Example: Serial Number 06A10108
06 at the front is month of manufacture, or scheduled production run month. If we were scheduled to build a run of a particular model in June, and for some reason we were delayed to July or August for that particular run, we'd still put "06" at the front of the serial number. "A" is a separator between the groups of digits. "1" is the production run # for that particular month. "010" is the unit number. "8" is the year of manufacture.
A "C" separator began being used in 2000.
1. Omni VI Plus s/n 06A10108
06 = June
A = separator
1 = production run # for that particular month
010 = unit #
8 = year of manufacture
Unit #10 of production run #1 from June, 1998.
2. Model 238 Tuner s/n 41A10349
41 = April
A = separator
1 = production run # for that particular month
034 = unit #
9 = year of manufacture
Unit #34 of production run #1 from April, 1989.
3. Model 420 Amplifier s/n 5B10053
5 = May
B = separator
1 = production run # for that particular month
005 = unit #
3 = year of manufacture
Unit #5 of production run #1 from May, 1993
4. Model 9420 Power Supply s/n 12A10082
12 = December
A = separator
1 = production run # for that particular month
008 = unit #
2 = year of manufacture
Unit #8 of production run #1 from December, 1992
5. Model 961 Power Supply s/n 41A10019
41 = April
A = separator
1 = production run # for that particular month
01 = unit #
9 = year of manufacture
Unit #1 of production run #1 from April, 1989
Update: April 13, 2004 (Courtesy Scott Robbbins N4PA, of Ten-Tec)
I looked at the page you referenced. The description listed as "old e-mail" is approximately/mostly correct. We switched from consecutive serial numbers to date encoded ones in 1988. Some rigs used both if they were in production then, like the Paragon, Corsair II and Titan 425 amplifier. Consecutive numbers were earlier, then encoded ones after.
The early encoded serial numbers read something like 72A10829, the 72 being the week or month of the year of manufacture either correct or reversed. 72 could be 27th week. It could also be February with the "7" being equivalent to "0". 40 would be either 40th week or 4th month - it depended on what model and what year it was built in the late 80's or early 90's. We stopped the week or reversed week or month or reversed month mixed designations around 1992 and went to only the month. So serial numbers would read then 01A10823 or 1A10823, which would mean January.
So 01C10823, for a Jupiter is January 2003, production run 1 for the month (the 1 after the C), 082 is the unit number. C is a separator. Almost everything in the late 80's to 2000 used "A" for the separator but there were occasional exceptions (some rigs used "B" - and when the Hercules II went to 2000 we used "H" for them). We started using "C" as the separator in 2000 and we did that to separate decade.
Here's the rub, though, just because the serial number reads 01C10823 doesn't mean it was January 2003 when built. It was either January 2003 or near-term later, but never earlier. The serial number actually refers to when the radio was *scheduled* to be built, but it may not have actually happened then for any number of reasons. But to keep track of it internally, the best way is to use serial numbers for the scheduled run to keep everything flowing smoothly regardless of the date it actually gets built. An example of this were first production run Orion radios. All the serial numbers for the first run are 09Cxxxx2. We scheduled them to be built in Sept 2002, but delays took us out to March 2003 before they were actually built and shipped. Most common is to build them when they are scheduled to be built, or perhaps within one or two months after they were scheduled.
73
Scott Robbins
W4PA
(N1EU note: Up until April 1989, serial number labels showed the three-digit model number followed by a consecutive number. One known exception to this was the use of 580-XXXX labels on many of the Corsair II's. The information below relates to the serial numbering after April 1989, beginning with the later Corsair II's. However, the serial number scheme changed again sometime after 2010. So, the scheme described here is only valid from approximately 1989-2010)...
Courtesy copy from:
Ten-Tec Wiki
N5NA web
Jupiter Resource Page
