Who has pictures of the Viper?
08-08-2012, 05:40 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Who has pictures of the Viper?
Hello all.
I came across a very early Bonner prototype proportional servo with " Orbit mod" hand written on it in pencil and a sticker over that which said: Viper Aileron.
This servo was in my Orbit collection from Bob and Dick Dunhams own lab at Orbit. I have seen similar ones with the very early EL Logictrols made in California, but they differed in that the cases were Transmites that had the silkscreening removed. The old printing was still visible however as the ink was of the etching type and it left a ghost image on the grey case.
This servo has a cutout on the right case end to allow access to a centering pot, it is in a Transmite case that was never silkscreened, and it has three circuit boards inside: One board is on the case cover and has a curved wire wound resistor on the switching contacts that are slightly different than the one on a Transmite. The main amplifier board is of the same general shape as a Transmite but has more cicuitry, including the afore mentioned pot, and an audio transformer, the circuit side is etched " Bonner", and it is a beige colored laminate. Above the motor is another tiny board over the top of the main amplifeir with some diodes, caps and resistors as presumably there was no room for these additional components on the very crowded main board.
This is an analog type servo as it used the transformer to convert the pulse into a voltage to drive the servo from an 8.4 volt , 4 wire, 7 cell pack.
It is well known that Bonner supplied many of the early proportional manufacturers with prototype analog proportional servos made to their specifications, and this one was needed in place of the large and bulky Orbit PS-1 ( Space Control Aileron Servo) for low profile mounting in a wing.
I would love to get a picture of the Viper if anyone has one, and also, any information on who flew them. We suspect Dick Riggs and/or Bob Dunham had one, but cannot confirm that, but since this servo was made especially for Orbit, someone there had a Viper.
I came across a very early Bonner prototype proportional servo with " Orbit mod" hand written on it in pencil and a sticker over that which said: Viper Aileron.
This servo was in my Orbit collection from Bob and Dick Dunhams own lab at Orbit. I have seen similar ones with the very early EL Logictrols made in California, but they differed in that the cases were Transmites that had the silkscreening removed. The old printing was still visible however as the ink was of the etching type and it left a ghost image on the grey case.
This servo has a cutout on the right case end to allow access to a centering pot, it is in a Transmite case that was never silkscreened, and it has three circuit boards inside: One board is on the case cover and has a curved wire wound resistor on the switching contacts that are slightly different than the one on a Transmite. The main amplifier board is of the same general shape as a Transmite but has more cicuitry, including the afore mentioned pot, and an audio transformer, the circuit side is etched " Bonner", and it is a beige colored laminate. Above the motor is another tiny board over the top of the main amplifeir with some diodes, caps and resistors as presumably there was no room for these additional components on the very crowded main board.
This is an analog type servo as it used the transformer to convert the pulse into a voltage to drive the servo from an 8.4 volt , 4 wire, 7 cell pack.
It is well known that Bonner supplied many of the early proportional manufacturers with prototype analog proportional servos made to their specifications, and this one was needed in place of the large and bulky Orbit PS-1 ( Space Control Aileron Servo) for low profile mounting in a wing.
I would love to get a picture of the Viper if anyone has one, and also, any information on who flew them. We suspect Dick Riggs and/or Bob Dunham had one, but cannot confirm that, but since this servo was made especially for Orbit, someone there had a Viper.
08-14-2012, 02:17 PM
#3
Thread Starter
RE: Who has pictures of the Viper?
Yes, that is the Viper I was looking for. It appeared on the back page of the Orbit solid state multi reed owners manual.
Thanks!
Thanks!
