Hey everyone! I just got this RF Signal Gen from a lot of other test equipment. It is in mint condition from around 1948. It is very cool. Can anyone think of any musical uses for this?
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That thing is awesome!
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I wish I could convey how good it feels to turn the knob over the internet!
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The lowest band it’ll produce is 100-200 KHz (this bit of kit seems to be so old it calls them kilocycles.) You’d probably need some pretty hefty clock dividers to scale it down for audio.
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Wow, I had that exact same signal generator when I was growing up. That’s in much better condition than the one I had. I don’t think I ever even tried powering it up. I think my dad got it with a bunch of other old RF gear the company he worked for had stashed in an old fallout shelter he was tasked with cleaning out. (we got a full Collins S-line radio set that was done there in that haul as well which led to him getting re-licensed and me getting licensed and which in turn led to us building some heathkits together and cementing my love of electronics.)
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Wow, that thing is beautiful. If you can’t find another use for it, loan it to Sam for the MoEE.
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That was one of my first thoughts too but I’m not sure how feasible that would be because it is pretty heavy and I am all the way in California! If I can find some way to do it, I will.
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That is a fantastic bit of kit. Don’t mess with it…preserve it.
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put the tv in the shed and just sit this in its place.
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The obvious musical use is to use it as an AM or FM transmitter ! Connect an audio source to the modulation input and put a radio near it, tune that to the frequency of the main oscillator and you will likely hear the audio on the radio. I wonder what distance this will cover.
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someone on the hainbach subreddit mentioned doing this aswell. sounds fun, i just have to dig out an fm radio from somewhere. will update with some examples if it ends up working.
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you could make an adaptor for the control knob so it could be driven by a stepper ( or servo ) and control it from an arduino 
using Midi or CV
Hainbach has entered the chat.
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It transmits! And very far too. Here is a video if it transmitting: https://youtu.be/T7PpU9K0P18
I still receive a signal on the sidewalk outside my house. https://youtu.be/63xZxMUzzEk
That is at least 150ft with 2 or 3 walls in between.
It seems to need a hotter signal than standard synth stuff, so I will have to find some way to amplify it? Any recommendations?
Also, does anyone know the difference between the high RF output and the output itself? I know there IS a big difference, but I do not know what it is.
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Make sure it is not transmitting on a licenced frequency. The authorities wouldn’t like that.
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Yeah. I used to work at a radio station so I know the rules pretty well. I won’t keep it on for long stretches for starters (also because I suspect it eats power). While it does transmit pretty far, it is still very low power for a transmitter.
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I think it is wise to talk to someone with some good knowledge of these signal generators and AM/FM transmitters. The thing with some HF circuits is that if they are not properly loaded (with an antenna or some resistive load) they can not get rid of the power they ‘want’ to emit and their output stage might burn out, or so I was told.
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Interesting, good advice. I will be careful while doing some research on my own. I will try and find someone to talk to. Ultimately this is the best thing to do! If anyone here has experience with these kinds of machines, I am all ears.
A friend build an installation using a modular that people could interact with, and the sound was transmitted to a bunch of old radio’s through the space. So, nice start of a sound installation in some form.
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That would be pretty cool idea for the museum of everything else. Have a sort of stations that synths can be mixed into one track. Like from one side the drums another location for Bass ect… @lookmumnocomputer
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