Accession No

6171

Brief Description

decibel meter, by General Electric Company (G. E. C.), English, mid-20th Century

Origin

England

Maker

General Electric Company

Class

electrical

Earliest Date

1930

Latest Date

1970

Inscription Date

Material

metal (cast iron; stainless steel); glass; plastic

Dimensions

height 106mm, width 185mm; depth 190mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Donated on or before 23/01/2003. The donor collected the instruments over many years, predominantly from private sales, some were obtained direct from the manufacturers who were going to throw them out.

Inscription

MADE IN ENGLAND
G.E.C.
78088 VY.
0 db = 1mW IN 600 Ω
DECIBELS

Description Notes

meter consists of a cast iron casing (painted pale grey-green) with a rectangular frontage, protruding from which is an arching dial face (glass fronted) behind which is a gradiated scale, which is marked with 4 scales:
- “A” = Z, 0, +5, +10, +15, +20
- “B” = Z, -15, -10, -5, 0, +5
- “C” = Z, -30, -25, -20, -15, -10
- “D” = Z, -50, -40, -35, -30, -25

The scale is read using a moving red needle, which contains a mirror behind it to facilitate more accurate reading.

The back plate of the cast iron case is screwed on, and has two plastic screw attachments for wires protruding from it.

References

Events