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A very rare find at the hamfest on Saturday. Did a search on the internet, but couldn't find anything on it.
Seems to be a what we call a variac. It's used bring up the voltage slowly in radios, and other electronics.
Guessing it was made in the 50's.
Just needed to replace the fuse, and the AC plug to get it working.
Translated the Japanese characters to read: Ministry of International Trade and Industry for electronic appliances General licensed factory permission number 2249
Seems to be a what we call a variac. It's used bring up the voltage slowly in radios, and other electronics.
Guessing it was made in the 50's.
Just needed to replace the fuse, and the AC plug to get it working.
Translated the Japanese characters to read: Ministry of International Trade and Industry for electronic appliances General licensed factory permission number 2249
Category Photography / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 819px
File Size 214.3 kB
It's a variac, but I think you are wrong on the use for it.
Look at the voltage. Input 70-100V. That's the clue. It's a line drop compensator. 100 or 110V power distribution networks suffer horribly from line drop - long cable feeding the property, long cables throughout, often designed just for lighting use. Transformer could be several city blocks away - you might lose 20V easily just to resistive drop in the mains cabling, and trying to run you 100V televison off of 80V in an era before switching power supplies or cheap voltage regulation would throw everything off. Oscillators wouldn't stay at the intended frequency, picture would roll, general awkwardness. So for properties plagued with this annoyance, the solution was a compensator just like this one: Mains goes in, and power comes out to the appliance. you just turn the knob until the indicator meter reads exactly 100V (110V in the US). The variac thus compensates for the voltage drop in the line, and your television works correctly.
Look at the voltage. Input 70-100V. That's the clue. It's a line drop compensator. 100 or 110V power distribution networks suffer horribly from line drop - long cable feeding the property, long cables throughout, often designed just for lighting use. Transformer could be several city blocks away - you might lose 20V easily just to resistive drop in the mains cabling, and trying to run you 100V televison off of 80V in an era before switching power supplies or cheap voltage regulation would throw everything off. Oscillators wouldn't stay at the intended frequency, picture would roll, general awkwardness. So for properties plagued with this annoyance, the solution was a compensator just like this one: Mains goes in, and power comes out to the appliance. you just turn the knob until the indicator meter reads exactly 100V (110V in the US). The variac thus compensates for the voltage drop in the line, and your television works correctly.
There is no standard name for them - every manufacturer used their own term.
I did find a youtube video of a similar item, American. Multi-tap transformer rather than variac, but same purpose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84rzwJHQZcg
I did find a youtube video of a similar item, American. Multi-tap transformer rather than variac, but same purpose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84rzwJHQZcg
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