The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Colonel uses a gadget for speed measurement.
Any infos?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm-9hVYQBuE[/youtube]

Yes, it's an HMV "Speed Tester", they're neat little gadgets, I picked one up on eBay with it's original box and instructions a couple of years ago.

Sean

Here are some pictures of my HMV speed tester.

Ok, friends!
It would be an useful item to get...

To be honest it is rare that I ever use mine - I think it has been out of its box about a handful of times in the 5 years I have owned it. I am also not sure how spot on accurate it is in any case as it says that the turntable is revolving at 78rpm when the gold disk is level with the top of the casing - a subjective assessment to a degree. Also when using the speed tester the record should be playing so that you are testing the playing speed and not just the speed of the turntable turning around with no resistance on it.

I was lucky when I got mine as not only is it in great shape, but also the instructions are present (they are often missing) but also the card which holds the gold disk in place during storage was also there (I have not seen others for sale where this piece of card is present).

Not to mention that it's not much use for records that were recorded at other speeds....

Bill

...and we all know how "naughty" even HMV were about stating 78rpm on the record label but the actual recording being significantly over or under that even into the 1930's.

Agreed, mine is more or less a decorative accessory I display in my HMV 163.

Sean