P3 auto set, new proof of their existence!!!

[CompuChron2]

I don't know if you can read , but the instruction leaflet says:
"....continuing customer service this time computer has been equipped with the Pulsar auto set module which eliminates the need of setting magnet....."
So now we have the proof that they haven't just been a repair by someone in his garage, they have been sold in shops.
and this is THE proof , isn't it?

[bruce wegmann]

Well. there has never been any doubt about whether or not they exist [obviously, they do; I have two of them...and BTW, they are both P4 electronics, not Ladies' or Dress, because they both have the connector pins for the Auto-Command switch]. The controversy centers on whether or not Time Computer had anything to do with their creation [the pamphlet refers to Auto-Set models in general, and doesn't specifically mention the P3]. Some time back, we had a posting by someone who said they returned a malfunctioning P3 [with a standard module] to Lancaster, and got it back with an Auto-Set one. If you're still out there, give us some more details! This was the case that could establish Pulsar's role once and for all, if it could be documented.

[andyz4000]

Then the real proof would be a Case Back without setting recess for the magnet, I wonder then if you could have the Flick option on a P3 :)

[CompuChron2]

Ok here is what I think , "TIME COMPUTER" has answered to all the questions on a previous post ;but I think someone, somehow has sold in retails shops in the 80's P3 with autoset modules (maybe semi-professionnally made) in their original boxes with the proper leaflet.
The picture shown is from an ad on ebay but not properly advertised, if someone wanted to mislead some of us , he would use the correct words in his ad and would write the word "led" in the tittle...
My conclusion is they (autoset p3) may not be fully original in a sense that they may not come from the Pulsar Factory but they must be regarded as the rare and last release of the P3 and not as home made junks.

[bruce wegmann]

Case backs both with, and without, magnet depressions exist for P4s, but I have seen no such variation in the P3s. Even on P4s, Auto-Set modules are often in cases with magnet-set backs [often you can tell which is which by whether or not the HR and MIN lettering is blacked-in...blacked = magnet-set]. These were certainly done after the P3 was out of production, so it's not likely Time Computer would invest in a new caseback stamping die for the sake of a relatively few watches.

[The Time Computer]

Well, when I saw this auction on eBay I just knew there would be another onslaught of speculations and assumptions but this changes nothing. It only confirms that the Service Center serviced a Pulsar that came back to the factory the best way they could. Like in the case of the earlier P1/P2 models the module was replaced with the latest version available for that particular model. The early P4 models came with the 401 (magnet ?set) module. If an early P4 was returned for service and the module was to be replaced they did so with the latest version????the 402 Auto-Set module. Time Computer sent out all the P4 with the 401 module before selling the new 402 versions to dealers so naturally there were no 401 modules for replacement when they got one in for service.

The document you see shown with the watch being auctioned is just that?..Instructions for the owner of a P4 watch being returned from the service center with the new updated Auto-Set P4 module! Somebody (NOT the Service Center) included it with this P3 with an altered module. I have seen this document in many versions, copied on all colors of paper and in many different ink colors. This document is not all that common as most pertain to the new setting instructions for a new watch being sold rather than repaired. This particular one is different than the others and seen mostly printed in reddish ink. It was available to all Regional Service Centers as they stocked modules for replacement, as did the Factory Service Center. I have a hand typed version also that certainly didn?t come from Lancaster.

Unless we can find evidence that the people who were there and in control back then are lying we are stuck with the facts. Again, this was not an authorized repair!

There is nothing else I can say on this subject and this will be the last reply I make on the Frankenstein P3!

As I stand on my head I beg you to just ????PLEASE, LET IT GO!

[Majestyk]

When I first saw this auction, my immediate thought was, it doesn't have an original module and the seller knows this and is including the instructions from a P4 auto set watch. Simple as that.

MJ

[CompuChron2]

Hi,
here is an interesting auction for a P3 autoset boxed with a repair slip dated from 1982, maybe we'll know soon for sure who made this repairs , I asked the seller a scan or picture of the slip, I'm waiting....
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8924366045

[CompuChron2]

Here is the slip:

and what the seller says:
Hello,
The watch was at the Pulsar Repair Service in Lancaster, Pa., on Nov. 19, 1982. The total repair bill came to $93.00. I'll send you a copy of the bill. Thank you for the question

So what now???

[bruce wegmann]

This piece of paper [which is clearly real and legitimate; I have an identical Time Computer repair order with one of my watches...and this one matches the serial number of the watch in the auction] would seem to be a powerful bit of evidence that someone closely connected with Time Computer was doing authorized repairs long after the expiration of the last of the warranties [and clearly had access not only to large stocks of Time Computer parts, but the paperwork as well]. If, as has been suggested, the Auto-Set P3s were mere cobble-jobs done in someones basement, why bother with official paperwork [which also implies that records were being kept]? I think this opens the door a lot wider on a lesser-known part of Time Computer history, and goes more than a little way toward legitimizing the Auto-Set P3. BTW, many of these may also have Auto-Command [flick-of-wrist function]; two of my three do, which proves these are P4 electronics, not Dress or Ladies' modules.

[Majestyk]

What I'd really like to know is if the module in this watch is the "official" frankenstein design that we've all seen many times.

[CompuChron2]

We have to ask SUNCHASE59!
http://feedback.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=sunchase59&iid=8924366045