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Old 09-25-2010, 04:41 PM
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Kiwick Kiwick is offline
slave to 3 equines
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Italy
Posts: 448
Here in Italy, before the nationalization of the electric distribution network in the mid 60s, we had 3 voltages: 125, 160 and 220v 50 Hz, some rural areas also had DC power systems based on small hydro plants, usually 48 or 125 Vdc

also some homes were supplied with both 160 and 220v (160 for lighting, 220v for appliances) as they were derived from the same 220v 3-phase system

Due to this, most of our vintage electronics have a voltage selector with at least three selectable voltages: 125-160-220v
Even the smallest cheapest tube radios always have a built in autotransformer to allow for different voltages.

Today we mostly have 220v single phase and 380v 3-phase athough some areas have already moved to the new European standard of 230v single phase and 400v 3-phase
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