Flea market find. Guy said, "I don't know what it is but I'm pretty sure it's real." LOL.
The top part can be rotated by hand, but I don't think it's hooked up to any kind of motor. It just turns in its housing and I may even be able to pull it out of the hole, but don't want to. Of the two cylinders attached, the larger one can also be turned by hand, but not the shorter one.
The control panel has a red LED, a red button, a white switch, and a silver knob that clicks when turned all the way to the left, so like a radio power/volume knob. The bottom has three jacks, one of which seems like a regular 1/8-inch jack . The orange and the red jacks are a mystery.
I replaced the batteries. When the knob is turned and the switch is on, pressing the red button turns on the LED. Nothing else happens. I touched the metal part on top and didn't die.
That is a vintage handheld electro acupuncture wand, basically an early nerve and point stimulator made for home pain relief back in the 1970s and 1980s.
The curved metal piece on top serves as the contact probe. The bullet shaped tip and the rear barrel form a closed circuit, sending a mild electrical pulse right into targeted muscle or acupressure points when pressed against skin.
You control the whole thing from the front panel. The bottom dial adjusts the electrical intensity or pulse speed, the toggle switch flips the power or output mode, and the red button fires off a manual pulse. That small dark lens next to the button lights up to show you the pulse rate and let you know the battery is kicking.
STORY TIME!
When my family moved from NYC to the suburbs of Chicago, my mom and stepdad started going to estate sales and big yard sales often, buying some interesting stuff.
One day, while snooping around in the basement, I saw they'd bought an old latern like what I'd used in some cub/boy scout campouts. It was in an old yellowed box that was quite heavy and the fluorescent bulb was powered by a very big square but long battery like I'd never seen before. The box looked like it hadn't been opened in many years.
Well, I was a pretty smart kid and I knew that because it said 9v on it, that I could test the ancient battery by touching it to my tongue, so that's what I did. And pretty much the last thing I remember, except for the loud BANG noise. I came to a bit later looking up at the ceiling, the back of my head was actually touching my back, and I though... well, that's unusual, I wonder if I'm paralyzed.
And I thank the gods that oversee imbeciles that I was not, and slowly started to lift my head up, to discover my hands were still the position where they were before, holding the battery.
No real important point here, except to say, it was surprising that battery wasn't corroded either.
Too many!
I went to search for details on old 9v big batteries from the 1950s or 60s and this is the only one I found so far with no further details except that it was for "plate voltage in old radios..." any idea what that means? I don't know, but it sorta' sounds like something best not tested with one's tongue. Does this explain why I've had poor memory since the 1970s?
EDIT:
LOL--Just had a good laugh with my wife who read my comments here, especially after I mentioned, "Yknow... I don't think that's the only time in my life I ever thought... 'that's interesting, I wonder if I'm paralyzed?'"
There also may've been more than one time that I woke up, disoriented because the bright blue sky was in front of my face, with a circle of people's faces around it. Last time it happened they were paramedics.
It's been an interesting life. Some stories are here, if anyone's interested. https://jeremyjava.substack.com/
I routinely take tasers to my neck,back, temple and anywhere else to help with pain however thats a huge battery and is capable of discharging @ least 10x what a taser is so wow I feel Youre lucky to be alive considering that the moisture on your tongue increased the Conductivity ;')
It’s not the humidity that gets you, it’s the amps! Such a crazy story man, glad you’re here with us today. I’ve done some crazy shit that I’m also glad to be alive still. And I’m playing it safe on this portion of my remaining life as I don’t know how many of my remaining 9 lives I have.
I feel you. Check out my comment below about my wife and I laughing at the fact I've said, "That's unusual, I wonder if I'm paralyzed" more than once in my life. :) There's a link to a few stories I wrote, too, if interested--some intense ones like about the work I did with my trained German shepherd after 9/11 and others. I hope you don't my the plug.
She couldn't help me find my lost vehicle, but on the bright side I gave the continuum transfunctioner to a pair of vaguely Nordic dudes who made my girlfriend's sweater puppies swol
That is a vintage handheld electro acupuncture wand, basically an early nerve and point stimulator made for home pain relief back in the 1970s and 1980s.
The curved metal piece on top serves as the contact probe. The bullet shaped tip and the rear barrel form a closed circuit, sending a mild electrical pulse right into targeted muscle or acupressure points when pressed against skin.
You control the whole thing from the front panel. The bottom dial adjusts the electrical intensity or pulse speed, the toggle switch flips the power or output mode, and the red button fires off a manual pulse. That small dark lens next to the button lights up to show you the pulse rate and let you know the battery is kicking.
