Philips 'Trafficvision' SGS 306

The bizarre names continue! This lantern is believed to have come from the car park of the former Derby Telegraph newspaper offices on Meadow Road, but this cannot be confirmed. The Trafficvision is commonly used on main roads in Derby City Centre, and also appears on a section of the A38 between Derby and Burton.

As received, the lantern is in a reasonable condition but it will require cleaning to remove the dirt and the loose fibres on the canopy.

As with most Philips SON lanterns, the reflector on this can be adjusted according to the type of road that the lantern is being used on. Access to the lamp is gained by opening the canopy and removing the lampholder from the back; however, the bowl is only held in place with several star-head ('Torx') screws and so I might temporarily remove it for cleaning. Incidentally, the label attached to the bowl carries the date code 'B1', which suggests that the lantern was made in February 2001.

Undoing the large black clip shown in the above photograph releases the back section of the lantern. With this unfastened, the lantern is isolated and work can be carried out safely. The gear is located behind the black panel in this section. The panel unclips and then hinges open.

It can also be completely removed - presumably to allow a swift changing of components if this was required. The connections for the NEMA socket plug into the block below the ignitor.

Thanks to fellow collector Davy Warren for providing a flat glass cover for this lantern as an alternative to the existing polycarbonate bowl:

The lantern was cleaned up, repainted and fitted to an AC Ford AC 872 wall bracket on Wednesday, 14th September 2005.

Owing to space constraints, however, the lantern didn't remain installed for too long. It had to wait another twelve years before it could be installed again; Friday, 29th September being the date when it was brought back into service. Once again, it was attached to an AC Ford AC 872 bracket - albeit, a Mk II version this time.

Once powered up, the original lamp (possibly dating from January 2001, although the date code is inversed if this is correct) sprung into life.

Lantern operation video:

Testing the lantern with my energy monitoring device revealed the following results:

Test Voltage (V)	Current being drawn at full power (A)	Measured wattage (W)	Apparent Power (VA)	Frequency (Hz)	Power Factor	True Power (W)	Difference to rated wattage	Percentage Difference
240.7	1.35	289	325	50	0.89	289.20	39.20	16 %