What is it? LI

Dang! I thought I was finally going to get one! It's a car TV antenna. It sits above the trunk lid on a strut. Crocodile Dundee ripped one off a limo to use on a couple of punks.

Cheers! Rich

284. Mountain climbing thing-a-ma-bob (I don't recall the name). 285. A polystyrene foam glider wing. 286. Crank for louvers or a scissor jack. 287. Handle used to open and close a valve, perhaps an old gas valve. 288. Photographer's photometer. 289. Valeria Mazza ("VM") lipstick for supermodels that overdid the "fat lip" look.

Carl G.

Hey Mathew,

Well, for sure you "guessed right" on 286. That is what it is.

Forerunners to this type device were a crescent shaped section "rod" without the knuckle, and so were referred to as "lunar keys", and actuated a different door mechanism than these current types. Old guys like me still tend to call these as "lunar keys" rather then broken knuckle keys when we're not thinking. Technically, number 286 is a "double joint broken knuckle key", as earlier styles only have one joint, and some that use a flat section instead of round, but they all serve the same purpose. Of the two parallel roll-pins, the one closest to the joints is to provide a penetration limit, and the outside one is the finger-grip to turn the device in operation.

With very few exceptions, the doors arranged for this device are only on the lowest level, and the lowest level plus one provided the distance isn't over 4 feet from the car-top to the second level when the car is a the lowest landing. Anything over the 4 feet requires a different plan.

I'd be interested to know how the OP came to have one of these, as in Canada, Ontario in particular, they are not available to the public or anyone outside the trade. Too easy to get hurt yourself, or injure someone else, let alone damage something expensive if used inappropriately or incorrectly.

Take care.

Brian Laws>>>Hey Rob,

As we learned more than 20 years ago, you don't really need the "broken knuckle key" when a coat-hanger or other stiff wire works just as well :-).

Elevator racing using the inspection controls was fun, not to mention the head games one could play taking over the elevator from the top unbeknownst to the occupants.

scott

284 - "Camalot" rock climbing jam cam device 285 - Toy flying wing glider 286 - Folding crank or key for something 287 - Wing nut key 288 - Photographic exposure meter 289 - 45 rpm adaptor for record changer

-- Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

281 Tack puller/scarificator

287 Portable keyhole for incorrigible peepers OR wing nut wrench

Or the looks you get when exiting a pitch-black shaft after a race. :)

Somehow the server lost my original post so I'll reply here to everyone's initial answers.

These have all been correctly identified:

284. Rock climber's camming device 286. Elevator door key. Thanks to Gary for contributing this photo. 287. Wing nut wrench 288. Light meter 289. 45-RPM spindle adapter

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285. Several people get partial credit, it's a flying wing made of polystyrene. The answer that I'm looking for is the specific name of this glider. The reason that I include it here is that it flies in a very unusual manner, it isn't thrown like most small planes, and it can be kept aloft indefinitely, with no strings or other attachments. I'll post the answer in a day or two if no one gets it.

Rob

This one was for a "record changer" -- a turntable with extra features which allowed you to stack some number of records and it would automatically drop the lowest of the stack at the top onto the turntable (or previous records) at the bottom. Obviously, the mechanism for lifting and retracting the arm had to lift it fairly high to deal with the most extreme stack of records.

These typically had the skinny spindle with a crook near the top through which a clip was actuated from below through the spindle. When used with 45 RPM records (which were sold to individuals in stores in the US, instead of just for juke boxes), this adaptor was slid down over the skinny spindle. and the clip at the crook actuated the support keys seen at about the 1/3 distance from the top. Prior to drawing those black supports (one visible and one 180 degrees around the adaptor), it first extends some thin metal pieces just above (just barely visible as a glint in the photo above the black part) to separate the bottom-most record from those above. I then would withdraw the black part, dropping the bottom-most record, and then re-extend it and withdraw the metal pieces, allowing the stack to settle down so the bottom-most record was supported by the black piece again.

Note that I *know* that some changers were made in the UK back around 1957, as I remember the Garrard changers were advertised in the same flyer as the plain turntables.

Note, also, that teens tended to have changers made *only* for

45-RPM records, so the fat spindle was built in, and the whole thing was smaller and easier to take to a party along with a box of the records.

I believe that the first of the 45RPM record players had a slot in the front, and you just pushed it in -- somewhat similar to some CD players today. I never saw one of those in person, though I have seen photos of them.

Yes -- the clips were available in the US -- and often used with turntables -- but they did not come already in the records. Instead, you bought a pack of five or ten at a time. Most that I remember were yellow, though I think that I also remember a light blue version.

Also -- there were adaptors intended to be left on the turntable, a plastic puck with (sometimes) a shallow conical top to ease dropping the record onto it without having to fiddle to get it centered. I've seen these (with a sheet of felt) glued to an oversized record platter (usually the kind used to send out multiple advertising spots to radio stations). The actual turntable also would have a felt top (instead of the more common moulded rubber one), so the record could slip on it. This was used for "slip queuing" -- you placed the needle in the run-in groove, allowed it to play until you heard the first note, gripped the edge of the platter, and pulled it backwards about 1/8 of a turn. (This while the sound from that turntable was only fed to the monitor speakers in the broadcast room, not to the air. When the time came, you would bring the volume up to the air feed, talk as much as was deemed necessary, and then let go of the record edge with the turntable still spinning under it, thus giving a quick and sure start to the record's playing. (There were broadcast turntables which could start much more quickly, and with these, the record was placed on, spun forward by hand until the sound, then backed up just enough so when you switched the turntable motor on, it would be up to speed just as it hit the first note.

Slip queuing was better suited to the hectic pace common to disk jockeys who would typically play 45 RPM records and have teen audiences, while the other style was better suited to those who played classical or jazz recordings.

Enjoy, DoN.

284. Rock climbing device to wedge into cracks, etc. 285. Styrofoam glider 286. Device for creating wire clamps. 287. no good guess or idea 288. math/measuring device similar to a slide rule 289. 45 RPM record spindle. Is my age showing now?

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

288. Is a very early photographic light meter. George Hughes Warner Robins, GA

DanG wrote:

Here is the answer to number 285:

This flying wing is called a Walkalong Glider, it can be kept aloft and maneuvered by the air that flows around your body as you walk forward. The easiest way to fly it is to use a piece of cardboard, positioned perpendicular to the ground and held a foot or more in front of the body. As you walk, the localized upcurrent from the cardboard keeps the glider flying and controls its direction. The plane is positioned with the two blue dots a few inches directly over the cardboard.

The next step is to use just your hands to create the updraft, and when you master this way of flying it, you can try the even more difficult technique of keeping the glider aloft by using the air flowing off just your head.

I first saw this glider on the Scientific American Frontiers pbs program, and sent away for one the next day. You can see a video of the glider flying at the site below, it's the fourth one from the top:

Rob