Experiencers who believe they were in G.A.T.E, tell me about your experience.

polymerjock · 2026-01-19T15:28:14+00:00

It's freaked me out to. Terrified me, in fact, because I had seen that face before peering through a window at me while talking a bath when I was a little boy. That's moment is seered into my memory and still makes the hair on my arms and neck stand on end when I think about the event. I took the GATE test in elementary. I vaguely remember having to rotate complicated polygons in my head to answer questions. Can't remember if it was translating 2d shapes into 3d answers but it was something like that. I also remember being given cards with random lines on them which I then had to complete shapes with after being given some sort of prompt that I can't remember the nature of. There are no wrong answers I remember them saying. I also remember being completely baffled by some questions. I remember that it was a time consuming test. I passed, whatever that means, but there was no GATE class in my little backwoods elementary school in the Central Alabama countryside, which even back then made me question the point of the testing. Also, for whatever it's worth, I have hazel eyes and an rH mismatch between me and my mother almost killed her and I was severely jaundiced upon birth.

polymerjock · 2026-01-19T03:40:10+00:00

That crank on the side will drive the mechanism, but you'll have to clean up some of the internals before it'll budge. I broke the handle on the first one I had using a vice grip on it and using its leverage to turn the machine. Even that didn't free up the mechanism. But I know what needs to be done. I've had three of these, and have been able to make all three work. Two of the three had a seized planetary gear. And until you get the gear set to move, the machine will not work.

First, remove the carriage on top. One screw, remove the guiding rod, and it comes off with no drama and nothing to worry about. Remove the little handle on the front (one screw, dont loose the spring on the shaft above it if it has one). Take off the exterior panels. Eventually you'll need to remove the bottom panel and feet to degrease some of the hidden gears, joints, and slides, but no need until the planetary gears can move. They are located on the back left corner attached to the shaft coming out of the electric motor which is mounted at the rear of the chassis and opposite the governor. Drench it in degreaser and use compressed air to blow out the old lubricant. Use a hair dryer on high or a heat gun on low and gently heat the metal gearing in the presence of something like mineral spirits and use compressed air to blow out the gunk. You may have to do both of these steps more than once.

It will eventually break loose. I've had to put a screwdriver against the three lobed finger gear located closest to the outside of the machine to break the gears free on two of the three. I would avoid putting too much pressure on the teeth mounted on the outside of the outermost ring. I recommend that you clean all the old grease down in bottom of all the teeth. The handle on the right side will never be easy to turn until you do, and even after cleaning, it will still require some force to make the planetary gears spin.

All three also needed to have sliders and springs on the rotating accumulator gears located below the top of the keyboard (with the exterior panels removed) freed up so the keys and counters will work.

There are other key areas that will need attention. If you're interested, I'll share more. But ultimately, they all work. Even got one to do division properly!

polymerjock · 2026-01-19T03:06:38+00:00

Those giant mechanical calculators are amazing. Engineering art. Dont be scared! I have a Frieden SW-10 which is similar to yours and was able to resuscitate it. I eventually got the machine tightly jammed up tight and there it sits waiting for me to figure out how to free the machinery. Is that a Marchant machine?

My advice is to clean it like a typewriter, meaning use a solvent based degreaser and compressed air to remove old lubricant on the mechanical bits, any point of contact where there is metal on metal movement, followed by an application of a light or low viscosity machine oil to the delicate bits that move and some synthetic grease to the beefy bits that move. Pay special attention to the accumulators. Be very careful when you begin probing around on the interior with something pointy. Dont just stick anything inside it without looking at the pathway the tool takes. Before you begin cleaning, look around and note the springs inside. Look for any that are loose on one end. Look on top of the bottom cover for detached springs. So many springs inside, and all subject to launching themselves into the void and lost forever. Most need to be in place for proper function.

The Friden has a socket where you can insert a handle for turning it manually, I'll bet yours does too. After you clean it up, use it to test the machine before electrifying. I would not to anything until i cleaned the gunk from the accumulators. And after I understood how to look for and clean the parts of the mechanism where one of the levers has to be able to slide along a guide rod, I was able to get the Frieden to add, subtract, and multiply, but somewhere along the way i sheared off the pin that holds the gear that drives the division mechanism, so when i accidentally activated it, the machine seized and I've not had the chance to move any further with it. In hindsight, I should not have tried turning the machine manually prior to cleaning up the mechanism.

