Any idea what these tools are? Electron tube ?

[Catcher1984]

Got these in a box of old aviation DC switches but unsure what theyre used for. First one looks like what I remember from cartoons where electricity passes through from one ball to another. Any ideas ?




And this Pyrex glass thing, it had wires looped through and wrapped around the middle. It’s about 3-1/2” long thanks for any help!

 

[Lou's Garage]

The first item, I have no idea. Maybe some early version of a lightning arrestor?

The second item appears to be an antenna insulator. It's very old to be made out of glass. You would terminate a wire antenna at one end and use the other end to tie it off. The spiral and the fact that you found wire wrapped around the spiral would seem to indicate that it could also be used as a coil to physically shorten a wire antenna without affecting its tuning.

Lou Manglass
NY4F

 

[Catcher1984]

The first item, I have no idea. Maybe some early version of a lightning arrestor?

The second item appears to be an antenna insulator. It's very old to be made out of glass. You would terminate a wire antenna at one end and use the other end to tie it off. The spiral and the fact that you found wire wrapped around the spiral would seem to indicate that it could also be used as a coil to physically shorten a wire antenna without affecting its tuning.

Lou Manglass
NY4F

Thank you, I really appreciate it! it was bugging me not being able to figure it out. Hopefully someone knows what the first thing does/is used for.

 

[cvairwerks]

#1 is a spark gap for a homebuilt spark gap AM transmitter. The other item is a dog bone antenna insulator. Antenna wire is wound through one end, a guy wire or rope through the other and the feed coax is wrapped a couple of turns around the center and then terminated to the wire. The dog bone can be located at one end, the antenna being an end fed, or at an intermediate point, then being one of the multitude of types of dipole antennas.

 

[tymbo]

so not a flux capacitor

 

[Beerhippie]

I'm going with lightning arrestor for the first item, for two reasons: One, my father and I had the exact same one for our SW antenna back in the early '70s. B) It goes with the antenna insulator. Too bad you didn't get both of those!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Glass item is a strain insulator.

​

 

[cvairwerks]

I'm going with lightning arrestor for the first item, for two reasons: One, my father and I had the exact same one for our SW antenna back in the early '70s.

Only problem is that it doesn't have a grounding terminal. Every arrestor I've seen has a grounding terminal on the body.

 

[Catcher1984]

Thank you guys!!

 

[Beerhippie]

Only problem is that it doesn't have a grounding terminal. Every arrestor I've seen has a grounding terminal on the body.

The ones like that we used hung from the antenna wire by one post (actually, tied to the wire with a conductor) and the ground at the other end.

 

[Ohio Andy]

#1 is a spark gap for a homebuilt spark gap AM transmitter.

Soooo COOOOL. I have never seen one. I heard about them, but never gave it a thought! Old School Cool!