Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Startling High Voltage Reindeer Head Wall Light

Reindeer head wall light with gap leaping high voltage illumination
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The Startling High Voltage Reindeer Head Wall Light arrives in several parts. On opening the box, one's initial reaction will be to look for the rest of the antlers, which appear to be rather stubby, and devoid of the usual twisting horny features. A further search of the contents reveals a clear mounting plate, pre-drilled with a number of holes and a set of electrical contact nodules.

The instructions tell you to fix the mounting plate to the wall and plug it into the mains electric either by tracking the wall to hide the cable, or by using the trailing lead, if you are lazy.

You then are advised to attach the reindeer head to the mounting plate, and place as many of the contact nodules into the holes provided around the plate's periphery as you want.

You may now stand back and switch on your new Startling High Voltage Reindeer Head Wall Light.

On activation a step up transformer hidden inside the reindeer's head begins to distribute high voltage power via a rotating cam to a series of contacts at the tips of the stubby antlers.

On reaching these terminal points, tongues of electricity leap randomly across the gaps and unto the receiving nodules, completing the circuits, and also visually completing the antlers.

The resulting blue glow illuminates the surrounding room.

Nodules can be repositioned (with the light in the off position) from time to time to vary the pattern.

A small tray is provided that sits discretely on the floor, below the head, in order to catch the grilled remnants of any flies unfortunate enough to be attracted to the light.

Ozone may also be collected from the ceiling area, and bottled for future use.

xenzag, Apr 17 2007

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       You can also make extremely fuzzy x-ray pictures of the startled audience if you have suitable film (or probably some kind of digital sensor) the other side of the room.
Cosh i Pi, Apr 17 2007
  

       I have a Players Please neon sign that works using this method and it's been turning for over 50 years without a problem... very simple, reliable technology, which also makes a nice buzzing sound as the sparks arc the gap between the cam and the spider of contacts, distributing the power to each of the letters of the sign in turn.
xenzag, Apr 17 2007
  

       Contact points work better at high voltages and low current than vice versa. High currents are what cause burnt contact points. Although to be strictly accurate, it's interrupting high currents flowing through high inductances, which results in both high current and high voltage (hence high power) for a short period.
Cosh i Pi, Apr 17 2007
  

       I know at least 20 people who would buy this.
shapu, Apr 17 2007
  

       //I know at least 20 people who would buy this.// That should be an HB tagline
MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 17 2007
  
      
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