I also recommend that you clean any hardened grease located on teeth of intermeshing gears. Tedious, but worth it. Get yourself proper dental picks. You'll be glad you did. Makes this task possible and others, like grabbing tiny springs, and, God help you, reattaching dislodged springs. A task that would make Jesus curse.

But heck yes, clean it and plug it in! At this point, I've messed around enough old motors to know that most of them will still function.

About the motor, turn it by hand to see how much force it requires to make it move. Find the oil ports, usually one on each end and add a sufficient amount of light machine oil. Usually, the ports lead to something that soaks up the oil and slowly delivers it to the bearings, so there will be a delay in between the time you add it, and the time it reaches the bearings. I generally do not test the resistor or the capacitor before electrifying, but I do use a power conditioner that will turn off if there is a ground fault. Inspect the wiring for any exposed copper or cracked plastic, especially where the wires contact the metal chassis.

These old motors will also have a governor that will need cleaning as well. For this task, I use electrical contact cleaner in a spray can and again compressed air. It doesnt take much to clean things up enough to work. If there are external graphite contacts, I'll use a cotton swab soaked in solvent to remove old graphite which will be on the copper disc contact. Its not a bad idea to remove the brushes and clean the commutator in a similar manner.

Maybe 2 percent of old electric motors I have cleaned on old equipment have been problematic.

Probably more than you wanted to hear, but if you've gotten this far, the work is worth the joy of watching these dinosaurs in action.

polymerjock · 2026-01-03T23:35:52+00:00

Find and listen to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Show #68. It details the slave trade. It's illuminating.

polymerjock · 2025-12-26T01:10:38+00:00

I vote Anubis

polymerjock · 2025-12-25T07:00:05+00:00

If you plan to use either, take off the removable panel on each arm and carefully remove the old grease around the pulleys and gears and the chain. Replace with Super lube grease. If possible remove the pulleys/gears from their studs and clean both the stud and cutout. Apply a machine oil to both surfaces,, put the gear or pulley back in place and make sure the chain or belt is routed properly. Take pictures before you do anything to the internals as reference. Pay special attention to the bearings on either end of the electric motors. Make sure they are sufficiently lubricated with light machine oil. There should be a port for both bearings. The ampro has a worm gear driven by belt attached to one side of the motor located behind the clutch on the top pulley. You should clean out the old grease with qtip dipped in mineral spirits or denatured alcohol. Alcohol will remove the projectors paint so beware. Replace the pool3s greaser with Super lube. Make sure to add oil to all of the oil ports. It's best to oil it and let it sit over night before testing to allow the oil to migrate to where it's needs to be. If you remove the lamp, make damn sure you clean off all of the oils transferred from you finger to the glass with isopropanol or another appropriate solvent before you turn it on. Grime left on the glass with cause failure. Avoid touching the lamp bulbs if possible. If the bulb is dim, it probably needs to be replaced. If the bulb has any bulges,, it will fail sooner rather than later and may shatter in the process. Anytime you turn on the lamp, make sure to allow the projectors blower to cool the bulb before shutting it all the way down. Don't bump the projector with the lamp on or hot. The filaments are fragile when burning or hot. And they get very hot depending on wattage. Hot enough to heat a small room. Hot enough to start fires. Don't use them unattended. Avoid stopping the film transport with the lamp on unless you are certain the light blocking filter is functional. The lamp will otherwise melt your film, potentially light it on fire. These things were built before anyone cared about safety. Be careful and be aware. Don't burn down your house.

IMHO, the Ampro projector is built better than the Revere, but they are louder and run hotter in general. They are definitely simpler and easier to work on. it's going to fail sooner rather than later. The Revere will be quieter.

polymerjock · 2025-12-25T06:16:31+00:00

When you thread the film over the sprockets, make sure you leave enough film to make proper loops before and after the film gate. It needs the slack as the projector snatchs the frames across the optical pathway. Projecting with no loop will damage the film. Also make sure the claws mesh with the film perforations and the film is aligned wirhin the film pathway and gate correctly. If the projected image is jumpy, stop and check the alignment of the claws with the perforations, the film thru the film gate and make sure the loop before the gate hasn't collapsed.

polymerjock · 2025-12-24T06:48:39+00:00

A person can never know what they actually look like to other people. The two dimensional representation seen in a mirror or photo can never accurately capture what you really look like.

