Hella police alarm horn fanfare switch

Vintage Hella police alarm horn fanfare switch in very good condition.

I tested the switch and it is working like a champ. This rare switch was mounted in the 50ies in German police, fire and ambulance VWs like VW Oval Bug and T1 Fire bus. It works like an egg clock. So when the sequence switch is on, the high low fanfare horns are on.

The chrome is very good and without dents. The knob is good and working. The case is also good and without dents. In total is looks like new old stock. The rear diameter is 5,5 cm, the front face diameter is 6,5 cm and the knob diameter is 4,0 cm.

The last picture shows the switch in the Hella 1954 catalog. The name in German is "Schaltautomat and Hella made three different. The switch for sale is Hella # 91/31. It has on the chrome face number 1, 2, 3, 4. Depending on the setting the fire or police signal runs 1 to 4 times.

You can connect 3 cables to the switch. One ground cable and behind a cover are 2 screw terminal connectors which are marked on top of the cover with “H” and “T”.

H is in German for “hoch” for the high tone horn wire, e.g. for a 520 hz horn.
T is in German for “tief” for the low tone horn wire, e.g. for a 390 hz horn.

I tested the switch very simple with 1x battery, 2x bulb and the 1x Hella switch:
-Bulb 1: Bulb Ground cable (-) to Hella Switch “H / HOCH”. Bulb Power cable (+) to Battery (+)
-Bulb 2: Bulb Ground cable (-) to Hella Switch “T / TIEF”. Bulb Power cable (+) to Battery (+)
-Hella Switch: Hella Switch Ground cable (-) to Battery (-)
-I then used the switch and the lights of the bulbs was switched on and off in a certain sequence.

If you put horns behind the switch, you will listen to the special police fire sound. So cool! A very nice to have toy. Please note that if you want to use the switch with two horns, you need also two relays. As you can see on the last picture in the Hella catalog 1954, Hella sold relays called “Doppel Relais für Polizei, Feuerwehr mit Schaltautomat”. So they had special relays for the rare Hella switch in German know as “Schaltautomat”. 

Please note: The rear mount bracket is not included. It is a simple U-profile bracket as you can see. The bracket is still visible in the pictures but not included because I sold it. The important super special parts on the rear, e.g. the cover is included, only the simple U-profile bracket is missing.