Weston Ranger 9 light meter

[MarkS]

I was looking through some technical information the other day, and ran across an photo showing a Weston Ranger 9 light meter. I've been around photography for 50 years now, and have never seen one, or known anyone who used one.
It seems like it might have been a useful tool, but is rather forgotten now.
If there are Photrio members who use one, or have used one in the past, please speak up!

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

I've handled a few of them, and I have one now. None of them, including the one I have, were still accurate. The CdS cells in them wear out and need replaced, and they were designed for mercury batteries so they need to have a diode inserted into the circuit to make them accurate with modern batteries. There are a few people I've talked to online who had their Ranger 9 meters overhauled by Quality Light Metric before they closed. Those had the meter cells replaced and the circuits updated to work on modern batteries. Problem is that no one seems to work on vintage meters anymore now that QLM has closed.

You're better off with a modern meter. I think vintage meters are cool, and fun to collect; but they rarely work right anymore and as I said they're basically unrepairable now.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have 2, one is in pretty good shape, the other needs to be taken apart and the clear plastic readout cover reattached. The Ranger 9 uses 2 mercury batteries. Last time I used it I installed 2 winair as hearing aid batteries do not work well. The batteries go in + side down there is a large spring that fits over the negative side of the second battery and the cap. It is a limited view, around 30%, does a better job in low light than my Master VI. There was zone scale that could replace the standard scale. It is accurate, or was, have not used in to a few years.

Due to the high cost of batteries I would give it a pass. Or be willing to made a custom adaptor to take hearing aid batteries.

 

[Paul Howell]

BTW here is a link to the manual

https://www.cameramanuals.org/flashes_meters/weston_ranger_9-1.pdf

 

[bdial]

I guess the Ranger 9 was favored by Fred Picker before 1 degree spot meters were available. I have one that I had serviced by QLM, they adapted it to use silver oxide cells. I don’t use it much though.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have the box somewhere, the zone dial was made by the New York Industries for the Blind.

 

[Alexo]

I guess the Ranger 9 was favored by Fred Picker before 1 degree spot meters were available. I have one that I had serviced by QLM, they adapted it to use silver oxide cells. I don’t use it much though.

Hi there! Do you still have that Ranger 9 ? Did QLM also change the CdS ??
I am thinking of offering service to repair these. Looking for people who had their CdS replaced by QLM to see what commercial part they used and if they changed any of the pots. I would either buy the meter from them, Zoom call or pay for shipping to examine and then return it. I lifted the circuit off mine and this is a meter that is not only easy to modernize but the quality build of the mechanical parts deserves a second life. Any help, pointers, contact info greatly appreciated. I will offer the service but also make all the work Open Source under a Creative Commons license here on Photrio. TIA -- Alex, Toronto Canada.

 

[Alexo]

I have 2, one is in pretty good shape, the other needs to be taken apart and the clear plastic readout cover reattached. The Ranger 9 uses 2 mercury batteries. Last time I used it I installed 2 winair as hearing aid batteries do not work well. The batteries go in + side down there is a large spring that fits over the negative side of the second battery and the cap. It is a limited view, around 30%, does a better job in low light than my Master VI. There was zone scale that could replace the standard scale. It is accurate, or was, have not used in to a few years.

Due to the high cost of batteries I would give it a pass. Or be willing to made a custom adaptor to take hearing aid batteries.

Hi there ! I might be interested in buying them or borrowing them. I bought one and studied it and I think it's worthwhile to modernize/refurbish these CdS-based Weston meters.

 

[Alexo]

I've handled a few of them, and I have one now. None of them, including the one I have, were still accurate. The CdS cells in them wear out and need replaced, and they were designed for mercury batteries so they need to have a diode inserted into the circuit to make them accurate with modern batteries. There are a few people I've talked to online who had their Ranger 9 meters overhauled by Quality Light Metric before they closed. Those had the meter cells replaced and the circuits updated to work on modern batteries. Problem is that no one seems to work on vintage meters anymore now that QLM has closed.

You're better off with a modern meter. I think vintage meters are cool, and fun to collect; but they rarely work right anymore and as I said they're basically unrepairable now.

Hi there! Do you happen to have contact with someone that had the CdS replaced by QLM ? I would be very interested in buying or borrowing the meter to understand their mods. I think this meter is worthwhile to modernize and I've decided to take this as an Open Source pet project that wil benefit anyone wanting to bring these things back to life.

