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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details. |
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9th Sep 2022, 5:36 pm | #1 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Chulmleigh, Devonshire, UK.
Posts: 88
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Unusual Clock
Hi all
Ive had this clock a few months and today i put a new flex on it and it works perfectly.As you will see from the photos it has the provision to turn a radio on or off. Ive never seen a Smiths clock like this before can any tell me anything about it. Thanks. |
9th Sep 2022, 6:18 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,675
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Re: Unusual Clock
Photos
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9th Sep 2022, 7:47 pm | #3 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Chulmleigh, Devonshire, UK.
Posts: 88
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Re: Unusual Clock
Hi here are some photos
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9th Sep 2022, 8:26 pm | #4 |
Nonode
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Resolfen, Wales; and Bristol, England
Posts: 2,588
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Re: Unusual Clock
Lovely! I have a couple of similar looking ones, but mine don't have the timer function.
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11th Sep 2022, 7:31 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,675
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Re: Unusual Clock
So this is a radio alarm clock, just bring-your-own-radio?
It makes a great deal of sense given the investment required for a radio, and many may have already had one in the bedroom.
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12th Sep 2022, 9:14 am | #6 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Southport Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 3,221
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Re: Unusual Clock
I had one of those which I gave to my son. I wired it so that it could once again switch a radio on and off. He uses it as a clock but not the alarm function.
A very similar movement was used in a clock radio from the early 50's. I have one somewhere in the attic. As I remember it is a bit better than most alarms as it switches the radio off again and so does not need re-setting every evening. It is in a white case but I cannot remember the manufacturer. I really ought to get it out again
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Paul |
12th Sep 2022, 9:56 am | #7 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,820
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Re: Unusual Clock
This model is actually quite common, they turn up on eBay quite regularly.
It's called the "Preston" and was available from 1950. People also connected them to a lamp, either as a wake-up device, or as a burglar deterrent. There was also a normal electric clock offered, in the same Bakelite case. |
14th Sep 2022, 12:01 pm | #8 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Somerset, UK.
Posts: 2,129
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Re: Unusual Clock
I think that these were often used with a lamp as a wake up device. Decades ago there was a view that being woken up by a light was in some way more healthy or natural, or otherwise better than a bell.
There later followed an electric alarm clock that used a built in lamp to wake the user. |
14th Sep 2022, 3:00 pm | #9 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,675
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Re: Unusual Clock
What about using it with a tape recorder. "Subliminal learning", did anyone try that?
I tried to learn Morse with that technique, I can't say it worked.
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14th Sep 2022, 6:13 pm | #10 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 13,951
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Re: Unusual Clock
'subliminal learning' during night time was a thing in times past, I experimented with it but to no avail.
The idea seems to have been reinvented in the 21St century as ASMR, which is kinda freaky..
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