[JMS] WTB: Millen 90831 40W modulator (Creating Front Panel Overlays)
Don Buska
[email protected]
Thu, 06 Nov 2003 08:04:50 -0600 (CST)
Hi John,
The chassis available from Ralph is the portion that contains all the components. As
I said before I got the one that was missing the mod transformer and one electrolytic
capacitor. If memory serves me right that was all that was missing from the chassis.
A meter, lower portion of the chassis (cover), front panel and dials were missing as
Ralph already mentioned. The meter was a pretty standard type, see the pictures on
the website. There are those versions which exactly match the 90801 transmitter with
it's punched and beveled front panel overlay for the meter area. I opted for the more
plain Jane version with the full meter being mounted to the front.
The chassis cover was constructed from a sturdy piece of copper sheet I had around the
shop. I marked it all up so that it would slide over the supplied chassis top and
cut/drilled everything out. Then I went to a local HVAC shop in town and had them
bend it for me. They did it for free! Soldered the corner seams for strength.
Painted it a semi-gloss black to match the upper chassis. The completed chassis is
mounted to the front rack panel via small flat head counter sunk screws (Chassis cover
was drilled and tapped). Millen rack fronts are always black wrinkle finish. If you
can't find a source for painted blanks, then you may have to spray them yourself.
Actually I've found wrinkle finish painting to be easier than normal spray painting.
My rack panel blank was gray so I needed to sand it down and spray it black wrinkle
(my local automotive store sells the paint in cans). If you've never done wrinkle
painting I can tell you my simple steps.
The front panel overlay is comprised of a thin unpainted aluminum plate (1/16 thick)
which is cleaned and shined up. I then recreated the front panel art work in Corel
Draw and printed it out onto overhead transparency plastic on a laser printer. I had
to send it through the printer twice to make the black extra opaque. That was fun
trying to get it to print and have all the lettering and markings line up on the
second pass. Eventually I got a few exceptable printouts. I'm not sure how an inkjet
printer would do. It would probably work well. This plastic overlay was reverse
printed (all letters appear backward) and inverted (black becomes white and vise
versa). Once I had good transparencies prepared they were cut and ready to apply to
the bare aluminum overlays. Please note, because transparency material only comes in
8.5 X 11 inch sheets from your local office supply store the front panel had to be
done in two halves. The aluminum sheets were also done in two pieces as the local
hobby store also did not have anything as long as 18" (19" rack minue .5" on each
side). The seam is in the center of the panel right where the meter is placed so it
is hardly noticeable. So with the transparencies cut they get applied to the aluminum
overlay using a spray adhesive. Use care in lying them down to avoid air bubble
pockets. Since none of the chassis parts that protrude out the front are actually
mounted to the front rack, remember the chassis assembly is held to the rack panel by
four counter sunk screws which get covered by the aluminum overlay (make sure their
tight as once the overlay is attached you'll never get to them again), you can not
hold the transparency on via any mechanical means (at least if you want it to look
like the original Millen product). The finished aluminum overlays then are glued
using the same spray adhesive to the rack panel.
Alot of work went into recreating that front panel, but the results are excellent
(humbly put, hi) and if you didn't tell someone it's a recreation they might never
notice. Check out the pictures in my JMS website paper "Millen Station Setup". QSL
net is still very very slow so it may take time to download the pdf file. The reverse
printing means that the laser printed side of the transparency is against the aluminum
side of the overlay. Thus, you get protection from scratches and a free gloss finish
of the transparency material. Try and find transparency material that has one dull
side as the laser toner will adhere better. The inverted image means that all the
lettering is the clear portion of the transparency thus it will be the aluminum color
that shows through. So the finished product looks exactly like Millen's (and old
National) front panel silk screening for most of their products.
I can email anyone the Corel Draw and/or BMP bitmap versions of my front panel
overlays. If qsl net is to slow to grab the article let me know and I will send the
pdf of that file too.
I've also had other ideas on how to make Millen look-alike front panel overlays. If
you look at my Millen'ized Lambda LV supply, same article as mentioned above, it's
aluminum overlay was simply printed on transparent sticker material sold for computer
printer work. I didn't coat it with anything, but could have sprayed a clear gloss
coating to protect it. I've also read that it is possible to heat a laser printed
page and that the toner will possible melt and adhere to the panel. Kind of like
those iron-on transfers. Those iron-on transfer paper for laser or ink jet printers
may be worth a try too. Works great on clothing, not sure how well it works on hard
surfaces. For the really innovative how about an 'at home method' of creating your
own silk screens? Now wouldn't that be neat to be able to create a silk screen from a
computer printout!
Nice thing about this process is I actually fixed a flaw in the original Millen 90831
silk screening. On their small height versions, not that older tall version, the
label for "MICROPHONE" was cut into by the screening around the mic jack. You can see
this well in the 90831 pictures on our website. I bet someone got their a#% chewed
out for that one. On my version I was able to move the lettering up a wee bit and get
it out of the way.
You can see another version of my modulator on www.qrz.com if you look up my call
"n9oo". It's the same picture as in the JMS bio area, but since QSL is soooo slow
lately it might be a faster way to see the results.
73
Don N9OO
On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:03:34 -0500, john wrote:
>Hi Don,
>
>Can I ask what you did for a front panel? Do you happen to
>have a pic of your final setup? Im considering the modulator as
>well.