 

[Paul Howell]

In the past year both of the senors gave up the ghost. I tired a new set of hearing aid batteries, no needle movement what-so ever then tired win air, nothing. My Weston Master VI also stopped working, yet my old GE still is spot on. I've looked for a replacement Ranger 9, those I found on E bay were inoperative or untested with no return. I liked the Ranger 9, not a true spot meter was good for landscapes.

 

[Paul Howell]

Hi there! Do you happen to have contact with someone that had the CdS replaced by QLM ? I would be very interested in buying or borrowing the meter to understand their mods. I think this meter is worthwhile to modernize and I've decided to take this as an Open Source pet project that wil benefit anyone wanting to bring these things back to life.

I checked Ebay, US. if you can buy from Ebay there are a couple at reasonable prices including a zone scale. I tossed mine out, did not have the room to keep them. I guess I should have held on to them.

 

[Bill Burk]

I can’t help with modern parts for them. I have two or maybe three.

One that I tinkered the pots thinking it would calibrate to modern batteries, and the rest that are untinkered with. I planned to add a 2.7 v regulator circuit to it and then try calibrating.

Normally I work on the Weston Master II which I can’t get to calibrate because all available cells are slightly weak. It might also be that I don’t understand the calibration aims. See I figured on 100 foot lambert reference light source it should read 32 candles per square foot. They never do.

 

[Alexo]

I did a complete teardown and took pictures to make a refurbishing guide. I found a pretty compatible photocell and regulator circuit and plan to use 2 CR1632 cells in series with a 3D printed holder. I traced the original circuit and have a plan to repurpose 99% of it with some slight re-wiring to fit in the regulator. I think everything fits inside the meter with no major mods. Waiting for parts to test everything and see if calibrates roughly against a modern Sekonic. If you want to collaborate with me I would be very happy because I am not an expert in light meters but I have all the other skills. I will prob need lots help for precision-calibrating the thing.
I want to publish everything here under a Creative Commons license. It would not stop anyone from making money these mods, so long as they attribute the original work and any derived works. Lemme know. I was thinking maybe a GitHub project and then link that to Photrio or maybe iFixIt directly and then link that here. Still undecided, ideas welcome. BTW I invited the guy in the UK who repairs the Selenium ones but haven't hear back. Maybe not too happy that I want to Open Source this LOL. I mean it doesn't really affect the Selenium line right, and since QLM took their secrets it's a real shame to let these meters die like this...

 

[Bill Burk]

I’d be happy to help, though I can’t trace my standards to NIST. I have a couple standard light sources but I can’t make sense of the readings.

I think you’ll find Serhiy Rozum’s camera tester project a good source for calibration light sources.

I’d recommend making it work with a pair of MS-76 since they’re small enough and readily available.

 

[Alan Townsend]

I was looking through some technical information the other day, and ran across an photo showing a Weston Ranger 9 light meter. I've been around photography for 50 years now, and have never seen one, or known anyone who used one.
It seems like it might have been a useful tool, but is rather forgotten now.
If there are Photrio members who use one, or have used one in the past, please speak up!

I have an old Gossen Luna Pro that works very well. It uses the same pair of mercury batteries. There is a Gossen part, available at B+H, that replaces the pair of batteries with modern silver oxide cells. It would likely work on your Weston meters. FYI In my Luna Pro, I use a pair of zinc air 675 hearing aid cells in adapters and works very well for me. CdS cells don't all go bad with time. My 2 60 year old Minolta SRT101's have two in each camera, and both work well and remain accurate even using the 1.5 volt alkaline cells. Often the epoxy, or other cement gluing them in place will turn yellow with time, reducing sensitivity slightly. This can be adjusted by changing the film speed to accommodate.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I've handled a few of them, and I have one now. None of them, including the one I have, were still accurate. The CdS cells in them wear out and need replaced, and they were designed for mercury batteries so they need to have a diode inserted into the circuit to make them accurate with modern batteries. There are a few people I've talked to online who had their Ranger 9 meters overhauled by Quality Light Metric before they closed. Those had the meter cells replaced and the circuits updated to work on modern batteries. Problem is that no one seems to work on vintage meters anymore now that QLM has closed.

You're better off with a modern meter. I think vintage meters are cool, and fun to collect; but they rarely work right anymore and as I said they're basically unrepairable now.

I agree. Modern meters are so good these days that it makes little sense to keep vintage meters alive