Old HP test equipment power connectors...

[tony duell]

> For what it's worth, if you're looking for a C7-ended line cord and
> can't find one, most electric shaver cords will work in a pinch--you may
> have to use a utility knife to deepen the "notch" on the plug, but it
> does work just fine--and most of those are curled cords...

Shaver cords are odd in the UK. Certainly at one time (and I suspect it is still
the case, but I haven't checked) the only socket outlet that could be installed in
a bathroom ('room containing a fixed bath or shower') was a transformer-isolated
shaver socket. These often have both 110V and 220V outlets, either of which would take
either the common US 2 pin mains plug or a 2 pin round-pin plug. The isolating 
transformer is typically rated at 20VA, FWIW [1]

Anyway, electric shavers tend to have a 2 pin round-pin plug on them to fit said
device. You can easily get 'shaver adaptors' which take said plug and go into
a normal UK BS1363 socket so you can shave in other rooms. Oh yes, and most
of the time the cable is tinsel wire (thin copper strands round a string core, like
old telephone handset cables) so re-wiring to a different plug is a pain.

But almost all shavers sold over here now run off internal rechargeable batteries. Why
I do not know. It's not as if the cable is a major problem (unlike having a battery that is
flat when you need it and which has a limited life anyway). Amazingly the chargers that
come with these shavers have the 2 round pins to fit a shaver socket. Quite why you 
need to be able to charge it in a bathroom is beyond me, but...

[1] At one point one of the pound shops (==dollar stores) over here had some 
shaver sockets for sale. Obviously bankrupt stock or something like that. Put it 
this way, a nice little 20VA isolating transformer with a secondary tapped at 110V
and 220V has a lot of uses. And generally costs more than a pound...

-tony