1963 Optronics Desk, Valve Pres, etc - Offers Accepted

[Chris H]

Hi Mate
lost the comp / limit dont miss it though used to pop and fart if ya hit it to hard

When I first got my silver ones they had a quick going over and went straight to work. of the six, three went out of action so I have decided to get them all looked at to bring them back to life and working as they should. On mine the comp/limit was always very useable though so I'm thinking something was probably NQR if yours where popping etc when hit hard.

[Paul Maybury]

Hi, my silver Optro modules comp section is REALLY slow. If you hit them hard, they do sound good and thick , but if there is a gap in the program and the gain reduction comes back up to near unity, the next signal to go through it will pop right out before the attack of the comp can catch it. This makes them almost useless for me.
But the pre amp, and the eq? Wonderful!!
Cheers,
Paul

[cameron]

Cam responded to my PM, I'm not sure if he's going to post here or not, so here is the gist of what he said to me:

"Hi Manning,

Thanks for the prod!

... we've decided it's best to sell everything in one piece including the original tape machine that was built into the desk. I'm in the process of getting photos of the additional pieces together and will post on the forum soon. I'm more interested in keeping everything together and it going to a good home than a high price.

Cheers Cameron"

Hi Guys,

I've updated the original post with further information and photos. Please PM me by the end of August if you are interested in taking ownership of this rare equipment.

Thanks

[The Tasmanian]

Geez - there is SO much rust everywhere when you look closely.... really bad sign.
looks like its spent a large part of its life in a garage - or a damp room - which sort of devalues it (even further) .
To be brutal... the 2 pre's would be great, the console maybe too - the rest?... ummm...rust + lots of time and money - for what purpose?
Unfortunately I have seen SO much better stuff go to the tip / many times.
Respectfully - Its a nice romantic family dream to have it all restored.
Eventually - everything ends up at the tip.
Including us.
Best of luck though.

[cameron]

Geez - there is SO much rust everywhere when you look closely.... really bad sign.
looks like its spent a large part of its life in a garage - or a damp room - which sort of devalues it (even further) .
To be brutal... the 2 pre's would be great, the console maybe too - the rest?... ummm...rust + lots of time and money - for what purpose?
Unfortunately I have seen SO much better stuff go to the tip / many times.
Respectfully - Its a nice romantic family dream to have it all restored.
Eventually - everything ends up at the tip.
Including us.
Best of luck though.

Thanks for your opinion. There's no romantic dreams here, we'd just like to see this Optronics gear go to a good home rather than being sold for scrap metal.

The rust is only an issue around the ferrous transformers and some screws, which is why I provided close up photos. Any piece of iron from the 1960's will be rusted by now unless sealed in a vacuum chamber. The rest looks good and frankly I don't think the photos do this equipment justice.

Like I said, if you think a custom 1960's Graham Thirkell desk and pres is only worth a few hundred to you, or indeed nothing, let me know because circumstances may mean you become its new proud owner.

Two weeks to go before we figure what to do with this, so do PM me if you're interested...

Thanks

[cameron]

Original post updated more details and links to scans of original manual and rack configurations.

Scans of Optronics mixing consolette manual:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/idf6vc8n4hnxhba/Optronics%201963%20Mixing%20Consolette%20Manual.pdf

Scans of rack setup:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbt2e7r2lgmmies/Optronics%20Rack%20Setup.pdf

[mylesgm]

any schematics for the desk or valve preamp?

[cameron]

any schematics for the desk or valve preamp?

Still looking for schematics, if they exist. Can anyone tell if they were commonly provided to 'consumers' of Optronic's gear in the 60's?

There is loads of other stuff, mostly documents, that has been stored for 50+ years with this equipment, so it's like finding a needle in a haystack. I'll keep you posted...

[mylesgm]

the contents of the manual says that there are block diagrams etc but they are missing from your scan, do you have those pages?

[cameron]

the contents of the manual says that there are block diagrams etc but they are missing from your scan, do you have those pages?

I just noticed that too, they must have been removable or something. I'll let you know...

[cameron]

the contents of the manual says that there are block diagrams etc but they are missing from your scan, do you have those pages?

We've found 5 further diagrams, but they're variations of the same rack patching configurations as in the second PDF link. Additional rack diagrams are: 'Selsynch' recording setup, remote control of tape recorder setup, using microphones that aren't normally connected to mixer inputs, replaying tapes and jack field legend for patch bays. My relative does not recall any electronic circuit diagrams for the 1963 Mixing Consolette, so I gather the manual is simply referring to these rack patching diagrams as 'block diagrams'.

This may be explained by something I found on Peter's site, the "No doc Patent": http://www.oneillassociates.com.au/~poneill/Optro.shtml

Many Optro products were originally protected by two forms of low cost "patent", the "Epoxy Patent" and the "No doc Patent", circuits encased in epoxy and no schematic. Graham Thirkell started using the "Epoxy Patent" when he was working for Rola, part of the Rola Auto Q circuitry was protected this way. In the chat rooms dedicated to pro-audio here in Australia various people ask for Optro schematics, if any schematics still exist I will try find them and make them available on this site.

Interestingly, this Optronics branded Mixing Consolette is dated from 1963, however Peter's site states Optronics was founded in the late 60's. It's highly likely this desk is one of, if not the first Optronics branded equipment as it was custom made locally whilst Graham was working other jobs.

If anything else turns up documentation wise, I'll let you know. Either way, as other posters have commented, it's highly recommended that whoever gets this equipment traces the circuits. Apparently most of the Optronics circuit diagrams were lost when the 62 Berkeley St Huntingdale factory was shut down.

[cameron]

Quick update:

A number of offers have come in that propose very compelling uses of this vintage equipment. Price wise we're now above $2k for the lot. From our perspective it's fantastic to see such devotion to maintaining this sort of gear, Turtlerock is certainly a great forum full of great people!

If you're interested in this half century year old Optronics transistor 'mixing consolette', valve preamps, tape deck and associated gear, please let me know by Sunday night. On Monday we'll run through options and I'll contact you on Tuesday if you get it...

cheers

Cameron

[Paul Maybury]

So, who won?

[cameron]

So, who won?

I've contacted the 'winner' who has said he will get back to me tomorrow.

I can't post details until they confirm they are both taking this gear and also that it is OK to make them known. But I can confirm they intend to make this equipment a centrepiece in their entirely tape vintage studio. I'll update in due course...

[EvLoutonian]

Cool, cool!
Did this all get resolved?
Where's the console now?
(:
Cheers,
Ev.

[cameron]

Cool, cool!
Did this all get resolved?
Where's the console now?
(:
Cheers,
Ev.

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay, but I can confirm this Optronics gear has taken up residence at Hanging Tree Studio in Sydney, under the new ownership of Tim. Cool guy, we met when he drove down with Carter last weekend for pickup.

Thanks to everyone's enthusiasm on TR for all things vintage and analogue, great help. Looking forward to hearing what comes out of this rare Optro gear soon. If you're after some vintage Aussie mojo, get into Hanging Tree sometime soon... http://hangingtreestudio.blogspot.com.au

Cheers

Cameron

[EvLoutonian]

oh yeah .. so, what happened to this lot?

[dave01.cooper]

Read above.

[EvLoutonian]

Cheers, Dave.
So it's in operation at Hanging Tree?
I didn't see any pic's or info directly on their website, but maybe I missed something?