the plate on top says Montegomery Wards Diamond
with sparks engraved on it.

The little lever on the top center is a switch handle that comes
in contact with the heads of the small screws below it. they in turn are wired to the large lugs on the top.

the two circles on top left next to the strap loop are set screws
that are terminals for the earphone.

the hole in front of the large lug on the left has a plunger that
activates a reed switch below it.

the generator puts out 24 volts at an easy crank
not sure of the current output but will easily light a 12 volt panel light

It should be very easy to rejuvenate if I knew what the heck
is is supposed to do!

Any ideas?

 

Send it to me. I'll figure it out.

 

A magneto and some other parts from a crank telephone?

See pictures here: http://www.oldphoneman.com/FSMagnetos.htm

John

 

A magneto and some other parts from a crank telephone?

See pictures here: http://www.oldphoneman.com/FSMagnetos.htm

John

the Montgomery Wards thing has me stumped.

the strap loops suggests a portable device.
the first portable phone?

field phone,
detonator?

after cleaning the mag a bit it will easily put out 80 volts at a fishing reel crank speed.

I gave the man 5 dollars for it at the Harpers Ferry flea market.
I bought it for the magneto but if there is a historical value to it
I didnt want to destroy that value.

 

You really need to contact me when your going to things like that.

For I have no one who will tag along with me.

 

what the heck is that?

 

The round black object in the foreground looks to be either an old carbon mic or a speaker.

Might be an early field-use phone.

 

what the heck is that?

that's what I am trying to figure out.
I bought it for the magneto but it is in such
good condition I did not want to cannibalize it if
has any historical value.

the man at the flea market threw it in for five, five dolla, five dolla extra
when I bought this from him for 10 dollars:

 

More speed more voltage? Or there is some speed/voltage limitation no matter how fast you make it to spin?

Have you investigated what are the five vertical pieces?

Are they grounded? or connected to the output? Connected to each other (I doubt so)?

Are the terminals (if any) marked?

Any input? (relevant detail, I think).

Please, do not scrap it!

 

Straight digital technologies!

Gotta love them. I still like the windowed dial numbers.

The first thing is a portable telegraph power supply.

stagecoaches, mail-coaches, early railroaders used these.

You could hang hooks on the UN-insulated telegraph wires and send messages from the middle of nowhere regarding breakdowns, hijacks, robberies, and the such.

 

Hello,

In the red band there is some text.
What does it all say?
(you can not read it, it is to shiny).
Is there a headphone in the open part on the left?

Bertus

 

Hello,

In the red band there is some text.
What does it all say?
(you can not read it, it is to shiny).
Is there a headphone in the open part on the left?

Bertus

the second photo I posted is a
Transformer Turn-Ratio Test Set.
I bought it for a specific purpose. It works well.

 

More speed more voltage? Or there is some speed/voltage limitation no matter how fast you make it to spin?

Have you investigated what are the five vertical pieces?

Are they grounded? or connected to the output? Connected to each other (I doubt so)?

Are the terminals (if any) marked?

Any input? (relevant detail, I think).

Please, do not scrap it!

no, I will not throw it away. Sgt has the first claim on it if I dont do anything with it.

all indications show that the darn thing works.

the voltage is rpm reflective.
following the wiring inside lend credence to retched's belief that it is a power supply for a mobile telegraph.

 

The round black object in the foreground looks to be either an old carbon mic or a speaker.

Might be an early field-use phone.

It works well both ways

 

Im telling ya' Thats what I had to carry around when I rode for the pony express.

Man, the stories i have.

Oh...Wait... Sorry, im lying. my bad.

 

round dial, man I love those.
Screeeeech, Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,
Screeeeech, Ticki,Ticki,Ticki
Screeeeech, Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,
Screeeeech, Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,

Oooooops wrong no. my bad.
Bang. Pick up....Screeeeech, Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,Ticki,.

 

The original plug-board telephone switchboards has those magnetos built in.

When the operator received an incoming call, they used the magneto to ring the appropriate extension phone. (No electronic ring generators back then!).

My father's business had one of those into the 1960s.

The operator had a monsterous pendant microphone and single-side headphone so she had her hands free for the plugboard and ring generator magneto...

Edit - found some pics. Note the crank handle just above the dial:
http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/systems.htm#Switchb

Also found the headset and microphone to go with it;
two variants of the headphone
http://www.museumoftechnology.org.uk/expand.php?key=667

And the microphone!
http://www.museumoftechnology.org.uk/expand.php?key=666

ps. 'GPO' is General Post Office - the UK post office had a monopoly on ALL comminucations from 1868 up to 1969.