Rheostat definition

[Herald1360]

Wot, no grand master?

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by Ted Kendall

Not to mention doing blackouts with metre rule...or yardstick as it was then!

Thanks for reminding me of that - across the sliders and push down! Simple, basic 1930's technology.

We stopped using them (Avenue Hall, Southampton) and started using Mini2 racks, which were light, thyristor controlled bricks with 15A round pin sockets, and a box of faders.

Isn't google great! http://www.theatrecrafts.com/archive...ochure1977.pdf

[daviddeakin]

Originally Posted by M0FYA Andy

This is an example of the type of rheostat used in WW2 aircraft I referred to higher up this thread. In this case to control the current in a heater used to prevent a pair of goggles from misting up. Note that it has an OFF position.

I've always seen rheostat used in literature to mean specifically a wire-wound variable resistor (and later, wire wound potentiometer too). The salient point being that it is wire wound like the original Victorian devices. As such they did commonly go 'off' or open circuit at the end of the track. The use of rheostat to mean 'any variable resistance' seems to be a more modern affectation.