[Boatanchors] AC Line Voltage Regulation

[Rob Atkinson]

You can get Sola's for v. regulation (they used to be found as options
in broadcast rigs in the days before switching supplies and solid
state AM transmitters) but from my experience a few caveats:  One for
the load you need is going to be kind of big and hefty (not too much
but around 50 pounds, maybe more) and they, or mine at least, made a
lot of noise (loud hummmm) and threw off a lot of heat.  YMMV as they
say.  I forget the theory behind how they work (ferromagnetic
resonance or some such mumbo jumbo) but they do work.  I put mine on a
variac and deliberately varied the supply v. between 100 and 150 v.
and it held it at 120 on the output.   I gave mine away because I
didn't really need it here in town.  Mine was in a steel cabinet that
looked like a big shoebox, with a cord and outlets.  On the inside sat
a big piece of iron looking like a transformer but not exactly, and a
pair of oil caps.  That was it.

73

Rob
K5UJ

On Sun, Nov 18, 2012 at 3:24 PM, Jay Coward <jcoward5452 at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Is SOLA still around? I have a nice black wrinkle enclosure with a 40V AC SOLA and cap with a variac on the output. It gives me 0-40 V AC. I got it at a flea market for $8. It's fused, switched,has on indicator and binding post output. Chrome handles too! It's great as a variable filament supply (but also serves well in the HO train world).
>  Jay