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RCA WA-44C Sine/Square Audio Signal Generator
RCA Corporation
manufacturer
United States
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manufacturer
RCA Corporation
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Maintenance & repair
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Signal
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dial
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logo
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text
The RCA WA-44C Sine/Square Audio Signal Generator has a spotted, dark grey metal case. The face of the generator is silver with a variety of adjustable knobs and connectors: FREQ RANGE, SINE/SQUARE, LINE FREQ OUTPUT, OUTPUT, LINE FREQ, and OUTPUT. The knobs and connectors are blue plastic with a single tab to point at desired setting and a line of silver around edge of knobs. In the center there is a metal dial with black notches on top half. The dial begins with 20 and goes up to 200 and is adjusted with blue plastic knob at bottom. There is a red light above the LINE FREQ connectors and a RCA logo on opposite side. There are slit vents on left and right sides, as well as small circular vents on bottom. On the top of the audio generator, there is a black plastic handle attached with silver hinges and brackets. There is a black, two-pronged power cord wrapped around the handle brackets.
The generator is designed for general radio work, and other applications which require a sine or square wave audio-frequency signal. The instrument is ac operated from 50-60 cycle, 105-125 volt source, and covers a range from 20 cps to 200,000 Hz. This wave generator can be used for a wide variety of applications, including the direct measurement of frequency response characteristics of audio amplifiers, and the testing of loudspeakers and enclosures. In addition, the WA-44C can be used in finding the impedance of LC combinations, and in determining the frequency or speed of vibrating or rotating bodies.
This collection was donated by George Taniwaki, son of Michio Taniwaki (1926-2017).
Michio was a long-time Denver resident with a passion for analog electronics. Mitch, to his friends, was born in Alameda, California on May 30, 1926. In the depth of the depression, his family moved from Haywood, California back to Susaki, Japan where the family owned a farm. While still in high school, Mitch started his own radio repair business. As World War 2 was winding down, even though he was an American citizen, Mitch was drafted into the Japanese army. He was placed into a radio communications group stationed in Hiroshima. He was there on the day the atom bomb was dropped and has written and spoken about his experiences. After the war (1953), Mitch returned to the U.S., got married, and moved to Denver. Over his career, he worked for some well-known local electronics firms, including Ward Terry & Co., Valas TV, NBI, and Outbound Systems. He and his wife of 59 years, Hisae, raised two sons (George and James).
See accession file for more information about Michio Taniwaki and Taniwaki family history.,
RCA:
The RCA brand is one of the oldest and well known brands in the consumer electronics industry. The brand was derived from an acronym for the company Radio Corporation of America, which was a major electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today (2019), VOXX Intl owns the RCA brand for its accessory and several audio video product lines. The company's roots are in the broadcast industry with early product focus on the marketing of GE and Westinghouse's radio equipment.
Business and financial conditions led to RCA's takeover by GE in 1986 and its subsequent break-up. GE then sold the rights to make RCA and GE brand consumer electronics products, notably television sets, to the French Thomson Consumer Electronics. Thomson sold the rights to the brand to Audiovox Corporation, first for consumer accessory products and then two years later for consumer audio and video products excluding televisions. Today's RCA products are marketed by Audiovox Accessories.
Taniwaki, Michio "Mitch," 1926-2017
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Denver (Colo.)
Front panel, engraved and painted: AUDIO GENERATOR / WA-44C; FREQ RANGE / CYCLES/SECOND; SINE/SQUARE / ATTENNUATOR; LINE FREQ OUTPUT / PWR OFF; OUTPUT; LINE FREQ; OUTPUT; RCA [logo]
Stamp, back, lower right quadrant: SER No. 4797
Please see object for more dial details.
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