Saturday, May 12, 2012

#65) A New Librascope Blog Format For Your Smartphone

Librascope News Blog on an iPhone 4
Up until now, when the Librascope Memories - News Blog was viewed on a smartphone such as an iPhone, the information was too small to read or control comfortably.

Now, a new reformatted blog design is available for smartphones (and iPod Touches), which has been considerably improved for accessability. If you already have the Librascope Blog bookmarked, it should automatically convert over to the new format the next time you view it. The new format is shown here on an iPhone 4. You will note that the text is much larger than before. Blog posts are viewed by simply scrolling downward, and selecting the ones to be read.

If you don't already have the Librascope Memories - News Blog on your smartphone, just bookmark: www.librascopememories.blogspot.com in your browser and you'll be done. Note, on most smartphones today, you can also elect to have a dedicated bookmark icon placed on your "Home Screen" and labeled "Librascope Blog". Finally, I should mention that for those who may wish to return to the old format temporarily, there is a "web version" link provided at the bottom of each page.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

#64) Oxman's Surplus, Inc. - 51 years in Santa Fe Springs, CA

Did you know there is still an old time war surplus store/museum operating for profit in Southern California? It's run by its 96 year old founder and his family. Earlier this year, Libravet Stan Bucklien sent me a copy of an LA Times article describing the place, which was then celebrating its 50th anniversary. Click here to read the very interesting story (less photos) that Stan found.

According to the newspaper article, one of the items in the museum's collection is a Librascope B-17 Balance Computer from WWII. If you'd like to visit, Oxman's is located at:

14128 E. Rosecrans Ave.
Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
1-562-921-1106
1-888-569-6257
Hours, etc. are posted on Oxman's website at - click here.

#63) Librascope Mk 13 Mod 0 Angle Solver - RFI

The following e-mail was recently received from a new subscriber to this Blog that I did not recognize:

Carl
The reason you do not have my email in your database is because I was never connected to Librascope. I subscribed so that I might be able to find out some information about a Librascope item I have in my collection . Perhaps you can help me find out the history and purpose of this creation.

What I have is an Angle Solver MK13 MOD 0, Serial Number 2. It also has a tag above this stating "Prototype". The unit weighs 984 pounds and I bought it from a person in Norfolk, Virginia who evidently bought it surplus from the government. The unit is set up for a motor torpedo boat. What I would like to find out is why it was made, and if any documents still exist that might show how to take the unit apart as the dials need some work because of some surface rust plus some of the wheels do not turn as freely as they should. I would be happy to send you pictures of the unit if that would help.
I thank you for any help you can render about this unit.
Richard Dembinski 

Note, I Googled "Angle Solver" for Richard, and found an interesting writeup on Wikipedia that may be of interest. Click here. I have asked  Richard to send me a photo of his unit to post on this Blog. In the meantime, if you have any information or questions for Richard, please e-mail me and I will forward them to him. Thanks, Carl 
June 1, 2012 update. 
Mr. Dembinski provided the above photograph of his Angle Solver.