One of the last things me and Ray talked about was fixing up his mom’s SRT MC2. It had been found in a box at his brother’s house. He said that he’d love to get the camera up and working because of the sentimental value. He even went to the length of listing what he possibly could trade me for the work. I told him, “I’ll see what I can do with it and we’ll get even somewhere down the road.” His last transmission to me was, “I sent it at the “Slow boat to China” rate, so it may take a while to get there.”

Inside the parcel. Something is terribly wrong inside the prism assembly. Missing bits and pieces.

The package was still in transit at the time of his passing. I felt very weird when the package finally got into my hands. He was just here a week ago when he wrote my address on the box and now, all of a sudden, he’s gone. I opened the box up and found the following contents: The Camera, a screw driver, a roll of kentmere 100, and a note.

I smiled immediately when I saw the roll of Kentmere 100, just when I thought I used up the last roll of Kentmere 100 I got from him. Well, apparently Ray had other plans for me. The screw driver he included in the box is actually one of my favorite screw drivers, I own the exact screwdriver except the tip on one of mine is broken. What are the odds of that?

Finally, in the note, he said, “if the camera turns out to be a nightmare, keep it for parts and we’ll look for another SRT.” Well Ray, this camera is going to get fixed no matter what, a deal is a deal. Maybe one day the camera will find its way to his grand-son. It’ll be something for him to use and to remember his grandpa and great-grandma by, and to be used.

Let’s begin. I have no idea how the prism assembly got this out of wack. Think I got enough parts camera for you? What a nightmare. AV / TV String and Pully. Time to test the meter.

My initial diagnosis was: Meter’s dead, Prism assembly is way out of whack, missing trims and screws but, still mechanically sound. So, I started tearing into it and it turned out to be a nightmare. The only good thing is, I have another SRT and I can potentially use it for parts.

Turned out, I had to replace the whole AV/TV pulley assembly and associated parts, rebuild, calibrate, and clean the prism assembly, re-solder a couple wires, fix the on/off switch, re-calibrate the metering system, and install new light seals. In short, It might not sound much to you, but that took days to complete. I’d find one thing wrong, troubleshoot it, fix it, and then something else would go wrong. Repeat about 20 times. Murphy’s law at its finest.

Inscription inside the bottom cover. Ray’s SRT MC2 RESURRECTED. It looks almost, like new.

Before I put the bottom cover back on, I wrote “In Memory of Ray and Ray’s Mother – Aug 2013 dehk”. Ray’s camera has been resurrected! I felt like I just passed my final exam! Now it’s time for field test this weekend. Hopefully, nothing else comes up! Then, it shall return on a slow boat back to California.