Need a little help with a Pentax 3/21 Meter

I'm hoping someone out there has a manual for this meter or better yet someone has experience with this model. It's a Honeywell Pentax 3/21 Exposure Meter. I have sourced the hard to find batteries and low and behold it works!

Am I reading the meter correctly:

If I partially depress the read button on a bright scene I read the EV from the high scale. For a low light scene I need to depress the read button fully and I take the EV value from the low scale.

Thanks,
Dave

Pentax 3/21 battery crazy

I am new to APUG....
I noticed your Question about the 3/21.
I have one of these meters. The meter only works if button switch is fully depressed. The 22.5 volt drycell I have is new. The original 1.3v mercury are not available as you know. Please advise me about the smaller batteries or battery.
I have gotten too many suggestions like 1 battery or 2 batteries. Alot of 1.5v batteries out there and seem the right size. I have tried and no meter response Stumped.
This would be a big help. The conflicting info is not helping. I love this meter's look feel and potentials. I am excited to use it. I do have a need for this spot feature.
Thanks Jim

I've got one of these, too. Mine is the special model that is only available in thrift stores. Salvation Army, Mount Vernon Washington, USA.

It holds a special place of reverence for me. It was what was the state of the art in 1964.

I just pried it open and found two batteries, the 22.5 v Mallory M-215, and the Mallory PX-23. The PX-23 is (or was) a 5.6 volt battery, not a 1.3 v.

I suspect that there is a replacement for it. I just found this on a home recording website (http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=256354): "For batteries... look for model S23PX. It's a direct replacement for the original PX23."

I'm not sure whether the 5.6 v battery replaced a 3 v, or what. However, this meter was used by the Everett Herald, and I suspect that when it was finally placed on the shelf for the last time, the meter was working. I'd be comfortable trying a new 5.6 v bat in it. I will have to look again, but there are battery dealers online who stock an amazing number of different cells, with cross referencing. I'll both keep looking here and posting what I might find. I want to get mine working, too.

Here's a source:

http://www.batterymart.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=searchspring&query=s23px&x=0&y=0

It's 6v, not 5.6, but probably would work.

Looking for the M-215; It was a standard battery back in the days when knights rode trusty steeds, jousting with each other, you know, when there were vacuum tubes and crystal sets. I just found on Graflex.org that the Eveready M412, available at Radio Shack, is the M-215 equivalent. Maybe the Radio Shack has the other as well.

Am I reading the meter correctly:

If I partially depress the read button on a bright scene I read the EV from the high scale. For a low light scene I need to depress the read button fully and I take the EV value from the low scale."

Click to expand...

On the inside of the case mine came in are slips of paper taped in. "half way=high scale" and "full ppush[sic]= low scale"


Thanks for posting this. It's too bad to have that old thing gathering dust when I could be using it.

bowzart said:

I just found on Graflex.org that the Eveready M412, available at Radio Shack, is the M-215 equivalent. Maybe the Radio Shack has the other as well.

Click to expand...

I tried Radio Shack. No luck. So, dschneller, where did you find the 22.5v bat? I am also finding lots of references to the smaller battery as a 1.3. Might there have been a 1.3 v with two end caps made in that size? I understand that the small battery operates the high range, the 22.5 operates the low, and they are independent.