC carbon arc sources At 1 time I owned 5 made by the Sperry Gyroscope Co & 1 by GE The Sperrys were much better
There were 8000 of these lights built between 1937 & 1943 & were rendered useless in the tracking of enemy aircraft with the advent of jet powered planes & most of them were dumped in the ocean after the war ended & the rest of them became publicity units Very few of them remain today (6K were GE & 2K were Sperry)
Each of the lights was powered by it's own generator set using a Hercules JXD flat head 6 engine driving a Westinghouse or a GE genny depending on which light The 24" rotating uncoated positve carbon fed throught the center of the Rhodium reflector & the smaller coated negative came up to meet it up front at an angle A pair would burn about an hour That's a generator up front in the wagon another was in back
That's ten cents worth of my my "knickel knowledge"
Chic, There`s one still here in Columbia SC. It`s mounted on a trailer and parked behind a electrical company on Millwood Ave. I`ve never seen it in operation and it`s in terrible shape. I`ll try and get some pictures of it.
Thanks Hal but don't bother on my account as I had my share of them long long ago & I know there are still a few around but some 30 or more years ago Sky Tracker came out with a 4 headed Xenon cam action rotating unit & has been copied by several others that put out about an eighth of the illumination the 60" units did at 800 million candlepower These are "plug & play" devices that don't require any knowledge The old 60" Rhodium reflectors have some severe value as scrap
I would guess Hal that the unit in Columbia is long past repair We had to manufacture many of the parts to keep ours operating more than 30 years ago
Well it seems I lied about the position of the carbons as now I remember that the positive fed through a metal donut in the center of the glass front & the negative came up from behind (the reflector had no hole) Sorry for those taking notes
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Shown in the open wagon up front
are 2 (I can tell by the yokes)
General Electric 60" WW 2 anti
aircraft searchlights that had
160 amp DC carbon arc sources
At 1 time I owned 5 made by the
Sperry Gyroscope Co & 1 by GE
The Sperrys were much better
There were 8000 of these lights
built between 1937 & 1943 & were
rendered useless in the tracking
of enemy aircraft with the advent
of jet powered planes & most of
them were dumped in the ocean
after the war ended & the rest
of them became publicity units
Very few of them remain today
(6K were GE & 2K were Sperry)
Each of the lights was powered by
it's own generator set using a
Hercules JXD flat head 6 engine
driving a Westinghouse or a GE
genny depending on which light
The 24" rotating uncoated positve
carbon fed throught the center
of the Rhodium reflector & the
smaller coated negative came up
to meet it up front at an angle
A pair would burn about an hour
That's a generator up front in
the wagon another was in back
That's ten cents worth of my
my "knickel knowledge"
Chic, There`s one still here in Columbia SC. It`s mounted on a trailer and parked behind a electrical company on Millwood Ave. I`ve never seen it in operation and it`s in terrible shape. I`ll try and get some pictures of it.
Thanks Hal but don't bother on my
account as I had my share of them
long long ago & I know there are
still a few around but some 30
or more years ago Sky Tracker
came out with a 4 headed Xenon
cam action rotating unit & has
been copied by several others
that put out about an eighth of
the illumination the 60" units
did at 800 million candlepower
These are "plug & play" devices
that don't require any knowledge
The old 60" Rhodium reflectors
have some severe value as scrap
I would guess Hal that the unit
in Columbia is long past repair
We had to manufacture many of
the parts to keep ours operating
more than 30 years ago
Well it seems I lied about the
position of the carbons as now
I remember that the positive
fed through a metal donut in the
center of the glass front & the
negative came up from behind
(the reflector had no hole)
Sorry for those taking notes
Post a Comment