Whazzit, some kind of dynamo?
Yep, a dynamo
Dubya-dubya-dubya says it's women at BASF gas powered powerhouse, 1917. You may know that the number of poles and RPM of the device, whether motor or generator, determines the frequency, IE what we know as 60hz line power. It wasn't always that way, even all around the U.S. and certainly not across the world. But moreover, there used to be huge hi power RADIO FREQUENCY transmitters, that were mechanically driven just as these are here--------just more poles generates higher frequency.
This.................
The
Alexanderson Transmitter design dates back to around 1910, before any of the newfangled tube technology had been invented. Weighing in at around 50 tons, the monster powering the
Varberg Radio Station is essentially a high-speed alternator — a generator that puts out 17.2 kHz instead of the 50-60 Hz that the electric companies give us today.
Now 17.2kHz (back then, kc, or kilo-cycles) is not very high, barely out of the audio range and into the RF range. But it IS RF
This is quite a read if you get time
Grimeton Radio Station - Wikipedia