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Re: (ET) Fwd: Elec-trak serial numbers
Here is a theory about the ET serial number algorithm. I started
with a few numbers that had been published for which Bill Gunn or
other experts had given a production date (usually month and year).
Adding more numbers to the list resulted in some patterns becoming
apparent (or at least imaginable). So, ...
The first character is the month: A=January, B=February, etc., except
that "I" is skipped, so that M=December. (They skipped "I" to avoid
confusion with the digit "1".)
The second character is the year: N=1970, P=1971, R=1972, S=1973, and
T=1974. (They skipped "O" and "Q", to avoid confusion with the digit
"0".)
The third and fourth characters (digits) are the day of the month.
The final 3 digits are a running sequence number that rolls over from
999 to 000 if necessary. It seems that each machine type had its own
sequence number series.
It is easy to sort the serial numbers if you just swap the first and
and second characters; then it is in the order of year, month, day,
sequence. You can take your machine's number, swap the first two
characters, and then look it up in the following table. If it is not
in the table, then you'll find its "neighbors".
The earliest machine on the list is AN07 672 (E15AA, built on 7
January 1970), and the latest on the list is CT28 797 (E14AA, built
on 28 March 1974).
I understand that E15AA sequence number 001 exists (or existed as of
May 2007) in Rochester, NY. A note on the forum from userid "Bittle"
talked about it; his father was an ET engineer and bought 001 when
the line closed down. He still had it as of the date of the note. I
haven't been able to trace that down any closer, but it would very
interesting to know the full serial number -- that would tell us when
production started!
In a few days I'll try to post some additional comments about
production numbers and other things that might be gleaned from this
list. Please remember that these 73 are (perhaps) only about .24% of
the entire population of ETs.
So, here is the list of 73 serial numbers that I found or that people
sent in. I've deleted the "26AE" portion of the model numbers and
have therefore used "25xx" as the model number for the I-5. The
column titled "Swapped" shows the serial number with the first two
characters swapped; that is where you can look up your serial number.
Serial Model Year Mon Day Seq# Swapped
AN07 672 15AA 1970 JAN07 672 NA07 672
CN30 176 15AA 1970 MAR30 176 NC30 176
DN17 324 15AA 1970 APR17 324 ND17 324
EN08 698 15AA 1970 MAY08 698 NE08 698
EN23 556 15AA 1970 MAY23 556 NE23 556
GN01 767 15AA 1970 JUL01 767 NG01 767
HN07 683 15AA 1970 AUG07 683 NH07 683
HN12 805 15AA 1970 AUG12 805 NH12 805
HN27 157 15AA 1970 AUG27 157 NH27 157
JN14 595 15BA 1970 SEP14 595 NJ14 595
JN18 114 12AA 1970 SEP18 114 NJ18 114
JN23 238 12AA 1970 SEP23 238 NJ23 238
JN29 364 12AA 1970 SEP29 364 NJ29 364
KN12 659 12AA 1970 OCT12 659 NK12 659
LN16 835 15CB 1970 NOV16 835 NL16 835
LN19 926 15CA 1970 NOV19 926 NL19 926
LN30 014 15CA 1970 NOV30 014 NL30 014
MN07 132 15CB 1970 DEC07 132 NM07 132
MN15 254 15CB 1970 DEC15 254 NM15 254
MN16 270 15CB 1970 DEC16 270 NM16 270
BP23 201 15CB 1971 FEB23 201 PB23 201
CP18 770 15DA 1971 MAR18 770 PC18 770
DP06 449 12BA 1971 APR06 449 PD06 449
DP16 776 12BA 1971 APR16 776 PD16 776
DP20 045 20AA 1971 APR20 045 PD20 045
EP14 685 20BA 1971 MAY14 685 PE14 685
EP24 863 20BA 1971 MAY24 863 PE24 863
FP04 106 20BA 1971 JUN04 106 PF04 106
FP15 329 20BA 1971 JUN15 329 PF15 329
FP18 025 25AA 1971 JUN18 025 PF18 025
FP22 038 12CA 1971 JUN22 038 PF22 038
FP22 039 12CA 1971 JUN22 039 PF22 039
GP21 733 12GA 1971 JUL21 733 PG21 733
JP13 348 15EA 1971 SEP13 348 PJ13 348
JP22 631 15EA 1971 SEP22 631 PJ22 631
KP26 858 15EA 1971 OCT26 858 PK26 858
LP03 026 15EA 1971 NOV03 026 PL03 026
LP04 055 15EA 1971 NOV04 055 PL04 055
LP05 095 15EA 1971 NOV05 095 PL05 095
LP16 060 12EA 1971 NOV16 060 PL16 060
MP13 726 12EA 1971 DEC13 726 PM13 726
AR12 735 12EA 1972 JAN12 735 RA12 735
AR14 641 12EA 1972 JAN14 641 RA14 641
DR04 799 08BA 1972 APR04 799 RD04 799
DR06 905 08BA 1972 APR06 905 RD06 905
ER16 829 10CA 1972 MAY16 829 RE16 829
FR02 594 12HA 1972 JUN02 594 RF02 594
FR06 572 10CA 1972 JUN06 572 RF06 572
FR16 368 20BA 1972 JUN16 368 RF16 368
FR22 388 20CA 1972 JUN22 388 RF22 388
GR11 784 12HA 1972 JUL11 784 RG11 784
GR17 963 12HA 1972 JUL17 963 RG17 963
GR21 144 12HA 1972 JUL21 144 RG21 144
HR14 325 12HA 1972 AUG14 325 RH14 325
JR05 833 12HA 1972 SEP05 833 RJ05 833
JR25 639 15GA 1972 SEP25 639 RJ25 639
KR05 838 15GA 1972 OCT05 838 RK05 838
KR12 704 20DA 1972 OCT12 704 RK12 704
KR20 893 20DA 1972 OCT20 893 RK20 893
KR26 016 20DA 1972 OCT26 016 RK26 016
LR13 252 25BA 1972 NOV13 252 RL13 252
AS16 822 25CA 1973 JAN16 822 SA16 822
BS28 987 25CA 1973 FEB28 987 SB28 987
ES23 436 12JD 1973 MAY23 436 SE23 436
JS17 089 16AA 1973 SEP17 089 SJ17 089
JS20 150 16AA 1973 SEP20 150 SJ20 150
KS18 896 20FA 1973 OCT18 896 SK18 896
LS12 449 14AA 1973 NOV12 449 SL12 449
LS13 486 14AA 1973 NOV13 486 SL13 486
LS16 555 14AA 1973 NOV16 555 SL16 555
AT18 678 16RD 1974 JAN18 678 TA18 678
CT28 761 14AA 1974 MAR28 761 TC28 761
CT28 797 14AA 1974 MAR28 797 TC28 797
Many thanks to all who sent serial numbers! Additional numbers are
always appreciated and will help refine the results.
Larry Chace, Ithaca, NY