The "What Is This?" game

[gsatterw]

nope, nope. weight is involved. highly specific device. i work in the lab and i didnt have a clue as to what it did for months.

graham 

[slipperymongoose]

A machine to measure viscosity?

[gsatterw]

nope, remember, you can hook a mass spectrometer to it in series, so there is vapor involved.

graham 

[bombsquad83]

So....it's a laser vaporizer thingamajig.

[gsatterw]

no lasers. I'll give a huge hint mid day tomorrow.

Graham 

[Janx101]

Obviously it's the Y2K version of .....

 

[gsatterw]

Ok I'll tell you exactly what it does, you tell me what it is. There is a microgram balance that a sample is placed on. It is installed into the reactor which heats it up in controlled heating regimes, and the scale picks up small changes in the weight. With the data you can generate weight as a function of time and temperature which can be used to model the decay of said sample in the real world.

Graham 

[oldmech]

In laymans terms its a fancy compost pile simulator?

[gsatterw]

thermo(blank) analyzer

[Kiwingenuity]

Could it be a TGA? Thermo Gravimetric analyser?  Looks like a TA Instruments version... a fine piece of kit... 

[gsatterw]

Yay! we have a winner! Congrats 

Your turn

Graham 

[Kiwingenuity]

Hmm,

Something equally obscure..



A hint.. it has been superceded in its function by modern semiconductors.

(and the last large scale system worldwide using them was decomissioned last year)

[adidasguy]

High power transmitter tube.

[Kiwingenuity]

It does carry some pretty reasonable high power - but what does it actually do?

High power transmitter tube.

[oldmech]

would it be a heat sink of sorts?

[Kiwingenuity]

would it be a heat sink of sorts?

They did run a little hot and needed a heat sink - forced water cooling - you cannot see the bottom half... here are the entire units.. 

[oldmech]

power transformer for the generators at a hydro electric dam? i know there are a few there in nz. think my father in law helped build a few.

[Kiwingenuity]

Getting warmer.. If I hinted the acronym LCC?

power transformer for the generators at a hydro electric dam? i know there are a few there in nz. think my father in law helped build a few.

[Janx101]

Get down with LCC .. yeah you know me!! get down with LCC .. Yeah you know me!!! ..

so its a gangsta rap amplifier power unit buffer octopus lookin thingy!!!

[oldmech]

would that be liquid cooled capacitor??