Solar CE and Oxford Tartak CT-400 Capacitor Analyzers
 

Somehow, some way the wonderful world of Internet auctions has led me down another rather interesting path. I have had the Solar version of what was supposedly the top drawer of multi function bench testing equipment perhaps around the mid to late 1940s for quite a while.

In unrestored condition it funtions good enough to view current draw on electolytic capacitors and serves as a good unit for reforming old lytics. The capacitance bridge works fairly well, but the built in VTVM never seemed to do much, but I never worried much with the unneeded functions.

Then recently the CT-400 showed up by a company I have never even heard of. It seems to be a carbon copy both inside and out. It will need a little more work as the output voltage fails to show on the meter and the dual 10mfd filter caps are getting warm although the mighty power tranny is cool as it can be which is a huge plus. Still I will replace the two 10s before proceeding much further. There sure is a lot going on inside that little box of knobs! :yes:

Anyway, just yaking about some interesting test equipment and curious as to what anyone out there has to say; good, bad or otherwise.

No doubt you have heard of Oxford loudspeakers... well..

"Paul Tartak
Between 1930 and 1935 Paul Tartak bought Oxford and changed the name to Oxford-Tartak Radio Corp. Joy, Augustine, and Reichmann all went in different directions.

Tartak arrived from Lithuania in 1909 at the age of four. After graduating from Univ. of Illinois in 1928, he worked in Chicago as a radio engineer. The company's focus was radio replacement and PA speakers, electro-dynamic and permanent magnet speakers, exponential horns, and field exciter units. In the thirties, Chief engineer was C.T. Harwood, and the Sales Manager was J.S. Gartner. ".
from this site: http://www.magnatoneamps.com/manufacturers.html

Your meter could have been made under a military contract:
AN 08-45-40 Condenser Tester Oxford Tartac CT-400
from list here: http://radionerds.com/images/5/5c/TO-DOC_HTM.txt

It was somewhat common practice for copycat manufacturing of various producs for government contracts, for example Hickok produced copies of a Tektronix 545 oscilloscope and related plug-ins for a government contract. Tek sued Hickok and the government and won. (4 million)

jr

another Oxford Tartac copycat device for the government:

http://k4che.com/Oxford%20Tartak/Oxf...20Receiver.htm

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