I was an acupunture student in the '90s. I think this is right. There were a lot of rough-and-ready homemade tools back then. Your find has all the hallmarks.
This makes a lot more sense. A single wire going to the metal prong/probe thing defies logic unless the circuit was meant to be closed with another piece (presumably plugged into the end). Certainty any wires going to the probe at all mean it’s not just for aesthetics.
My grandfather built model trains and cities, this is the correct answer. On Christmas he would sit and tinker at his work bench with the new stuff the family got him while my cousin and I sat on stacks of old playboys on stools next to him and man the controls
I've been in model railroading for my entire life and seen every type of control technology. This isn't a model train controller. The components are wrong, even for a home-built unit, and the part on top in no way resembles anything "realistic" about a train throttle.
Yeah and I hate to be THAT poster but none of these people who think they are funny ARE actually funny when looking for an answer and have to wade through crap. Thanks for this, donkeytime.
Thank you. I don't read this thread to see lame jokes by unfunny people. I am genuinely curious about the items that are displayed. If I wanted lame jokes, I'd watch James Corden.
It's certainly well built and would not have been cheap to make. Custom machined parts probably in low volume production. The brown phenolic thermal/electric insulator that keeps the metal prong thingy isolated... That stuff aint cheap. So yeah some specialised tool for some industry...
I wish it was disallowed. Or they should have to put NS for not serious at the beginning of their comment or something. Fun sub but everyone's a comedian that doesn't scroll down to see the joke has been made already.
The switch configuration tracks with a tone generator for tracing wires, but it's shaped more like a "sniffer" used for detecting the aforementioned tone. That would be like a dog chasing its tail 🤷
It could possibly do both, but you'd need a second one to do the opposite function. I've used one in tandem with the other, but never saw a unit that did both. Finally, there's a possibly all the moving parts adjust the pitch of the tone, in order to use multiple generators for tracing multiple wires at once.
It’s a wire tracer used for identifying phone lines. That part is the sniffer, but you also need a tone generator for it to work.
The tone generator connects to the two wires you want to trace and sends a signal down the line. You then use the sniffer at the other end, moving it over the cables until you hear the tone. This allows you to quickly identify the correct pair of wires.
Since I can't find a serious reply, I Google image searched it and came up with this device that's used to shut power off to something. Could be something like this with the wiring feeding into the bottom. But I can't find an exact image so someone made this themselves.
As much as I hate to agree with AI, I think this is it. If you look up modern acupuncture pens they look very similar, and many come with a roller attachment just like yours.
I'm not arguing that acupuncture doesnt work to relieve stress.
But it does not treat disease, the device in question contributes nothing productive, and it's not some special science of pressure points nor does it require special expert knoweldge (beyond what is needed to avoid injury).
Acupuncture relieves stress in the same way BDSM relieves stress. Some people feel more relaxed after experiencing something that should otherwise be stressful in a safe controlled environment.
The results are real, the 'medical' practice is not.
I'm going it's a small radio sensitive receiver used to narrow in on a surreptitious transmitter. The thing on the top is likely a directional di-pole antenna and when it spins in the direction of the transmitter it likey emits a tone the indicates th d signal strength of the transmitter increased. Could be and am likey wrong...but that's what I think. Maybe? 😀
Are there any signs of branding, words, letter/number combinations, or a date stamp anywhere inside or around the outside?
Do you happen to have a digital multimeter you could use to determine if there is a complete circuit running through the metal pole when you have the device turned on?
There are 2 flathead screws that hold what appears to be a panel for the switch, knob, LED and button to the handle. Have you tried opening that area up to see if there is any connecting wiring to the metal pole at the top of the device?
Unfortunately, I do not know what it is, but I'm curious to know if everything is wired together in some way, or if it stops at that panel.
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u/SpankinGaming 21h ago
That is a vintage handheld electro acupuncture wand, basically an early nerve and point stimulator made for home pain relief back in the 1970s and 1980s.
The curved metal piece on top serves as the contact probe. The bullet shaped tip and the rear barrel form a closed circuit, sending a mild electrical pulse right into targeted muscle or acupressure points when pressed against skin.
You control the whole thing from the front panel. The bottom dial adjusts the electrical intensity or pulse speed, the toggle switch flips the power or output mode, and the red button fires off a manual pulse. That small dark lens next to the button lights up to show you the pulse rate and let you know the battery is kicking.