Mode Zero

Does anyone know anything about this contraption? I've been offered it cheap. Works and has had little use apparently.

Could that be the same company that made one of the first commercial carrier wave single channel sets.. The Mercury Cosser ?

Hi Shaun

Yes it is the same company. Cossor was quite a large electronics company in their day and made TV's, radio's, radar sets and electronic components (valves, resistors, capacitors etc). They sold most of the business to Philips in the late 1950s and the remaining military radar division to Raytheon in the early '60s.

Henry J Nicolls commissioned them to make his Mercury Cossor set in the late '40s. but as you probably know they proved very unreliable and Henry withdrew them from the market. He subsequently sued Cossor for compensation, which he won. Apparently the problem with the sets was the Cossor manufactured valve in the receiver, the transmitters were fine. It was found that if the Rx was slightly modified to use a Mullard or Hivac valve they worked as well as any other set of the period.

How did I find this out? Well, my late father-in-law worked for Cossor from just after the war, until they sold out to Philips. I mentioned this to his brother and it turns out that he also worked for Cossor from just after the war until the mid-'50s and could remember the fuss about Cossor getting sued and the internal investigation to find the cause.

And what you have appears to be an early oscilloscope, albeit called an oscillograph which is the same thing.

Cheers

Mike

Stew,
Would you mind sending me some high Res images of the oscilloscope (graph) if possible please. Around 1 mb will do as I would like to use it in my next Ramblings column.

Mike, great info on the Mercury Cosser I'll call you next week for a chat

Have you got one in any shape or form?

Cheers

Shaun

PM sent Shaun.

Cheers ..

The chaps is wanting £20 for it. Is it of any use other than as a a curio? Could one of you make any use of it?