Thorn Alpha 6 140 Watt Integral Gear

After carefully opening one of the boxes, the canopy of this Alpha 6 came into view. The lantern is similar in shape and design to a modern Alpha 4, apart from the enormous gear shoe (which was incredibly shiny!), and central photocell socket. This socket itself still has the manufacturer's plug in place. Incidentally, these lanterns were mainly seen with Fisher Karpark SS4s in the years they were used around Derby.

A label as rare now as the lantern itself! The 'Lamp 2' imprint above this shows where the second SLI/H lamp would go, if the lantern was fitted with two lamps. This one is only designed to have one however.

Removing the lantern didn't take very long despite the amount of packaging. I was surprised at what the underside looked like - it's much simpler than I'd have thought it would be.

I then fitted a bowl to the lantern. Because of the newness, the bowl didn't fit at first and had to be squeezed into position with a screwdriver. I was careful not to scratch it in the process!

This must be the cleanest gear I've ever seen! Top-left is the capacitor (dated to week 06 of 1977 - the 7th - 13th February), and to the right is the ballast, which also provides lamp ignition. This carries an inspection stamp of '36 77', suggesting that the lantern was produced between the 5th and 11th September of that year. The grey and black object in the middle is a fuse carrier - complete with 5A fuse. The gear cover is hinged, and is opened with a single screw. The IP rating can't be that good - notice the lack of sealing around the rim!

Preliminary Photographs | Remote Geared 200 Watt | Integral Geared 200 Watt | Installation and Wiring Instructions

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