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Paton Electrical Pty Ltd manufactured electronic test equipment, under the brand name Palec, from 1938 to the 1950s. It was established by Fred Paton and located at 90 Victoria St, Ashfield, NSW, Australia.

History

Fred Paton who grew up in Bowral NSW and then trained as an apprentice in wireless at the Maritime Wireless Company of Randwick. He became a field engineer in Gallipoli and France during the First World War, and was injured by shrapnel. As a disabled veteran he established a radio receiver manufacturing company in his home in Ashfield Sydney NSW in 1929. After 1932 a short-lived partnership was established with Charles Slade of Slade Radio. They manufactured vacuum tube testers, oscillators and signal generators and multimeters. The partnership was dissolved in 1935.

Paton Electric was set up as company in 1938. The factory was built into and around Paton's home, consisted of the office, an instrument shop and a machine shop, and had at least half-a-dozen staff. In the 1940s the company mainly produced meter movements for its multimeters and a Valve and Circuit Tester (VCT). They continued to produce electrical test instruments into the 1950s and after the death of Fred Paton. Soon after the company succumbed to cheap import lines "which failed to win the acceptance of the local product" and the company was merged with University Graham to become University Paton which still exists.

In 1938 Fred Paton made a submission to an enquiry on import tariffs that company's like Paton Electrical were of strategic importance to Australia^[1].

In 1938 the Sydney Morning Herald reported a fire at Paton Electrical^[2]^[3].

Products

Paton Electrical produced a range of electronic equipment including:

Multimeters
Vacuum Tube Testers
Power Meters
Oscillators
Light meters
Camera Flash
Meters
Insulation Testers

References

Australian Vintage Radio
VCT Instruction Booklet (Powerhouse Museum)
Company Letterhead, 1946 (Australian Vintage Radio)
Fred Paton: from screwdriver and pliers to purpose-built test equipment, Electronics Australia, Dec 1993, p42
Williams, N. (1994). Australia's Radio Pioneers: How Australia's radio industry began and who made it all happen. Sydney: Federal Publishing, p113-133

^ Frederick Paton's submission on tariffs, The Argus (Melbourne), Thursday 8 December 1938
^ Fire, The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 28 February 1938
^ http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/11152131?searchTerm=paton+electrical Factory Saved By Woman And Maid, The Argus, Monday 28 February 1938

[1] Frederick Paton's submission on tariffs, The Argus (Melbourne), Thursday 8 December 1938

[2] Fire, The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 28 February 1938

[3] ttp://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/11152131?searchTerm=paton+electrical Factory Saved By Woman And Maid, The Argus, Monday 28 February 1938

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