OK maybe we can have a little bit of fun while learning something new as well. I'll start by posting a picture of a component and you guess what it is.
If JimB is right, what is the current rating on it?
Now it looks like a coil around the shaft, so probably a relay.
Can you take a closed picture of the sticker and post that (one we can read)? I tried to cheat, did not find it.. There is an MDI industries in NJ. No luck.
So if they leak, someone might die (if they lick it).. Or getting rid of them when they wear out in 100 years... Wait. I will not be here.. OK order some more.
I like the 30 AMPS though... Zevon8, what are you switching with them?? Should I call the EPA?
EDIT: Sorry, just saw you were in Toronto.. Hey maybe Electro will give Hi-tech his own category ..
JimB wins a pat on the back and an "atta boy"! Correct, it's a mercury wetted relay. I found one in a box of heavy duty relays last week ("Goldmine In the Trash" thread).
A nuvistor is a thermionic valve intended as a low noise amplifier for use at VHF/UHF. Sometimes found in the front end of oscilloscopes and wideband amplifiers for things like frequency counters.
(We are talking 1960s technology here).
Jim, you gotta give the others a fighting chance here!
OK that's two "atta boys" and a high five! They were also employed in many television tuners back then.
Now let's hope someone else posts of pic of an oddball component.
If you peel that blue tape off there will be a number underneath, no need to ask here!
Presumably it's a valve (tube!) of some type?, as it's got a pipe on the bottom and a strange 'shroud' perhaps it's water cooled? - so perhaps a transmitter valve?.