[Hallicrafters] Cleaning dials

[Jim Tripp]

I think that is an excellent idea Ian, especially since I have an
S-108 dial glass whose printing has been liquefied by the previous
owner.  Taking the photo is no problem.  Scanning could be a different
story since many are too long for (my) the scanner and would have to
be done in two passes and then merged together.  I wonder how
difficult it would be to get the scaling correct from a photo? It
seems the photo would have to be taken straight on from the direct
center of the dial.  Any offset could introduce some distortion to a
full sized image.  Anyhow, it is worth a try.

Jim/Castroville, CA
  
See my radio museum at:
http://www.freewebs.com/wa6dij

Please also visit:
www.californiahistoricalradio.com


-----Original Message-----
From: hallicrafters-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:hallicrafters-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ian
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 10:10 AM
To: 'john'; hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [Hallicrafters] Cleaning dials

If you have the dial removed from an old piece of radio gear consider
taking
a scan of it if you have a flatbed scanner.  We should all have
scanners
since they're, after rebate, frequently available for well less than
$25.
It's cheap insurance to save an image that can be lost forever.

Or if necessary set up your digital camera, if you have one, on a
tripod and
take a good close up.

>From the scan or image adjusted to 1:1 the dial can be brought back
from the
dead if necessary by some creative work with a photo manipulation
program
(Photoshop, Corel, etc.) and with a color printer that can make
transparencies a pretty good copy can be created.

Of course if you have the talent and tools to do silk screens you're
even
further ahead or you can pay to have a silk screen made.  It's been 55
years
since I've done silk screening but even then I don't remember it being
all
that difficult if you had a good image to start with.

Maybe the group should start a "dial image bank" consisting of at
least 300
dpi images of dials contributed by members of the group.

Happy Holidays --- like it or not!
Ian, K6SDE