Unboxing the Venner TSA240 Digital Timer

My latest test gear purchase, a Venner Digital Timer Type TSA240. I took a chance with this one because I didn't know what kind of digital display it had. Was it Nixie tubes? 7-segment LED or Panaplex? Well, I was pleased to find out that it has a four-digit projection display based on ten incandescent light bulbs per digit.

The date code on an SN7400 NAND gate chip revealed that this timer was made in 1975. I didn't have the right test gear set up to make it count, so that'll be in another video.

Venner was a British company based in New Malden in Surrey. They made electromechanical timeswitches for the red telephone kiosks, to switch on the lighting at night. They also made test gear such as frequency counters and oscillators.