Hello Allen,
Quite a coincidence! Yesterday I found my old Gossen Sixtar. It was retired
long ago. I was checking some old Varta V625PX Mercury cells and decided it was
easier to test them in the Sixtar rather than in a Rollei 35. It went fine! The
needle moved perfectly so the Sixtar and the Mercury cells are fine. When the
Mercury 625’s were withdrawn from the market I raided the local shops for a
supply. I believe I sold some to our friend Carlos in Argentina. I purchased
the Sixtar when I had my first Rollei, a Rolleicord Va. That one is still
around too.
Ferdi.
----
Ferdi Stutterheim,
Drachten, Netherlands.
Op 14 feb. 2022, om 04:51 heeft Allan Derickson <alland435@xxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:alland435@xxxxxxxxxxx>> het volgende geschreven:
As a young man in 1969 I was able to visit Hong Kong which was a Mecca for
bargain-minded shoppers at that time. Among other things photography and
audio related I picked up a Gossen Sixtar light meter which was branded the
Super Pilot in the USA. It used the common mercury button cells which were
eventually banned in the USA in the late 1990’s. You could still get them
from Canadian suppliers for a while and I think it was a dozen years ago that
I bought my final supply. Well, today I picked up the meter and it was dead.
I had one mercury cell left and inserted it. Wonder of wonders it worked!
Hard to believe for a 12 year old battery. This meter has served me well over
the years. A few years ago I dropped it and shattered the thin glass lens but
it still worked accurately. I’ll be curious how long the (new) old battery
works. I have a couple batteries derived from hearing aid batteries that are
air-activated that still have the seals intact that are supposed to supply
close to the same voltage curve. I’m not confident that they will survive
over the years however. If my replacement gives me the same life as its
predecessor I’ll be happy.
