What does the Pulsar 3502 Sport module look like?

[AlmightyTallest]

Hey guys,

I've been reading up on this LED info, and since the 3502 Pulsar is the last of the line, I wanted to see what the module actually looks like.

Does anyone have any photos of the watch, or module itself? What made the module the most reliable compared with the earlier Pulsar versions? (That's what I gathered anyways, don't know if it actually is more reliable)

And what kind of LED display does it have? Dot matrix style? solid segments? Magnifier bubbles?

Finally, how do you collectors feel it compares with a Hughes Aircraft Module or other vintage LED modules?

I'm looking forward to hear your opinions on this matter. :D

[Majestyk]

Well I'll just add some info, and it might not be exactly what you are looking for. First off, the dot matrix display was not used after late '75. There are some later (77 to 79) displays that have a dotted look but you really have to look hard to see it and it's not the "classic" dot matrix display. So the sport does not have the dot matrix since it came out in the later 70's but it does have something that other LED watch module manufactures were doing and that is the magnified display. To cut down on cost, manufactures were making smaller LED numbers but magnified them in order to look normal. If I'm not mistaken, the Pulsar Sport has normal sized numbers so they appear even bigger since they are magnified. Some people don't like this type of display but I'm convinced that if LED manufacturing continued in to the 80's, they would have all gone this route like most of the modern ones today.

As far as Hughes, they are my favorite modules in that they've really stood up over the years and most of the ones I come across work great and keep the best time of all the vintage LED modules. I've got ones that were full of battery leakage and worked 100%. Pulsar modules were/are just a disaster when it comes to battery leakage.


MJ

[AlmightyTallest]

Hi MJ,

Thanks for that info. I'm glad to hear anything about this subject, just part of my learning process. :)

So the digits are normal sized for the time period, and then magnified even larger? Sounds pretty cool.

And now we have one vote for Hughes modules being good contenders as well.

Do the Hughes modules keep better time because the crystal oscillates at a higher frequency? And this brings another question, if Pulsars were capable of being off only 60 seconds in a year, how far off were the Hughes modules advertised as being off in a year?

[AlmightyTallest]

Learned something new :)

Went to the great OldPulsars site here : http://www.oldpulsars.com/

And found that the 3502 Sport (as well as other models) have a light sensor to adjust the brightness of the LED's depending on ambient light. Did any other manufacturer's use this technology in their LED modules during the 70's?

[embelton]

At least Bulova did...a few others also,dont remember which.

[Majestyk]

A lot of manufactures had light sensors, including all or most of the Pulsar watches. I don't know how Hughes watches were advertised as far as timing. The quartz crystals they used were definitely superior and the frequency was probably the main reason.

MJ

[azimuth_pl]

Could you shortly describe how a light sensor looks like in Bulovas?
I had almost every type, and as I always do, I strip all watches to see how they are constructed. I can't really remember anything even similar to the sensors placed on the circuit board of Pulsar and Sanyo modules?
The standard Hughes doesn't have any sensors. If you have one please show a picture.

[embelton]

Havent seen it either?

[azimuth_pl]

To answer the title of this post. This is how a Sport module looks like, compared in size to a P2 module.
More pictures on my website.