Surplus missile gyros!

Probably useless today, but what a cool bit of autopilot nostalgia! A mechanical gyro from a missile for $16.95. From the product listing: "These are precision rate gyros that were made for use in guidance systems of military missiles. The last time we had these we were told that they were from the Maverick Missile Program, however, we don't know for sure. They were made in 1981, they are new and were made by Honeywell. The part# is 3051235-1 and the model number is GG440A18. They are 2 1/4" x 15/16" Dia. The body is gold plated and the gyroscope has 6 color coded flexible wire leads. We supply it with a circuit diagram showing how to use a 741 Op Amp, a 2N3904 transistor, a 2N3906 transistor, and a few resistors and capacitors, to cause the internal gyro motor to spin from a 400Hz signal that the circuit produces (the circuit requires + and - 15VDC). The circuit shows which leads of the gyro to use to spin it, however we don't have any other data. We were told that the phase angle output changes as the gyro is tilted, This gyro was known as the Golden Gnat and we were told it was used in autopilots, missile guidance and robotics. Hurry these will sell quickly!" (via BlueSky on RCGroups) Update: more on the history of this gyro:

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Comments

Ed Stewart February 6, 2011 at 1:20am

@Bosak

I think a used one may be a little difficult to find, but then I'm sure you knew that! :-)

Ed
Marcus A. Cochran February 6, 2011 at 12:08am

Does anyone have 1 or 2 of these they would sale or know of anywhere that does have one for sale?
Thomas Alberts October 26, 2010 at 3:47pm

I got mine to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EKWP_gzUFU
Morli_ November 15, 2009 at 2:16am

this might help too
http://www.etotheipiplusone.net/?p=428

The Mystery of the Golden Gnat | equals zero
Morli_ November 15, 2009 at 2:15am

Eisen , may be you have seen this already but here is dissected gyro by Chris
http://www.imaginaryindustries.com/blog/?p=33
N. Eisen September 1, 2009 at 12:43am

Any luck with pinouts/schematics, anyone? I ordered a few of these hoping someone with figure it out, and I would love to be able to use them!
Also, might anyone have a photo of an open one with the insides visible?
T3

Krzysztof Bosak August 22, 2009 at 9:50am

BTW looking for moon lander mission computer (may be used one).
Developer

Mark Colwell August 19, 2009 at 10:53am

I got one, will try to get it working but, mostly as a collector item, I worked for Litton Data Systems for a while, but not with these, I tested PDAs & Comm Systems
Ho-Chung Chang August 19, 2009 at 4:26am

So inexpensive, I really like to buy a set to try it. But It seens can't sent to Taiwan via online shipping.
T3

Brian Wolfe August 18, 2009 at 5:23pm

Hey, I've got a box of those. We used them to stabalized a video tracker back in the 80s. It was a different world back then. Although we had processors in the system, much of the stabalization loop was analog.

Brian

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