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The 'other' knob
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Daddy Solo
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Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 72
Location: NY

PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:24 pm    Post subject: re: the other knob Reply with quote

it's been awhile since anyone posted here but I just wanted to share a link I came across while sourcing some metal parts for my offworld. Anyone looking for a real metal EE-8 binding post should look here:

www.phonesurplus.com

they have the posts for sale individually for 1.50 a piece. Remember you want the smallest of the 3 that screw into the battery block. I just contacted them and they sent me 2 just to be nice!!! Good luck!!
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enero
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Joined: 20 Nov 2006
Posts: 58
Location: Brooklyn, NY

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:02 am    Post subject: Re: re: the other knob Reply with quote

Daddy Solo wrote:
it's been awhile since anyone posted here but I just wanted to share a link I came across while sourcing some metal parts for my offworld. Anyone looking for a real metal EE-8 binding post should look here:

www.phonesurplus.com

they have the posts for sale individually for 1.50 a piece. Remember you want the smallest of the 3 that screw into the battery block. I just contacted them and they sent me 2 just to be nice!!! Good luck!!


Thanks for the link! Thats a great find!
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joberg
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Joined: 06 Oct 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing
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TKY2019
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Joined: 19 Apr 2009
Posts: 65

PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:29 pm    Post subject: Hero Blaster nob and TG-5-B nob on PIH Reply with quote

Hello Andy

It is a photograph that I have taken with PIH.


The knob was extended.


It explains in the blog a little more.
http://macky2019.exblog.jp/

I am not so good at English. I'm sorry.

macky
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ironfist
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Joined: 10 Feb 2009
Posts: 310
Location: East Hartford,CT

PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to give a heads up. That seller is completely sold out. apparently someone who builds sci-fi props bought everyone he had (thats what he told me in an email)
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andy
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Joined: 01 Nov 2006
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Location: Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A cheap alternative. Not 100% accurate as it is a recreation of sorts of the original, but it might look cool for a variation...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Type-Knob-Style-Binding-Post-Hard-Find-Item-/300533208380?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item45f92cd53c



I also still have some of these in all grades for those who need them.

Andy
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Prime586



Joined: 31 Dec 2016
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi , first post from a long time lurker. I've been building a Michele/Sid for the past few years (started off with an all-resin version, then got a metal receiver and grip frame and finally got hold of an unbuilt WorldCon kit to get the metal frame and cylinder but have never got round to finishing it. I'm hoping to finally get it done over the next few months though.

My day job is as an electronics engineer in the telecoms industry, and we work on some quite old kit. I'm used to searching out obsolete and obscure components for repairs or remanufacturing, and that's why I've resurrected this old thread. I'd read on here at the time of the discovery about the 'other knob' being identified as a vintage binding post, and bought an EE-8 just to get the Ground post off it. More recently I decided to do a bit more research into who actually made them to see if it would help other people to source more. I did a search on the site to see if any of this had been posted before and couldn't find anything, but I apologise in advance if it's old news.

As I said, I bought an EE-8 field telephone and downloaded the manual. It has a parts breakdown in it, but it doesn't go as far as a part number for the terminals. There was a modified (and much rarer) version of the EE-8 though called the EE-108 (which was sound powered direct from the microphone, rather than using battery-powered amplification), and the manual for that does have a parts breakdown. iIt lists 2 terminal post types, 2-off type TM-214 (for the line connections) and 1-off TM-215 (for the BAT-/Ground connection), which is obviously the one we are interested in.

The TM numbers are the US Army part codes for these terminals, a list of which I found here:
http://radionerds.com/index.php/TM_-_Terminal
If you scroll down to the bottom you will see TM-214 and TM-215 with their thread sizes - the smaller one (TM-215) uses a 6-32 thread and says it's used on the EE-8, which confirms it's what we are looking for. It also indicates it was a replacement for the TM-145 terminal, which is also on the list and was used on the EE-8.

