Special Exhibit:
The Last Orbit
(Click on any of the images
on this page to see a larger version)
During the
second half of 1974 Orbit Chief Engineer, Dick Dunham and
his assistant, Jim Burlile, designed a radio to compete
with Kraft’s ultra-high-end Signature Series. It was to
sell for $1,000.00, have even more advanced features than
the Signature Series and a lot of “flash” to make it more
physically attractive.
Over the course of design, many advanced features such as
servo reversing, end point control and mixing were dropped
but the “glitz” remained. Instead of Orbit’s normal black
vinyl, the transmitter was covered with a dazzling chrome
and black metal fleck finish. It also incorporated a liquid
crystal display; as far as we know this was the first RC
transmitter to have an LCD and it would be many years
before they became common.
The LCD had 7 settings:
1.) Loop 2.) Test 3.) RxV 4.) Off 5.) TxV 6.) RF and 7.)
Time. Engineer Jim Burlile still recalls the effort to use
the highest quality parts available at the time:
“We opted for Spectrol conductive plastic pots for the gimbals, Bourns plastic pots for trims and Mil spec parts for everything else in the radio. ****It had a plugin RF module in the Tx, the Rx was much like a ProLine with 2 boards, the Rf section and the decoder, with the servo motors being replaced with Escap coreless motors. It also had a liquid crystal display for all meter functions. It also had an upgraded metal open gimble that was made by a guy named George Prather, he is also the guy who made the stick knobs that were adjustable. They were made slightly eccentric inside so you could twist them to loosen it and adjust the length then twist to tighten again.”
Orbit may have had a naming contest for this system to generate interest and publicity. Ultimately the name “Elite” was selected by Orbit’s then-President, Charles Speer. Years later these Prather gimbels and sticks were used on other high-end, top-of-the-line systems including the Logictrol Championship Series and Milcott Specialist. The system was never produced, however, as Orbit’s fortunes declined throughout 1975. At 11am on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1975 Orbit employees received a surprise notice that the company was closing and everyone was laid off.
Only two complete Orbit Elite transmitters were ever made. The fate of the other one is not known. This may be the sole survivor.
The Last Orbit.
