What's a Telma.

[einarp]

>Is anybody in the U.S. on this list familiar with a "Telma"?  This sounds
>like just the ticket!

It's a recirculating current brake. Popular on large vehicles in areas with
many hills, as there is no parts that wear. They are also very nice on 
slippery roads because their action is very smooth. There may be other brands,
but they tend to be called Telma by the user anyway.

If you take an old car dynamo, short it's output terminals and bring out
the field terminals to an adjustable current source, you have the "Telma" 
principle in a device useable for a Briggs & Stratton. The current consumption
to brake effect ratio is low, as current is only used to build the magnetic
field. The Telma is of course optimized for use as a brake.

Regards
Einar
--
einarp at ade.no  ( Maserati Biturbo Spyder )