Solarbird :flag_cascadia:
@moira@mastodon.murkworks.net  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

I want this for the retrofuturist movie I will never actually make.

It is currently up for free on #seattle Craigslist and would make one hell of a set piece if you are that sort of person.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/zip/d/seattle-free-allen-syncrograph-model/7863999556.html

#set #retrofuturism #prop#WhatEvenIsIt

An Allen Syncrograph Model E135 automotive distributor testing machine in a shop, consisting of a red and black trunk-like base with wheels and aluminium (maybe) trim, a large red boxlike device with a light and a needle display atop of it, and atop of _that_ a tryptich of three large vertical panels connected together with deco metalwork, the outer pair being some sort of collection of printed data and the centre panel being large panel displays with physical needle indicators presumably showing... Centred above that is some sort of projecting bronze part, kind of T-shaped, but with bell-shaped cones on the end. What are they for? I've no idea. it is a device of great mystery.
An Allen Syncrograph Model E135 automotive distributor testing machine in a shop, consisting of a red and black trunk-like base with wheels and aluminium (maybe) trim, a large red boxlike device with a light and a needle display atop of it, and atop of _that_ a tryptich of three large vertical panels connected together with deco metalwork, the outer pair being some sort of collection of printed data and the centre panel being large panel displays with physical needle indicators presumably showing... Centred above that is some sort of projecting bronze part, kind of T-shaped, but with bell-shaped cones on the end. What are they for? I've no idea. it is a device of great mystery.
An Allen Syncrograph Model E135 automotive distributor testing machine in a shop, consisting of a red and black trunk-like base with wheels and aluminium (maybe) trim, a large red boxlike device with a light and a needle display atop of it, and atop of _that_ a tryptich of three large vertical panels connected together with deco metalwork, the outer pair being some sort of collection of printed data and the centre panel being large panel displays with physical needle indicators presumably showing... Centred above that is some sort of projecting bronze part, kind of T-shaped, but with bell-shaped cones on the end. What are they for? I've no idea. it is a device of great mystery.
khm
@khm@hj.9fs.net  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

it's a device for tuning automotive distributors. looks like it's missing the chuck? you clamp the distributor onto that arm, and then a chuck is supposed to go from the plate up to the distributor. you put the wires on it and the thing spins the distributor at various speeds (see the 'engine speed' gauge) and the firing points show up on the plate at the bottom. the charts are various ignition timing information for various engines, so you can see how far off your distributor is and figure out what you need to change.

I haven't seen anyone use one of these things since I was a little kid, and I'm old as hell