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Other items

This page showcases items in the collection that don't really fit into any of the other existing pages on the site.

Vintage Italian TV aerial connector

This is an old TV aerial connector, from the 50s/60s, of the "Belling-Lee" style used in Europe (the type F one used in some other parts of the world is generally only used for satellite dishes).

Notably, this uses a female connector, unlike modern ones where the agreed-upon standard is to use a male connector. However, most antenna cables come with an appropriate adaptor for this specific issue.

Front view of the TV connector. Back side of the TV connector. The claws used for holding onto the wall box are visible. Wire terminals of the TV connector.

German radio aerial connector

This socket from Germany is meant to be wired up to an antenna and used with a radio. Antenna sockets used to be more common back in the day, when televisions were expensive and radios were often used to receive broadcasts from far away.

The connector is polarised - a desirable feature for this sort of use case - with positive and negative symbols present on the faceplate. Undoing the two screws at the front reveals the wire connections and the screw holes for mounting to a wall box.

Front view of the radio connector. Plus and minus symbols for the polarity are present. The radio connector, disassembled. The faceplate is formed of two pieces. Wire terminals of the radio connector.

Metal-cased isolator switch

This unusual isolator switch was likely used for disconnecting heavier appliances, as indicated by the label inside talking about heaters and motors. Three contacts per side are present, possibly indicating that it could have been used with three-phase loads.

The switch is housed inside a heavy-duty metal casing (with no provision for an earth connection); most notably, the casing is perfectly suitable for use with American light switches, with the mounting holes and front cutout lining up perfectly.

Front view of the switch. The case is made of metal, with the lever of the switch sticking out. Internals of the switch. The mechanism itself is held on the front cover. An information sheet is present underneath it. View of the switch mechanism after being removed and of the information sheet.

Unknown kind of vintage socket

No information is available on this mysterious kind of socket, other than it was patented by "A. Basili, Milano". It uses the same pin size found on standard plugs of the era, but with a spacing of only around 14-15mm instead of the usual 19.
A shutter mechanism is present, with a spring-loaded disc that covers the contacts. To connect a plug, the pins are used to rotate the disc which then reveals the contacts. This was a type of mechanism also available on some standard outlets back in the day, though it was quite rare in Italy.

It's unclear what purpose this plug would have had. The shutter mechanism suggests that it could have been used with some sort of potentially harmful voltage, though as there are no markings on it it's hard to say for sure.

Front view of the mystery socket. A shutter is present, with arrows indicating to turn it clockwise to open it. Rear view of the mystery socket, with the screw terminals.

Mains-powered AEG hour meter

Hour meters are simple devices: once powered up, in this case by mains voltage (200-250V 50Hz), they count the hours they've been powered up for. This is useful for machinery or equipment where something may be required to happen after being used for a certain amount of time - for example, servicing or replacement of components.

Front view of the hour meter. A small window is present to see the rotation of the motor. Rear view of the hour meter. There's not much on the back aside from two mounting screws.