British General Electric

British General Electric
"Sole Australian Representatives of the General Electric Co. Ltd. of England" Logo restoration done by Aaron P. (airin'pringles)
Headquarters	388 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Founded	≥1909
Defunct	1960s?

British General Electric (B.G.E.) was an agency of the General Electric Company (GEC) of Coventry, West Midlands, England. GEC was a major industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defense electronics, communications, and engineering. B.G.E., founded no later than 1909, was a part of the GEC's rapid domestic and international expansion in the early 20th century—it was the sole representative of the GEC in Australia amongst agencies established in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, and India. B.G.E. primarily did business in the markets of radio sets and household appliances like vacuum tubes; during World War II, B.G.E. was commissioned to supply air raid sirens (assembled by numerous corporations and licensed to B.G.E. under partnership, a common practice for the company) to warn the public of incoming Axis air raids. After the war, the sirens fell out of use and B.G.E. took on other business ventures for the remainder of its existence. The agency had distributors and facilities in Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Launceston, and Townsville by 1954. B.G.E. was likely eliminated in the mid-to-late 1960s when the GEC's new managing director Arnold Weinstock made cutbacks and instigated mergers in a drive for efficiency, resulting in new growth for the company. The GEC itself was eventually broken up by 2006 and is now BAC Systems and Telent, while B.G.E.'s former headquarters at "Magnet House" 388 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 is now occupied by several businesses.

Products

Dual rotor siren

B.G.E. produced a unique vertical dual rotor siren, which has a distinctive appearance. This siren uses a dual rotor design, with the top rotor being 12-port, and the bottom rotor being 14-port. This results in a 12/14 port siren. The siren runs on a 3HP dual sided AC motor, which runs at 2880RPM, 50hz, and was designed for three-phase AC. The siren was produced by several different companies, but all were supplied by B.G.E.. Since the siren runs at 50hz, the siren resembles a 10/12 siren when operating. The siren heavily resembles a dual rotor Fedelcode or XT22 with the housing removed.

Single rotor siren

WIP