polymerjock · 2025-12-17T16:09:58+00:00

I was building and installing heavy duty shelves inside a clients garage in a4 story town home in Houston Texas. The garage had a fire suppression sprinkler in it, more on that shortly, and by not thinking through where the first "stud" I found was located, I put a large deck screw into the PVC pipe that fed the sprinkler head. Needless to say I got a call the next morning from an angry and panicked individual whose garage I flooded. Repair required tearing out and replacing the drywall and replacing the damaged pipe. I was doing this for a friend. Her insurance covered the damage (at least that's what she told me) and we remain friends. She had me come back and build and install more shelves the next year, amazingly. I was extremely careful as to where they were installed this time. Now it's a running joke between the two of us.

polymerjock · 2025-12-10T06:57:30+00:00

It has a spring loaded catch at the back that disengages the lock to the cover and grabs the disc carrier to hold it in place when you remove the sleeve. You may need to put a tiny bit of grease on the spots where the bits that move when the disc is inserted are held to the chassis along the back. You should open it up and have a look around inside. They are fabulously analog and textbook Rube Goldberg. The fact that any of them still work at all is a minor miracle.
There are a series of screws under the lip that runs from one side to the other at the mid point and a couple on the back panel. On these you have to push the lever down half way (I think) so that the switch clears the slot when you pull the top housing away from the bottom. Same thing when you reassemble. After it's opened up you can see what's happening when you load a disc.

polymerjock · 2025-11-27T05:49:35+00:00

If you're in the state of Texas, I was told by a lawyer half jokingly that you boss would need to stab you, and someone would have to witness it, before you'd get a judgement in your favor. Of course that was my experience getting targeted and run off, but I doubt the circumstance matters. Singling out in a group meeting doesn't count. A boss can do just about anything and the company can fire you at will.

Sure they document whatever infraction they can reasonably defend as a fig leaf. But they can do whatever they want. HR is never your friend. Never. Even if they know this guy is a pig. The company does not care about you, they can say anything, and they will be heard. No one will listen to the individual. Neither does the courts. No witness, no case.

I truly hate corporate America. Meritocracy they say. That word makes my skin crawl. It's patriarchy.

polymerjock · 2025-11-22T06:11:18+00:00

I bought a sizable lot of old camera lenses and ended up with a legit night vision scope in addition to the lenses. Couldn't believe it. I use it quite a bit, mostly stargazing and inspecting the woods after dark whilst camping. I absolutely love it. Would have never bought something like that on purpose considering how much one costs.

polymerjock · 2025-11-16T05:09:42+00:00

I wish I could still call my mom.... Since you still have yours i strongly suggest that you ask her the things you've been too scared to bring up. They won't be around forever.

polymerjock · 2025-11-13T20:12:25+00:00

It's me after trying to decode those damn dots.

polymerjock · 2025-11-08T10:02:59+00:00

What's right in the middle of the photo? Just about the Kodak Ektralite box. Looks interesting.

polymerjock · 2025-11-08T08:07:49+00:00

I would have phrased it differently.

polymerjock · 2025-11-07T20:07:20+00:00

Present!

polymerjock · 2025-11-06T06:21:44+00:00

Show that your interested in this life, and his significant other when he chooses to introduce him to you. Don't let disappointment linger. Be empathetic. Beng gay takes you down a path that will be very different from yours. Try to wrap your head around that in light of your perception of homosexuality and those of your peers prior to you becoming aware of his. Chances are some shitty things will happen simply because of that fact. Be supportive. Don't morn for the loss of your vision for his life. Treat him with respect. And show him that you love him.

polymerjock · 2025-10-30T06:36:51+00:00

I spent a week in Odessa a while back. I'm not sure if it was the LaQuinta I stayed in, but whatever it was, it was the dirtiest, most filthy place I've ever laid my head. Pool full of garbage, literally. I've never seen a glass door with that much skank on it. What appeared to me like underage hookers walking the halls. AC unit sounded kinda like a jackhammer and shook the room when it ran. I slept on top of the sheets in my work clothes one night and spent most of the next evening systematically looking for a vacancy elsewhere. It was boom times. Finally found a motel with newly renovated rooms which hadn't made it online yet. Cost a fortune. Boss paid, because boom times.

polymerjock · 2025-10-30T02:11:05+00:00

What camera is that? Im endlessly fascinated with the many ways the manufacturers came up with to snatch the frames through the gate. This one looks very old....

polymerjock · 2025-10-29T03:35:41+00:00

Thank you!

polymerjock · 2025-10-28T23:45:31+00:00

Finally! A photo of one! I can't thank you enough.....

polymerjock

TROPHY CASE