PAiA kit voltages

[jorgen.bergfors at idg.se]

The voltage in Europe used to be 220V whereas Britain used 240. Because the 
difference is so small, a compromise was made and now I think 230V is the 
formal standard.
The reason for selecting a higher voltage than the 117V in the US is that the 
voltage drop across long cable runs will be a lot less. You will find that the 
mains voltage is a lot cleaner here than in the US. There is seldom need for 
power conditioners, surge protectors and such.
There hasn't always been 220V here though. When I was a small kid (early 60's) 
some areas here in Stockholm (Sweden) still had 127 V AC and some even had DC, 
I think 110V.
DC used to be fairly common. There were large accumulator batteries here and 
there to keep the voltage stabilized. Of course DC was a big problem for makers 
of radios etc as you couldn't use transformers in them. There were so-called 
all-power radios that used resistors instead of transformers to take the 
voltage down. Of course they could get quite dangerous if the insulation became 
faulty. And in those days the insulation usually was cotton or paper.

/Jorgen




MIME:b.layer at vikingelectronics.com on 98-09-21 17.41.08
To:  synth-diy at mailhost.bpa.nl @ SMTP 
cc:  (bcc: Jorgen Bergfors/IDGSE)
Subject: PAiA kit voltages 

Hi Bauke,

The Fatman, like all PAiA stuff, runs off of what is called a 'Class-2 
Wall
Transformer' or 'wall wart' in slang. The output is around 13.8VAC, and 
is
used in the conventional half-wave doubler to get the +/-15 volt rails
(after regulation).

In the USA, these transformers are literally running out of our ears; 
we're
drowning in the surplus! I would assume the situation over there is
similar, but then again, the EC may have had their way... Perhaps you 
can
get a 235V 50Hz version.

OT: How the heck did Europe end up with 235V/50Hz anyway? Perhaps 
117V/60Hz
wasn't dangerous enough?

For that matter, the Japanese run 100V. Now why's that? Does anyone know
this stuff?

Bill Bob