"MA" transistor markings for ANH Obi Wan Kenobi's Llightsaber
- Thread starter ATL Kenobi
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Of the pics I have gathered (if any of these belong to anyone, let me know and I will give credit or remove the photo) this shows the deformation the best...
I have blown this up to the extreme:
The can has the shape of a can forced through a washer that it is too big to be pushed through.
But how do we know it was pushed through?
(Op Amp enlargement taken from this photo):
Here is a reference showing some of the various logo stamps of different manufacturers. Some of these manufacturers also have used different logos at different points:
Here is National Semiconductor’s C Logo:
(*the following two photographs and some of the following text has been edited/added 10-24-2019 for ease of research and informational continuity purposes. Special thanks to member corliss1 for clarifying what should have been obvious in the following comments)
Here is the logo of another period manufacturer that looks much like the National Semiconductor Logo C, and this is Nippon Electric Company stamping as “NEC”:
Not only do the letters in the NEC logo slant toward the correct direction, but the “N” (or the white negative space “S”, depending on which you see) in “NEC” is very off-center on the component’s top, unlike the Motorola “M” or the Solitron “S” or National semiconductor’s “N”... and which would be unusual for a single letter logo anyway, but makes perfect sense for a three-letter logo. Or at least for a single letter logo, everything else that is stamped with that letter should also be way off-center.
But where is the “EC” then?
Is there a possibility of an arc showing where stamping was accidentally rubbed off or even purposefully removed by the art dept. to obscure recognizability?
I really don’t want to speculate too much but I do want to cross off any incorrect possibilities from the list if we can.
And here are some reference sheets I picked up over the last few years of looking:
I have blown this up to the extreme:
The can has the shape of a can forced through a washer that it is too big to be pushed through.
But how do we know it was pushed through?
(Op Amp enlargement taken from this photo):
Here is a reference showing some of the various logo stamps of different manufacturers. Some of these manufacturers also have used different logos at different points:
Here is National Semiconductor’s C Logo:
(*the following two photographs and some of the following text has been edited/added 10-24-2019 for ease of research and informational continuity purposes. Special thanks to member corliss1 for clarifying what should have been obvious in the following comments)
Here is the logo of another period manufacturer that looks much like the National Semiconductor Logo C, and this is Nippon Electric Company stamping as “NEC”:
Not only do the letters in the NEC logo slant toward the correct direction, but the “N” (or the white negative space “S”, depending on which you see) in “NEC” is very off-center on the component’s top, unlike the Motorola “M” or the Solitron “S” or National semiconductor’s “N”... and which would be unusual for a single letter logo anyway, but makes perfect sense for a three-letter logo. Or at least for a single letter logo, everything else that is stamped with that letter should also be way off-center.
But where is the “EC” then?
Is there a possibility of an arc showing where stamping was accidentally rubbed off or even purposefully removed by the art dept. to obscure recognizability?
I really don’t want to speculate too much but I do want to cross off any incorrect possibilities from the list if we can.
And here are some reference sheets I picked up over the last few years of looking:
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onderon
Sr Member
Thats why i said "once". You don't see how the S fits into the marks but not the N?I still don't see it, so nothing to unsee for me
My only problem with the Solitron, if you look it carefully you see that the Solitron transistor with the "scraped" 2 in the serial number has more space between the edge of the transistor, than the space on the Chronicle ANH Obi saber photo.
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I can absolutely see the Solitron Logo being misprinted that way - do any Solitrons come in Op Amps? I'll have to check mine.
There is a logo missing from that list, the early Motorola logo is just an M with no circle, and rather large.
The Solitron would explain the extra marking that looks like subscript, but I'm not wholly convinced yet. Our Chronicles shot still has more straight lines.
There is a logo missing from that list, the early Motorola logo is just an M with no circle, and rather large.
The Solitron would explain the extra marking that looks like subscript, but I'm not wholly convinced yet. Our Chronicles shot still has more straight lines.