>73
>John K5MO
>
>
>
>>Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 13:18:52 -0600 (CST)
>>From: Don Buska <[email protected]>
>>Subject: RE: [JMS] WTB: Millen 90831 40W modulator
>>Sender: [email protected]
>>To: james millen company <[email protected]>,
>> "[email protected]"
><[email protected]>
>>Reply-to: [email protected]
>>X-Reply-to: Don Buska <[email protected]>
>>X-Mailer: PMMail 2.10.1999 for OS/2 Warp 4.00
>>Priority: Normal
>>X-BeenThere: [email protected]
>>Delivered-to: [email protected]
>>X-Virus-Scanned: Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine
>>X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.8
>>List-Archive: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/james_millen_society/>
>>List-Id: The James Millen Society Members Email Reflector <%s.%s>
>>Original-recipient: rfc822;[email protected]
>>
>>
>>Ralph,
>>
>>Can I ask for a clarification on what you mean by power supply on those
>partial
>>modulators. Since these are powered via an external DC supply (AC for
>filaments) none
>>of them really have a power supply on board. However, they do contain one
>metal can
>>electrolytic cap and a modulation transformer. I think the one I bought
>from you was
>>one of the $95 versions as mine did not have the electrolytic and modulation
>>transformer.
>>
>>If the above is the case guys, I'd recommend paying the extra for the $150
>unit as it
>>would have the modulation transformer. The transformer was a special
>build for this
>>transmitter and you won't find an exact replacement anywhere. However,
>you could do
>>what I did with mine. I found a NOS electrolytic no problem from my junk
>box and I
>>think they should be available elsewhere. For the modulation transformer
>I used one
>>from a Johnson Ranger that was currently not being used. A special thanks
>is due here
>>to JMS member Roger W9UVV for providing a replacement Ranger iron so I can
>eventually
>>get that transmitter operational again. The Ranger iron works wonderfully
>in the
>>90831 modulator and even it's two mounting holes line up perfectly with
>two of the
>>four original mounting holes. No new holes!
>>
>>Roger already indicated the #113 sold. Not unexpected. That's the last
>NOS modulator
>>in the world!!
>>
>>73
>>
>>Don N9OO
>>
>>
>>
>>On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 12:43:59 -0500, james millen company wrote:
>>
>>>Yes, we might be able to help. We have the last new one in inventory,
>>>serial #113 -- $450.00 (without tubes) with manual and schematic.
>>>
>>>We have in-process (which we do not expect to complete) 6 fully populated
>>>chassis' except for power supply and front 19" panel, dress panel, meter
>>>etc. -- $95.00 with manual and schematic.
>>>
>>>We have 4 of the above with the power supply installed. --- $150.00 with
>>>manual and schematic.
>>>
>>>Meters, bezel, and knobs available to purchasers at reduced prices.
>>>
>>>Thank you for your interest in our venues, Unadilla Antennas, James Millen,
>>>or Andovers book and Collaborative. If there is anything else in these
>>>areas of interest to you, or you would have us look for, we will be pleased
>>>to do so. Remember we accept Master/Visa. You also may pay by check or
>>>Money Order payable to Unadilla, James Millen, or, Andovers Book &
>>>Collaborative as appropriate.
>>>In business since 1986 making friends worldwide.
>>>Associations are: ARRL US Philatelic Society Independent Online
>>>Booksellers Association for your assurances.
>>>Mail us at:
>>> PO Box 4215
>>> Andover MA
>>> 01810-0814
>>>
>>>Our Telephone is:
>>> 978 975 2711 preferably 9AM to 3PM Eastern Time Monday thru Thursday
>>> 978 474 8949 (Fax) 24 hours
>>>
>>>E-mail using sales@ (along with sites below title)
>>>
>>>VISIT OUR WEBSITES AT:
>>> http://www.jamesmillenco.com (electronics)
>>> http://www.unadilla.com (antennas)
>>> http://www.bibliosource.com. (out of print books)
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: [email protected]
>>>[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of kwylow
>>>zinjanthropus
>>>Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 1:49 PM
>>>To: [email protected]
>>>Subject: [JMS] WTB: Millen 90831 40W modulator
>>>
>>>
>>>Hello:
>>>Looking for one of these items so I can amplitude modulate my 90800
>>>transmitter. Anyone have a lead? Doesn't matter what variation. Anything
>>>consider. Many thanks.
>>>
>>>Cal, N6KYR
>>>New Member to the James Millen Society.
>>>
>>>
>>>---------------------------------
>>>Do you Yahoo!?
>>>Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears
>>>
>>>--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
>>>multipart/alternative
>>> text/plain (text body -- kept)
>>> text/html
>>>The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML
>>>or had an attachment. Attachments are not allowed. To learn how
>>>to post in Plain-Text go to: http://www.expita.com/nomime.html ---
>>>______________________________________________________________
>>>James_Millen_Society mailing list
>>>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/james_millen_society
>>>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/faq.htm
>>>Post: mailto:[email protected]
>>>
>>>
>>>______________________________________________________________
>>>James_Millen_Society mailing list
>>>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/james_millen_society
>>>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/faq.htm
>>>Post: mailto:[email protected]
>>
>>
>>______________________________________________________________
>>James_Millen_Society mailing list
>>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/james_millen_society
>>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/faq.htm
>>Post: mailto:[email protected]
>>
>>
>>---
>>
>>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>>Version: 6.0.530 / Virus Database: 325 - Release Date: 10/22/03
>>