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awemawson:
I’ve a couple of Avo 8’s but my ex WD Avo 40 recently died from a fatal fall onto concrete

Pete W.:

--- Quote from: awemawson on October 08, 2020, 04:38:53 PM ---I’ve a couple of Avo 8’s but my ex WD Avo 40 recently died from a fatal fall onto concrete

--- End quote ---

I, too, have an AVO 8. The 15 volt dry battery (high ohms range??) is getting a bit hard to find these days. I seem to remember seeing mention of a third party DC-to-DC converter to generate the 15 Volts from the accompanying 1.5 Volt U2 cell (aka D-cell). How it was switched on and off remains a mystery to me!

I rarely use the AVO 8 these days - I have a Fluke 8020A. My Bank Manager lent me the money to buy it. :D :D :D One problem with the early 8020A instruments was that the LCD display got 'poisoned' and lost legibility. Fluke ran a scheme whereby, for a reasonable fee, they would replace the display with an improved version and re-calibrate the instrument. That was many, many years ago and the replacement display is still going strong.

I remember lots of folklore concerning RAF AVOs being 'destroyed' (or maybe not?) after the 1939-1945 war but that might be considered as off-topic! As might attempts to trace the evolution of AVOs' manufacturers - Douglas, Automatic Coil Winders, AVO Ltd., Marconi Instruments et al!

awemawson:
I've been fond of Avo's ever since I was a school in the CCF signals Unit. And when I found that the father of one of my school friends was a Director of Avo I had high hopes - sadly not achieved - of liberating one. He did however arrange a personal trip round their 'factory' in Vauxhall Bridge Road London (mid 1960's) which was a collection of substantial terrace houses knocked together at several levels.

I remember that the Douglas Coil Winders were being assembled in the basement, but also in use winding the non-inductive precision resistors - quite a hive of industry.

Shorty after that they moved to Dover, and I persuaded my parents to buy me the Avo 40 for Christmas from a small ad in the Evening Standard.

Pete W.:
Like many companies in the electronics industry, the company I was working for between 1966 and 1980 suffered a high 'shrinkage rate' for AVOs. There were lots of people who claimed to be able to provide me with an AVO on-the-cheap. However, these offers all dried up when I asked if the deal would include proof of ownership! I wanted to be able to deploy my AVO in public with confidence. I eventually bought a new AVO 8 for £32.50 from Watts' Radio in the Apple Market, Kingston-upn-Thames. I've probably still got the bill somewhere - I must remind myself of its date.

Some years later, Taylor Instruments had the same parent company as the then proprietors of AVO (I guess Marconi Instruments?). A Taylor sales representative came to discuss panel meters for a current project. In conversation, he said that when Taylor's manufacturing load was droopy, they'd be tasked with making a batch of AVOs to 'fill the hole'. He displayed the salesman's consummate skill in keeping a straight face while he assured us that 'of course, a Taylor AVO is better than an AVO AVO'!!! :D :D :D

modeng200023:
"Watts' Radio in the Apple Market"

This brings back good memories :clap:

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