Color-matching knobs, banana jacks, wire etc.

I believe Kilo sells anodized knobs in a few different colors, still, and that Pomona Electronics should have a few colors of banana jack.

Go to the auto parts store and get cans of automotive lacquer. It gives a nice even finish on generic aluminum knobs and comes in more colors than you can imagine.

Filaments are brown. Red is plate. Grid and screen are orange and yellow but I forget which is which. There's a RETMA standard for all this stuff somewhere.

--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

AES,

has knobs in 8 colors. Click on "Knobs" in the left hand column. In the next screen click on "Chicken Head".

I've never seen test lead wire in more than 4 colors. If you can use ordinary wire, colors shouldn't be a problem.

-- Jim Mueller snipped-for-privacy@nospam.com

To get my real email address, replace wrongname with eportiz. Then replace nospam with sacbeemail.

I have seen test wire in more than 4 colors. It is actually in the Belden catalog I have -- BUT the minimum order (in feet/spool) for any color other than red or black is high (at least 1000 feet, as I remember)

It does look cool when properly set-up. Old EF Johnson and HH Smith banana jacks did have several colors. Needs any in blue? I have several panel mount banana jacks in that color.

gb

Hi,

Try Small Bear:

Cheers! __ Gregg

Not really (the one at the local Radio Shack (way in the back in

1970-something when I was getting an old Hallicrafters up and running) was more boring - blue and white with brown sockets and black knobs, as I recall), but I suspect that certain auction sites probably have exactly the thing you were looking at available from time to time. All the other old junque shows up there.

Not to deny you the joy of building, or anything like that - but if it was made, there are probably examples out ion the wild to buy, if you look for them.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

In fact, following the lead of Alan Douglas, I think in my head the unit I had seen in a picture was the Weston CA-1630. Nice pic here:

At circa $5000 I think I'll have to pass, but it's a beaut.

I think in my mind I want even more color matching than in the original - I just see black and red binding posts there, in my head the posts should match the knob should match the element. So it looks like the decades have elaborated the original, to the point where I desire something more than the original :-).

Like Scott Dorsey suggested, probably the way for me to go is to get 5 or 6 or 7 different color banana jacks and paint the knobs to match, as it seems increasingly unlikely I'll get much match in "raw" knob color, but still thanks to the others who posted about the multi-color chickenheads available from AES (I had actually bought them in the past!) and the knobs from Small Bear.

Tim.

Pomona Electronics plugs! Nine colors available! Stocked by Allied!

--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Actually - it's all ten of the "standard" color code colors - I have a couple of the kits... for a project "someday".

best regards...

--
Sherry

A Tender Tale - a page dedicated to those Ships and Crews
so vital to the United States Silent Service:
http://tendertale.com

Allied!

Actually, ten colors available! 0-9 is ten, not nine. Sometimes I fall into FORTRAN mode too so I won't blame you for being off by one :-).

I don't know if the Pomona parts are 100% identical, but I just ordered a few sets from Digikey sold under the "Emerson/Johnson" name. I'm guessing they're all made in China by the same company:

Using color-coded Banana plugs/jacks seems preferable to having massive crossbar wiring, at least in my head.

Question for anyone who has used the Weston CA-1630: Am I correct that there are pushbuttons in many of the knobs and this is somehow related to either removing the function of the knob (pin selection) or selecting that knob's function for stepping during curve tracing (grid, plate, screen)?

Really wonderful link to a big pic (may not work!) showing the CA-1630 set up to test a 300B:

Tim.

With wonderful toys like this available, made in China, the lead content should be checked! Please, please do not put them in your mouth.

Mike W5CHR Memphis

colors available! 0-9 is ten, not nine. Sometimes I fall

Hey, I grew up holding 60/40 solder in my mouth while plugging krypton-85 filled regulator tubes in my left hand and turning knobs just inches away from radium-filled meters with my right hand. None of it made in china. And I'm perfectly normal!

Joking aside, it's pretty obvious that a test set with 1000V B+ running around obviously won't be in my kids' hands much less in their mouths.

Tim.

I suspect the lead content on them is much lower than it should be. The Chinese are not exactly big into making quality phosphor bronze and most of these sorts of parts coming from China tend to be made from cheap and gummy cartridge brass. That's okay for the socket, not so good for the plug.

--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Nice pic - shame they didn't power it up when they took the pic. Tom

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