Help Identifying salvageable(?) item

[tom williams]

Greetings. Some relatives are liquidating part of an estate, and have asked for help in identifying a few parts. The item separated into a black upper case and a base is the part in question. Does this look familiar to anyone? The top section of the case has two small metal plates, one with "8 x 7" embosed, another with "179 D" embossed. The is also a stencil on the side of the top section: "8 x 7". I see what looks like it might be a ballast in one half of the bottom section - the attached plug has a 4-prongs, something like a ballast plug might have.
Thanks for any help.
cheers
Tom

 

[cramej]

Looks like a motorized 70mm back possibly for a portrait camera system. Seems to be missing the camera system .

 

[mshchem]

Yeah, 100 foot rolls of 70 mm. Could be a back for commercial or aerial photography. Most likely a cool doorstop. It would be fun to see the other side of the item .

 

[AnselMortensen]

I second the above...
Motorized aerial camera, school portrait camera, or possibly a traffic/surveillance camera....(the keyed lock cylinder makes me think that).
Cool old stuff!
More pics, please!

 

[bdial]

The sort-of fancy case makes me think it’s more likely for a portrait camera system, than an aerial camera. Are there any ID plates anywhere, such as the one on this aerial camera magazine?
https://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/I1481.html

 

[tom williams]

More photos on the way .... likely by tomorrow mid-day.

 

[AgX]

The first film back I see that got a lock !!!

Thus for a stand-alone set-up.

 

[tom williams]

More photos:

From left to right: the underside of the bottom section; the innards of the bottom section removed from the box; cover removed on the counter side of the innards; label on the innards on the side opposite the gearing.

The labeling on the ID plate gives the following information:
Photographic Products Inc., Hollywood 38, Calif.
- made in USA
- model: D 14 (?)
- serial no.: 1045 (?)

 

[AgX]

Interesting !

So that lock does not lock that film back to anything (against theft), nor does it block its use.
It just resets that counter.

So "back to start" concerning the use of this film-back...


(By the way, that counter actuator is a intermediary in the release mechanism.)

 

[tom williams]

The last owner of this item worked at NASA Ames Research Center, near San Francisco, California. There was some speculation that it might have been a cast-off from his work place. The work involved wind tunnels, and experiments in the wind tunnels were often photographed (though at very high speed, I would imagine). That's purely speculation though, with no actual supporting evidence.

 

[bdial]

In that context it likely is a work cast-off. They likely went through quite a lot of film in the pre-digital days, and the cameras would need to make lots of exposures between reloads, which is what that film magazine accomplished.

 

[AgX]

The manufacturer has made data recording cameras for aerial and terrestial use. The electrical power supply of this sample though makes aerial use unlikely.

Why has it got a 4 poles connector? Where was such used?

 

[tom williams]

AgX, why do you think so? Naively, I would have guessed that a US terrestrial power connector could be a typical two- or three-prong connector, and an airborn system might have something less familiar, like the "milspec" multiprong connectors I've seen on some scientific and military equipment. Let me emphasize "naively".

 

[AgX]

Airplanes of that period had (and still have) a power supply of 115V/400Hz. To use terestial appliances a frequency converter was needed.

A terestial camera thus could not be hooked up to a dedicated airplane power supply and thus dit not need an airplane specific connector.


That camera would have needed a 3-pole connector. Maybe someone can make us wiser.

 

[tom williams]

"Maybe someone can make us wiser"....

... much to be desired....