Piper Altimatic II autopilots - anyone?

Greetings:



I have a Piper Altimatic II autopilot in my '64 C model Aztec which has been
in-op since I bought the airplane. I bought a service manual for this
autopilot with the idea of learning how it was supposed to work, and with
the hope of , maybe, just maybe, getting it to work and having it returned
to service. Yes, I know the unit is obsolete. Yes, I know the unit is
worthless. Yes, I know that most autopilot shops say the units are not
worth messing with. And yes,

I'm not inclined to spend / waste much money on it.



But, as an engineer and tinker, I am inclined to spend a little time
investigating. If it was good enough to be certified in the airplane, the
design once worked and it should still be able to do the job it was designed
for. I'm also inspired by a friend of mine who inherited his grandfather's
1947 Bonanza. He has been able to get the pneumatic based autopilot (yes, I
do mean air controls) in that airplane working and it works quite well. If
his pneumatic analog computer can be made to work, surely my germanium
transistor analog computer can also be made to work.



Therefore, I'd be very interesting in getting any information such as:



- A schematic of the console amplifier. The service manual does not include
one.



- Any theory of operation document for the console amplifier and/or the
radio coupler. The service manual has a good overall theory of operation
for the autopilot system, but does not go into the details for any of the
electronic components.



- Any old test equipment / test boxes that were designed to service and
adjust this AP.

The service manual lists some test boxes made by Mitchell.



- Any pieces and parts of any Altimatic II, (or Autocontrol II) such as the
RF gyros, console amplifier, control head, radio coupler, altitude bellows,
and servos (roll, pitch, trim) that you'd like to part with. If you have
any pieces and parts that might be useful for spare parts, I'd like to talk
to you.



- Leads to anyone who has experience working on these units, including
component level repair of the electronics. I'd love to find an experienced
technician / engineer that knows these units inside and out and who would
love to see one brought back to life.



- Any "been there, done that", "been there, tried that", type of stories,
positive or negative, from the group.



Again, I know this is a long shot, but I'm willing to invest some time and
energy to see what can be done. As a bare minimum, I'll learn a bunch.



Thanks,



Ronnie