[MRCA] WTB: old Hubbell Twist-Lock connector

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

I don't currently have any of the plugs (finding the AC power plug for the 
BC-610 presents the same challenge, probably the same plug) but I have had some 
in the past and will add some comments.  There were once maybe four or five 
two-pole two-wire twist-lock connectors with different voltage and/or current 
ratings.  I used to hit the yard sales in the area looking for boxes of junk 
under the tables and often turned up one or two of the old style with the black 
bakelite fronts.  

At one point I had about three different types made by the same manufacturer 
and discovered that (as long as they were made by the same manufacturer) the 
only differences were external.  The guts (the brass contacts) were the same in 
all of them.  The external differences consist of differences in the arc 
length of one or both male contacts and whether or not one or both males had the 
turned-out ear.  With a very small file or a cut-off coping saw blade you can 
fairly easily modify the slots to make any female fit any male.

The reason that the new ones you can still buy are not usable and cannot be 
modified to work is two-fold.  Maybe 30-40 years ago the OD of the female cable 
plug was increased just enough that it will not fit into the recessed stamped 
housing of the chassis male on the two transmitters (I've no idea why this 
was done).  And at or about the same time that change was made, they changed the 
material used for the front of the plug from bakelite to another plastic and 
the side wall is too thin to allow putting the thing in a lathe and turning it 
down to the old diameter.

So the only two solutions are to either change the male on the transmitter or 
to find old production and if necessary modify the slots.

In a message dated 8/19/2008 6:23:08 AM Central Daylight Time, 
norm at wa3key.com writes: 
> Hello to everyone on the list.  I am in the process of restoring a  
> Bendix T-368E transmitter and am in need of an older style 2- 
> conductor Hubbell Twist-Lock 20A 250V connector.  I've been to the  
> local electrical supply store and also ordered look-alike connectors  
> from Grainger and McMaster-Carr only to send them back.
> I've also tried Wm. Perry Co. and Fair Radio Sales.
> 
> The female plug measures 1.5" in diameter and has two curved slots on  
> an outside diameter of 0.700".  It is similar to a NEMA L1-15 in  
> appearance, but its slots are a different width and on a slightly  
> different diameter.
> 

Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480