This looks like a great variac

[DrGonz78]

Just posting this for anyone who might be looking for a variac. I have no affiliation with the item other than when I saw it I wanted it. Maybe someone here needs one with ampere and watt meters. Very cool!

[Chuck H]

If I operated a repair station/bench for a living I'd be on that right now. As it is I'm not in a position to prioritize it. I can get by as a hobbyist with what what I have and I earn my living elsewhere. But that is really cool. We all know ohms law but when you're trying to get things done the meters (properly calibrated) can only speed things up. It would be easy to learn to rely on a piece of gear like that. And that's the mark of a good and valuable tool. For $144 (US) that's a deal. Even considering it may need to be tuned up a little. I have to think the price is relative to the season. Everyone is out of disposable income. But for someone that could use it for work it's great. If only because good meters are so expensive that making such a device to add to a Variac would cost as much as the total price of the item and take up more bench footprint. I like it. I wish I weren't strapped like I typically am this time of year.

EDIT: Oh JEEZ it's in Everett!! Not sure why that makes it more tempting because gas and ferry costs would be 75% of the posted shipping But knowing it RIGHT THERE!!! I'm going to watch this thing and if it doesn't move before I have a spare hundy and some other need to make a trip that way I just might get it Though I really hope someone here with a working bench gets it before that. It's cool but to be honest it would get more dust than use in my arsenal.

[Mick Bailey]

That's a nice unit - you can't have too many meters.

[Helmholtz]

This might be a good deal, but:

- It doesn't specify a VA rating. Ammeter goes to 5A but Wattmeter only to 150W (very little). Maybe the switches change meter range.
- Seems to be DIY project,
- Is untested.

So I dunno.

[Chuck H]

I'm reading now that the unit is said to be "hand built", in "very good" condition and "untested"...

I'm out. Chances are good that whomever built that knew how, but it might just be a box of mess. Cheap, tiny auto transformer and inaccurately calibrated circuitry. Or worse, the meters are blown and the transformer is shorted. Reverb is the kind of site where music gear and related building tools and such are sold by and to people that are in the game, mostly. So an indication of "untested" sounds more like "broken and unwilling to say so".

EDIT: Ah. It looks like Helmholtz and I were having the same reservations at the same time. I'll still watch it and if I have any time when I'm in that area next I may check it out in person. No scale in the map below but Whidbey is about fifty miles long. Everett is just off the ferry I'm one red dot and the unit is the other.

[soundmasterg]

You're way up there Chuck!

Greg

[Chuck H]

You're way up there Chuck!

Greg

Well I started in Ca. but then I got high.

[soundmasterg]

Well I started in Ca. but then I got high.

Ha I guess so. I was born in Cali also but ended up in Oregon.

Greg