On 11 Jan 2006 20:21:41 GMT,it is alleged that
(Andrew Gabriel) spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

In article ,
"Bob Eager" writes:

Weren't those (railway anyway) an odd voltage anyway?

I think so...but I heard that the problem was that the people who stole
them didn't know that....so they stole them (once) anyway...

They used to be used to distinguish mercury vapour lamps
which needed external ballast from self-ballasted ones, in
streetlamps, to avoid unfortunate accidents.


Also in Fireglow lamps for (Berry Magicoal ISTR) electric fires. In
order to make you pay large amounts for the replacements.

A standard brass BC lampholder fitted the bracket however, indeed
sometimes just the brass shell could be swapped.

--
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
- Indira Gandhi

In article ,
Andy Wade wrote:
Wall Plugs. A "wall plug," or "socket" as it is sometimes erroneously
called, consists of two parts - the socket or fixed part, the
terminals of which are permanently connected to the circuit wires,
and the moveable part, called the plug top which, by means of a
flexible cord, is connected to a table lamp, etc., ... (Private House
Electric Lighting, F H Taylor, 1917)

Nice :-)

It's crap, though. A plug is a male member and fits into a socket.
'Decency' has stopped perhaps more erudite terms being used. ;-)

If someone invented a plug which could mate with another plug (electrical
wise) they'd make a fortune.

Problems in nomenclature arise with many multi-pin designs where the
bodies have opposite sexes to the actual connectors - audio XLRs are a
prime example. But the connectors are the business end, so that's how you
decide which is which. Unless there is a mixture. ;-)

--
*I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:28:07 GMT, wrote:

On 11 Jan,
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
"Bob Eager" writes:

Weren't those (railway anyway) an odd voltage anyway?

I think so...but I heard that the problem was that the people who stole
them didn't know that....so they stole them (once) anyway...

They used to be used to distinguish mercury vapour lamps
which needed external ballast from self-ballasted ones, in
streetlamps, to avoid unfortunate accidents.

Weren't th coloured bulbs in flame effect fires 3 pronged. I seem to remember
you couldn't fit an ordinary BC lamp, so boosting the manufacturer's profits.

Was that 3 prongs, or 3 contacts? ISTR something like that, but if you
had 2 contacts diametrically opposed and 3 prongs there'd be a problem
getting it to make contact except by trial and error...

Still OT, I used to have an Atlas fluorescent lamp in the workshop "at
home", the starter of which was in the form of a 60W lamp with a 4-pin
base, two of which were the starter itself, and I think the lamp
formed a sort of ballast - there was no choke.

--
Frank Erskine

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Chris J Dixon
saying something like:

Mind you, his mains electric soil sterilisation kit was a bit of
an eye opener - wooden box, metal plate at each end, fill with
soil, add water until ammeter reaches desired level, leave to
simmer. I can smell it now.

Holy ****.
--

Dave

A standard brass BC lampholder fitted the bracket however, indeed
sometimes just the brass shell could be swapped.

I recall the 3 prong as well - also the bulbs were etched "Stolen from
xxxxxxxxx" (xxxx being the name of a major british company)


John

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:48:22 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

If someone invented a plug which could mate with another plug (electrical
wise) they'd make a fortune.

Surely you've seen them ! 1960s(?) VHF coax connectors which I'm sure
the BBC must have used somewhere or other. They have a "tulip" shaped
connector with four leaves, two of which go inside and two outside. If
they won't mate, turn them by 90° and try again. The centre "pin" is
actually tubular, a miniature version of the shield.

Probably got the SWR of a hacksawed waterpipe, but they were workable
hermaphrodite plugs.

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:53:29 +0000 (UTC), Frank Erskine
wrote:

Was that 3 prongs, or 3 contacts? ISTR something like that, but if you
had 2 contacts diametrically opposed and 3 prongs there'd be a problem
getting it to make contact except by trial and error...

The 3 prong ones don't have to be at 120°, nor do they all have to be at
the same depth.

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:48:22 UTC, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

If someone invented a plug which could mate with another plug (electrical
wise) they'd make a fortune.

It's been done. Never seen an original IBM Token Ring cable? Here, about
half way down (search for 'hermaphrodite' on te page):

http://www.tavi.co.uk/ps2pages/ohland/TR-cable.html

--
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poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 07:36:53 UTC, "Bob Eager" wrote:

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:48:22 UTC, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

If someone invented a plug which could mate with another plug (electrical
wise) they'd make a fortune.

It's been done. Never seen an original IBM Token Ring cable? Here, about
half way down (search for 'hermaphrodite' on te page):

http://www.tavi.co.uk/ps2pages/ohland/TR-cable.html

Better picture (photos) here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_connector

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The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Andy Dingley wrote:

Surely you've seen them ! 1960s(?) VHF coax connectors which I'm sure
the BBC must have used somewhere or other. They have a "tulip" shaped
connector with four leaves, two of which go inside and two outside. If
they won't mate, turn them by 90° and try again. The centre "pin" is
actually tubular, a miniature version of the shield.

That sounds like a description of a GR-874 (where GR == the General
Radio Company). Except you'd have to rotate by 180 deg., not 90. There
are later hermaphroditic coax connectors, GR-900 and APC-7, to name but
two. Pictures of all these at
http://ece-www.colorado.edu/~kuester/Coax/connchart.htm

Probably got the SWR of a hacksawed waterpipe, but they were workable
hermaphrodite plugs.

No, the GR-874 provided an accurate 50 ohm match up to microwave
frequencies. They're spec'd up to about 8 GHz, IIRC.

--
Andy

On 12 Jan 2006 07:36:53 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

It's been done. Never seen an original IBM Token Ring cable? Here, about
half way down (search for 'hermaphrodite' on te page):

Now _that_ was a horse designed by a committee, if ever there was.

On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:24:52 +0000, Andy Wade
wrote:

That sounds like a description of a GR-874

That's the one ! You really can find pictures of
_anything_ on t' intaweb!

Except you'd have to rotate by 180 deg., not 90.

90°, I'm sure. They'd mate happily at two 180° spacings, so you're
always within 90° of a hookup

I never really knew their SWR - I just used to use them as single
conductor patch leads, usually almost DC, but with scary voltages on
them.

Andy Dingley wrote:

90°, I'm sure. They'd mate happily at two 180° spacings, so you're
always within 90° of a hookup

Ah, I see what you mean now. Yes 90 deg.

--
Andy

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

If someone invented a plug which could mate with another plug (electrical
wise) they'd make a fortune.

IBM did this with Token Ring connectors. Doubt they made a fortune out
of it though.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:31:24 UTC, Mike Tomlinson
wrote:

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

If someone invented a plug which could mate with another plug (electrical
wise) they'd make a fortune.

IBM did this with Token Ring connectors. Doubt they made a fortune out
of it though.

I think I said that on Wednesday...!

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The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
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In article , Bob Eager
writes

I think I said that on Wednesday...!

You did, apologies. I was following the thread and replying as
necessary. Should have read it all first.