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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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5th Aug 2013, 12:30 pm | #21 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
That's me on at No:699.
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Regds, Russell W. B. G4YLI. |
5th Aug 2013, 12:53 pm | #22 |
Octode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
and me at 704
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5th Aug 2013, 1:01 pm | #23 |
Rest in Peace
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
I have signed as well. Had some Mercury arc rectifiers at the cinema I ran. Never let us down once.
Paul. |
5th Aug 2013, 9:06 pm | #24 |
Pentode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Done .
John |
6th Aug 2013, 9:05 am | #25 |
Nonode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Well, my pal Joe O'H has now contacted a railway enthusiast he knows in UK, and as he says "started another snowflake". I believe quite a few on my list have also signed it now.
Lucien, power to your elbow. Les. |
6th Aug 2013, 2:17 pm | #26 |
Nonode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Also signed.
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7th Aug 2013, 10:41 pm | #28 |
Hexode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
777
Alf |
8th Aug 2013, 1:05 pm | #29 |
Pentode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Signed No 789
Mike A |
8th Aug 2013, 7:21 pm | #30 |
Pentode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Just signed, No. 793
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Steve M0SVB |
8th Aug 2013, 7:59 pm | #31 |
Pentode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Signed -NO 794!
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Alex |
8th Aug 2013, 10:01 pm | #32 |
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
#795
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Graham. Forum Moderator Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron. |
8th Aug 2013, 10:03 pm | #33 |
Octode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
At the risk of spoiling the party, why do we, anyone, want to keep this rectifier station?
It is interesting, for about 3 seconds, to the average person, who won't actually get anything more from it than a decent video. You can't actually use it for anything, cost of the electricity, and if you really want to preserve it then the scrap value must be almost nothing. It seems to me it is just another piece of old technology, obviously useful because it wouldn't otherwise have been used. But it is no more valuable than a diesel locomotive, telex exchange, 220kV switchgear, relay controlled traffic lights, fax machine or a million other things. It demonstrates no important fundamental principles or design, and the average person will not find it of any interest at all. Not signed! |
8th Aug 2013, 10:15 pm | #34 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
It is a bit like saying why save the Cutty Sark, or why preserve Stonehenge - both are similarly useless, and of little relevance other than a photo opportunity.
So much of our history has been lost or destroyed because people just didn't care enough to save it. Sure, might be of limited appeal to the majority, but that alone isn't a good reason not to save part of our industrial heritage.
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Engineers make things work and have spare bits when finished |
9th Aug 2013, 6:21 am | #35 |
Nonode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
798
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Brian |
9th Aug 2013, 8:05 am | #36 |
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
797
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9th Aug 2013, 8:33 am | #37 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
#799 (having just been there t'other week.)
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Mike. |
9th Aug 2013, 9:40 am | #38 |
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
A mercury-arc might only be interesting to the average man for 3 seconds but in those 3 seconds the unusual sight of the glowing bulb makes him think about electrical technology and inspires him to ask questions and maybe learn something in the process. I had one permanently on display at the workshop, which prompted a steady stream of enquiry and informative dialogue. They are especially good at imparting the idea that electronic equipment can be durable, not disposable. To the more percipient viewer they demonstrate some fundamental principles rather well, especially ionisation and the nature of current flow.
If you are saying all old technology is redundant, then you just wrote off all our hobbies and some of our businesses. If you mean some old technology is worthy of conservation and exhibition but not mercury arc rectifiers, consider the relative costs and merits of various projects and the number of surviving examples. There are probably 100 times as many old diesel locos being saved as MARs, some at an individual cost higher than that of conserving all the MARs put together. But while most of the locos sit static in sheds, the Laxey substation MARs can keep switching people on to electrical ideas that play a much bigger part in their lives than a Deltic diesel ever did. Lucien |
9th Aug 2013, 10:05 am | #39 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
I remember being fascinated by one in a telephone exchange, when I first started work in the dim and distant past. It charged a room full of lead acid batteries each the size of a bath! 801.
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9th Aug 2013, 12:39 pm | #40 |
Nonode
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Re: Mercury-arc rectifier station under threat!
Why keep it?
Well, you could take a group of students in, show it to them, and then explain how it works, with the possibility of arousing long term interest in technology. Perhaps you would like to show them a chip, and explain that? Almost 25 years ago, I found myself having to repair compact disc players. Compared with more recent chips, the service manuals generally provided a function diagram of the internals of the various chips. Bit by bit, I managed to get a rough idea of each section, and even fathom out how the different sections worked together, but never a complete understanding. OK, maybe I am a bit thick, but people (TV engineers) started regarding me as an expert. Now, Woodchips, maybe you can understand a Sanyo LC7860N DSP chip, but can you understand an old 80486 (Pentium 4) processor, and then explain it to those students. There is just about NOTHING today with which you can do that, but there is the mercury arc rectifier station. We still have our steam trains here on the island (1879) and they are in regular use, and a big tourist draw. (They were very useful during a recent bus strike). We have many such tourist attractions here (camera obscura for example) and this WOULD become one such if preserved, with it extra interest. Then EVERYBODY could see and understand. Time to sign Woodchips? Les. |