✅ SOLVED Large strange brass object (maybe scientific or military, or both)

[mediocretorino]

I got this item a while back- it was in a box of random stuff I bought- nothing else in the box was weird like this piece. The person I got it from had no idea what it was. It is brass, 23" long, 5" wide at the widest point. It weighs 9 pounds. There is a sliding piece that covers an opening with a pin on an arm- when the door is shut, it lowers the pin onto a slot, where it would (probably) mark on some sort of removable piece. This part is shown in the last two pictures.

There are numbers stamped on it. On one of the "fins", it has N16-H-800001-170, on the shaft it says N16-H-800001-381, and on the sliding door it says N16-C-650001-364.

On the end away from the fins, the pipe is filled with something black and non-metalic. Hardened tar or rubber or something. There is a 4 stamped in the metal.

My best guess is that it is some sort of temperature probe, for underwater. I am guessing that the numbers may be from the Navy? I have tried my best to find something similar online, but have struck out. Has anyone seen something like this before?

 

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[taz42o]

Looks like some kind of sending unit.

 

[doublet2a]

Foe some reason I'm thinking explosive

Tim

 

[Paleopilot]

It's some kind of radio frequency tuner, the black rod is probably carbon.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

First thought is it reminds me of a heater element?

 

[Paleopilot]

This is interesting, just for fun I searched the Mhz for 381 thru 171 from your numbers to see what was assigned to them in particular. This could be something cool. Where did you find it?

Radio amateur satellites not included
Frequencies currently known, or believed to be in use or potential use marked red.



Frequency (MHz) Use
139.056 ATS-6
139.208 FM voice to Mir from Shuttle during ISS Phase 1. STS-91, -81, -86, -89
140.056 ATS-6
141 AMPTE-IRM
141.056 ATS-6
142.417 FM voice with up to 30 kHz deviation from:
Soyuz-19, -22
Salyut-7
143.075 TUBSAT-1
143.625 FM voice with up to 30 kHz deviation from:
Vostok-1,-2, -3, -4,-5, -6
Voskhod-1,-2
Salyut-3,- 5
Mir
Maroc/Tubsat
144.028 BADR-1
144.1 Maroc/Tubsat
145.0 Soviet ASAT target satellites. PPM-AM. Kosmos-909, -967, -1171, -1241. -1375
145.825 BADR-1
149.91 Military Soviet/Russian Navsats such Kosmos-2184
149.915 Kosmos-1386
149.94 Military Soviet/Russian Navsats such as Kosmos-2218, -2180, -2279
149.97 D-1A Diapason
D-1C Diademe 1
D-1D Diademe 2
Military Soviet/Russian Navsats such as Kosmos-2135, -2195, -2266, .....
149.98 TRANSAT
HILAT
Polar Bear
149.988 Transit satellites
TIP satellites (Transit Improvement Program)
NOVA-1, -2, -3
150.000 Transit-4A, -4B, -5A, -5A-3, -5B N-2, -5C-1, -5B N-5,
Nadezhda-1, -2, -3, -4
POGS + SSR
Civilian Soviet/Russian Navsats such as Kosmos-2181, -2230, ....
150.010 GFO (Geosat Follow-On)
150.012 USA-6, USA-33 , CW beacon from KH-11 satellites, Picosat 9
150.015 Geosat
Radcal
150.03 Military Soviet/Russian Navsats, e.g. Kosmos-2142, -2233
150.3 PCM-FM TM, 300 kHz wide:
* 2 s frame from geodetic Kosmos satellites such as -2088, -2226, GEO-IK5
* 1 s frame from LEO topographical Kosmos satellites such as Kosmos-2349
153.42 CW beacon (<1 W) "Heavy ELINT" Soviet/Russian Kosmoses, e.g. -1975, -2058
153.48 CW beacon (<1 W) "Heavy ELINT" Soviet/Russian Kosmoses, e.g. -1953, -2151
153.60 CW beacon (<1 W) "Store-dump" Kosmoses, -1570. -1937, -1954
153.66 CW beacon (<1 W) "Store-dump" Kosmoses, -1898, -2056, -2112
153.72 CW beacon (<1 W) "Store-dump" Kosmoses, -1992, -2050
162.00 CW beacon coherent with other harmonics:
TRANSIT-1B,-2A,-3B
ANNA-1B
SN-4, -43
Explorer-22, -27, -29, -36
GEOS-3
APOLLO-18 ASTP
NOSS-2
SEASAT-1
MAGSAT
CHINA-11
166.0 Soyuz (PPM-AM)
Progress (PPM-AM)
Soyuz-T, -TM (PCM/FM)
Progress-M (PCM/FM)
Mir (PCM/FM)
Gamma-1 (PCM/FM plus tone signals with 3.7 sec frame)
Soviet ASAT interceptors, e.g. Kosmos-1243
Kosmos ocean radar reconnaissance satellites (RORSATS), (PPM-AM)
Kosmos early ocean ELINT satellites (EORSATS), (PPM-AM)

 

[Paleopilot]

By the way, welcome to Treasure-Net. I was a Ham Radio nut for many years and those frequencies looked strangely familiar.

 

[mediocretorino]

There do not seem to be any electrical connections on it, and nothing is insulated, so I do not think that it is a heater element or tuner. The key seems to be in those last two pictures. The arm with a pin on it looks like it scratches or marks on a piece that slides into the slot. Plus the brass makes me think it is for under water. So I am still leaning towards some sort of measuring device for water temperature. Any Navy folks around that could tell me if those look like old Navy part numbers?

 

[NOLA_Ken]

It's called a "Bathythermograph", It was used to measure temperature as a way to determine depth of water..... Bathythermograph - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Gunrunner61]

Way to go NOLA_Ken, That is a killer id........................HH

 

[Paleopilot]

It's called a "Bathythermograph", It was used to measure temperature as a way to determine depth of water..... Bathythermograph - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Outstanding! I noticed the date on the display unit is 1937. The thing was still under development in 1938. This could be a rare find even though it's not complete!

 

[mediocretorino]

Excellent work, NOLA_Ken. It is kind of hard to Google something when you don't know what it is called, and none of the numbers are searchable. I am in NH not too far from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, so it probably came from the submarines there.

A couple of years back I found a WWII submarine klaxon at a yard sale nearby. I didn't really know what it was until i took it home and looked it up. Those are fairly valuable, but don't look like it. I guess they are good for scaring the neighbors.

Many thanks.