Re: Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!!

Ivanhoe Sun Feb 26, 2012 1:06 pm

Kim wrote:OK...my latest mental-mistrack involves wanting to find out how this thing worked. When I was a kid, I figured that any model airplane dude worth his salt, just HAD to have one of these in his tool box... "the best performing engines are checked with the original Fowler VIBRA TAK"!

Thing was, it cost as much as a Babe Bee or good quality kit, so I never wagered my paper route money that it'd be worth buying.

So, I am once again tapping into the vast and growing pool of knowledge here and over in the .049 Collectors Group. Anybody ever use one (got one) of these? If so, how the heck did it work?

Now this REALLY takes me back, I remember these being on the market, but I had no idea that the things were still made!
As someone else has said, you held them against the engine and screwed the wire out until it began to viabrate, then read the revs off a scale on the barrel. In the UK the Aeromodeller Annual had an article once on making your own tach using different lengths of piano (Music) wire, if I remember correctly they had an incrediblely complicated graph to plot the length and thickness of each piece of wire to match a particular RPM, then you held it against the engine and watched which bit of wire viabrated most! Ahh, the good old days!! Very Happy

Wilf

PV Pilot Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:32 pm

That add kinda reminds me of the pedometers you could buy out of the comic books. The device that told you how fast you walked or ran..

Kim Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:23 pm

Got a call from a nice gentleman at Verdell Instruments today. Gonna get my Vibra Tak on the way here in a bit. There WILL a Pictorial Review !!!!

Between the recently acquired Goldberg "Ranger" and this little device, the Skunk Works is becoming a major Nostalgia Center !!!!!

GermanBeez Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:26 pm

awesome, kim!
say, have you got a YT channel?

andrew Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:31 pm

Kim wrote:Between the recently acquired Goldberg "Ranger" and this little device, the Skunk Works is becoming a major Nostalgia Center !!!!!

The curator should fit right in!! Very Happy

Kim Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:36 pm

GermanBeez wrote:awesome, kim!
say, have you got a YT channel?

Yeah...my name there is "wintersportster' . I thought I'd subscribed to your channel, but may need to check again.

GermanBeez Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:38 pm

yah, i think you did..

Kim Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:00 pm

So I find, arrived and waiting in my post box, my Vintage/Modern Vibra-Tak !!! Complete, as advertised, with leather holster and Life-Time Guarantee!

Yet another of my adolescent puzzles loses it's mystery. I might not be getting smarter, but I AM wondering about stuff less and less!!!

For this evening though, it shall reside in Nostalgic Splender next to my also-just-arrived Ebay Goldberg "Ranger 42".

And then, tomorrow, we shall Tak some vibrations!

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 V-t_3_10

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 V-t_3_10

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 V-t_1_10

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 V-t_1_11

Ivanhoe Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:11 pm

Looking at these instructions alone is a nostalgia trip! How many here even know what a "Slide Rule" (also known as a "slip stick") was?, and how many could still read one? and aren't you glad you no longer have to!

lol!

nitroairplane Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:13 pm

Great Kim, tell us how it works and maybe a video!
(I means how well I works,, we all know it runs on imagination of course)

crankbndr Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:24 pm

Man, you got all the neat stuff. How does it work on girls?

Kim Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:36 pm

nitroairplane wrote:Great Kim, tell us how it works and maybe a video!
(I means how well I works,, we all know it runs on imagination of course)

It shall be done !!!!

Yep Andrew, I was one of those kids who never had a clue about slide-rules when they WERE the going thing. There have been times though, when I could get some good stuff going with it's circular cousin, my faithful E6-B !!!!!!!!

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 E6-b10

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 E6-b10

Kim Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:39 pm

crankbndr wrote:Man, you got all the neat stuff. How does it work on girls?

The gadgets seldom draw the babes...generally it's better just go straight-forward with cash...

crankbndr Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:45 pm

I knew how to work the E6-B but Ive forgotten it all in my old age. Very handy tool for flying.

Kim Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:13 pm

crankbndr wrote:I knew how to work the E6-B but Ive forgotten it all in my old age. Very handy tool for flying.