I then did a search for TM-215 and it turns out it's still on the US Army/NATO inventory:
http://www.parttarget.com/5940-00-237-6798_5940002376798_6783.html/-51BE0518-C61C-4A55-A29F-9E780B757241
A bit more research revealed that the original names used for these parts were Sergeant for the large TM-214 terminal and Corporal for the small TM-215 terminal. The database also shows a list of suppliers at the bottom, the main one being a company called Eby. I know of this company from my day job (they have been around since the 1920s, and make custom cable assemblies, terminal strips and connectors). The surprise was when I looked at their website and found they still make these terminal posts:
http://www.ebycompany.com/binding-posts/metal-binding-posts.html
If you look in the part code table, the dimensions of the TM-215 part used on the blaster equate to part numbers 6600 for 6-32 internal thread mounting

or 6601 for a 6-32 external thread mounting

They are still in their product line presumably because they are still on the DoD parts database. However, my professional experience with companies like this is that they will only supply Minimum Order Quantities in the hundreds or thousands of units to make the cost of setting the tooling up worth their while.

I did make a speculative email enquiry to their sales department but got no reply, which is kind of what I expected, unfortunately (it probably doesn't help with me being in the UK either). Maybe if Tomenosuke or another manufacturer is going to do another run and they want to use a real binding post they may be able to meet the MOQ though.

The other avenue it might be worth pursuing is the military surplus route if anybody has contacts in that field. the TM-215 terminal goes under Nato Stock No. 5940-00-237-6798 - you never know, there may be thousands of them out there amongst the military surplus suppliers.

In my research I also noticed another place these posts are used is on some models of vintage 400, 500 and 800-series Altec-Lansing theatre/cinema speakers and high-frequency drivers., like this example:

You see quite a few of these on ebay, but they are very highly regarded amongst retro audio enthusiasts so they aren't cheap. There are a few sellers on ebay offering new reproduction binding posts for these speakers, which are identical in size to the one used on the blaster, but they have a couple of important differences that make them inaccurate:

One is that they have '1' and '2' engraved on the top of the caps (though a couple of years ago there was a seller that offered unmarked ones), and the other is that the knurling on the rim of the cap is slightly coarser than the vintage terminals (I bought one of the unmarked ones to replace the terminal I took off the EE-8 ). I don't know if these are being sourced from Eby and that is the style of knurling they use now (the pictures from Bby's website would suggest otherwise), or if these are from the other supplier from the NSN list (La Chance Ltd, now CG Power Systems of Washington MO) or just modern reproductions.

I hope this info was interesting and/or useful to some of you. Sharing findings from research (no matter how pointless and trivial )is what makes this hobby after all.
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veektohr
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Joined: 26 Feb 2016
Posts: 237
Location: Los Angeles

PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing info! I know when the post was first discovered there was a cache found in an online electronics or radio website and they were quickly swooped up in their entirety : /

It would be awesome to find another trove of binding posts.
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rickhoward
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Joined: 03 Jul 2016
Posts: 279
Location: Midwestopia, USA

PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great information - thanks for sharing.
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andy
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Joined: 01 Nov 2006
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Location: Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great research. Thank you very much for sharing.

Andy
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joberg
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Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 9447

PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TFS with us your very good research!
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Staar
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Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 757
Location: AUSTRALIA

PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing how you guys track these long lost items down. The very best of forensic investigation.

Many thanks
MARK
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Nexus7
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Joined: 13 Sep 2014
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Location: New York Metro Area

PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great info! Thank you!
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BrassMan
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Joined: 25 Jan 2017
Posts: 12
Location: UK

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:50 pm    Post subject: On Evil Bay Reply with quote

Seems to be a reasonable alternative on EBay UK right now:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112300233580?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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Userd1402
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Joined: 22 Oct 2015
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pretty good price too.
I asked the seller about size but he doesn't have a blaster to compare with at the moment, but his measurement sounds about right, so I've taken the risk and ordered a couple for myself.


Last edited by Userd1402 on Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:38 pm; edited 2 times in total
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BrassMan
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Joined: 25 Jan 2017
Posts: 12
Location: UK

PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Userd1402 wrote:
Pretty good price too.

I asked the seller about size but he doesn't have a blaster to compare with at the moment, but his measurement sounds about right, so I've taken the risk and ordered a couple for myself.


Worth a punt so bought a couple myself. If I don't use them, someone on here I'm sure will need them in the future.
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Buch
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Joined: 27 Feb 2014
Posts: 1184
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just got three of these off eBay...


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