AnubisGuard
Master Member
I still don't see it, so nothing to unsee for me
The S is the negative space around the black.
Took me a bit to see it too.
onderon
Sr Member
That is the Solitron of TheRealMcFly he photoshoped off the black prints on his transistor to make it look like the one on the chornicles photo.
onderon
Sr Member
The washer seems like is a DIN 6319 type D (female) variant. I don't know if it ever came up, but since I've never seen it anywhere there might be someone else who haven't either.
It mostly goes under the name Spherical Washer but sometimes it is mistaken by Conical Washers.
The washer versions can come up from anywhere. These are washers for drumkits. This is a washer for a breakpipe. Of course I don't say these are the washers that we are looking for, but I wanted to show them as an example if the rubber/plastic rings are taken out, they are looking very close to what we are trying to find.
I found one other that could work, the Leveling Washers if the middle (male?) part is removable it can look the same as a spherical washer.
It mostly goes under the name Spherical Washer but sometimes it is mistaken by Conical Washers.
The washer versions can come up from anywhere. These are washers for drumkits. This is a washer for a breakpipe. Of course I don't say these are the washers that we are looking for, but I wanted to show them as an example if the rubber/plastic rings are taken out, they are looking very close to what we are trying to find.
I found one other that could work, the Leveling Washers if the middle (male?) part is removable it can look the same as a spherical washer.
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Except that it isn't removable - look at the cross section drawing. Also, the product description states... The two spherical washers are used together „undetachably“.
Leveling washers that I got from McMaster-Carr are what I used back in the day, though I don't exactly remember them being called that. I have found that they work OK with the taller (inaccurate) transistor/op amp cans, but with the shorter cans, the washers seem to be too tall (if you put the transistor/op amp through the hole)
onderon
Sr Member
I’m sure it can be taken apart in a way, but I guess they must be very identical to the spherical washers so doesn't matter.
I like the leveling washer!
onderon - dang it, now I see it
The part number spacing doesn't bother me. It could just simply be a different part number than "2Nxxxx". For example, an MA113 is in the TO-5 package, and would more closely match those photos. I'm still going through my archives, but this is mentioned in the very first post in this thread
The part number spacing doesn't bother me. It could just simply be a different part number than "2Nxxxx". For example, an MA113 is in the TO-5 package, and would more closely match those photos. I'm still going through my archives, but this is mentioned in the very first post in this thread
So some quick homework isn't showing that Solitron made any of the MA series. It's still possible they exist, but that would mean:
-they are incredibly rare as they didn't turn up in any of the references I have
and
-that means they were unlikely to be grabbed by some prop making dude going "huh, that looks cool"
Logically, if I was just some guy looking at cool random parts, I'd likely pull one off the shelf (or off of some circuit board where other things were ripped off, like, ya know, an otis elevator card ) so it doesn't seem likely it's some crazy rare part, unlike the rest of that saber.
NOW........let's say it was a common number and they left the "2" off, because that is implied as the first number of the part. This image then....
could totally be "N4$$$" which is a much more common part, most likely. AND...if we're going down that path...could we convince ourselves that "MA" is a smudged/worn "N4" ?
Still researching...................................
-they are incredibly rare as they didn't turn up in any of the references I have
and
-that means they were unlikely to be grabbed by some prop making dude going "huh, that looks cool"
Logically, if I was just some guy looking at cool random parts, I'd likely pull one off the shelf (or off of some circuit board where other things were ripped off, like, ya know, an otis elevator card
) so it doesn't seem likely it's some crazy rare part, unlike the rest of that saber.NOW........let's say it was a common number and they left the "2" off, because that is implied as the first number of the part. This image then....
could totally be "N4$$$" which is a much more common part, most likely. AND...if we're going down that path...could we convince ourselves that "MA" is a smudged/worn "N4" ?
Still researching...................................
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