Yeah, they've pretty much gone the way of all the rest of the mechanical calculators. I was fascinated AND intimidated by them as I flirted with learning to fly.

There was a stretch of time when I became possessed with them like a kid with a new video game. I couldn't put it down, and was constantly creating cross-country scenarios, making up flight conditions and using a chart to plan imaginary flights. This one is my second "Whiz-Wheel", I'd worn half of the info off the one I used for training.

The thing looks alien to me now, but if I messed with it a while, figure I could probably get it to talk to me. Old guys and their old stuff...

crankbndr Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:24 pm

I logged about 50 hours in C-150 in the early 70s before I decided I did not have the "right stuff".
Give a kid an airplane? Man did I have fun.

Kim Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:45 pm

crankbndr wrote:I logged about 50 hours in C-150 in the early 70s before I decided I did not have the "right stuff".
Give a kid an airplane? Man did I have fun.

Well, you know, they're still around! Might be fun to get yourself an "Intro Ride" and just get a little playtime! Every other year, I used to drive my van down to Seminole Gliderport, south of Clermont, and rent Grobe's and 2-33's from a guy named Knute who ran the the place. Think it's gone to a different owner now, but it might be worth checking. Maybe get yourself a Glider ride over the swamps there !

andrew Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:24 pm

Kim wrote:
The gadgets seldom draw the babes...generally it's better just go straight-forward with cash...

Oh, I don't know, the E6-B is pretty enticing. But, here's the scenario: Hey, babe. Why don't you come on over to the house tonight. We'll have dinner, pop some popcorn, watch a movie, have a few glasses of wine, then we'll try out my new Vibra-Tak.

Guaranteed success.

Kim Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:20 pm

So, right before having to leave for work, I suddenly decided that it was a priority for me to set-up an engine in a stand and run a test of my Fowler Vibra-Tach Slide-Rule Tachometer. The video is not the best (the oscillating wire of the tach is out of frame), but I DID get some interesting results!

Maybe, on a better day, with more time, I'll try a little better set-up to video another test.

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 Video_11

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 Video_11

Vibra-Tak...Old School Tachometer...GOT ME ONE !!!!!!! - Page 2 1_106

nitroairplane Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:11 pm

Seems pretty good to me, a nice thing to have.

Kim Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:31 pm

Thanks Indra, I just wanted a little better view of me adjusting the thing. Had a bit of a problem picking a spot where there was good, solid contact WITHOUT getting into that prop.

Turns out, it's pretty darn accurate.

**RknRusty** Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:36 am

Should be very accurate, I have a dial type for the lawnmower. It might be too bulky for the Cox engine. I need to try it and see.

**Cribbs74** Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:50 am

Kim wrote:Thanks Indra, I just wanted a little better view of me adjusting the thing. Had a bit of a problem picking a spot where there was good, solid contact WITHOUT getting into that prop.

Turns out, it's pretty darn accurate.

Your not kidding!!!!! Almost spot on with the digital. Who'd a thunk it?

Cool! Thanks for that.

Kim Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:16 am

I guess it would HAVE to be fairly accurate to survive the decades, and STILL be manufactured, but with my near-zero engineering experience, I've got to admit some amazement that a piece of shaking wire can be made to accurately calculate the RPM of an engine. Makes me feel like a caveman, trying to get a grasp of fire !!

Also, I HAVE to wonder, how many of these things got away from their owner's grasp...to be instantly launched across the flying field by a high-revving prop ???!!!!! "The Flying Tach of Death" !!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Cribbs74** Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:19 am

Kim wrote:I guess it would HAVE to be fairly accurate to survive the decades, and STILL be manufactured, but with my near-zero engineering experience, I've got to admit some amazement that a piece of shaking wire can be made to accurately calculate the RPM of an engine. Makes me feel like a caveman, trying to get a grasp of fire !!

Also, I HAVE to wonder, how many of these things got away from their owner's grasp...to be instantly launched across the flying field by a high-revving prop ???!!!!! "The Flying Tach of Death" !!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's a funny mental picture. Wonder what one yells when a tach is sent sailing?

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