From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 17 - June 1994
See Home Page at http://www.ivymag.org


Free Scientology Meters

By Antony A Phillips, Denmark

I was the first staff member in Publications Org(1).

For a few minutes(2)I was senior to the E-Meter production line(3).
In the E-meter sphere we knew that Rons
order was that each scientology country should produce its own
E-meters.
We knew or surmised that Ron thought that a government might shut
down E-meter production, or confiscate all E-meters (as had been done
in Washington a decade earlier). Meters were (and are) essential
for the delivery of much scientology tech. Barry Pemberthy was the
man who for many years was the person who actually did the work on
the production of meters, tested them, repaired them, handled
manufacturers
who alterissed them (there was tendency to do that) and knew the
sources of the various components. His seniors, such as I, knew far
less.

While I was in the church, scientology was practiced in many
countries,
but meters were produced in just two, England and USA.

The scene is different now. In the free scientology world there is
meter production in many countries. In the free scientology world
communication does not seem to be quite so good, and I have heard
rumours (almost certainly true) of meter production in some countries,
but have not been able to get addresses confirmed. The church did
try and create a reign of terror against all they regarded as
squirrels,
and it has had a detrimental effect on some people's willingness to
communicate. Who wants to attract the attention of the church?
We do well without them!

I have seen a number of different Free scientology meters from two
English manufacturers, one Dutch and one Australian. In all cases
their price is cheaper than the church's, and, so far as I can tell,
the components and construction are better (I compare with old
meters -
we would hope that with honest competition the church has bettered
its products - that really is the advantage of competition to
the consumer).

There have also been innovations in E-meter design. The Bilateral
meter has been described in IVy 14, page 10, a meter with a
screen (instead of needle) read out has been displayed at conferences,
and I have heard of others in the USA.

Ability 3

Perhaps because of having seen at first hand Barry Pemberthys precise
workmanship, I choose for my self his Ability 2 meter. Like the
majority
of free scientology meters (and conversions of church meters) that
I have seen, the needle movement lacks the 8 to 12 overswings (in
coming to rest) which were standard in church meters (part of the
test they had to pass). Consequently easier to read. There was an
optical/electronic tone arm counter which lacked the tendency to
inaccuracy
which the friction driven one had.

Some years ago Barry said he would produce a meter without a tone
arm, where you read the pcs tone arm position on a digital read out,
and the needle automatically swung back to set when it reached either
end of the dial. Despite my previous respect for Barry, I began to
wonder whether he was going a bit weak in the head. I had heard quite
a bit about how electronically minded people tried to 'improve' the
meter, and in fact made it worse.

At a conference in England in the spring last year, I saw the Ability
3, Barry's Tonearmless E-meter. When I went back to auditing with
the Ability 2, I became very conscious of the amount of attention
I had to give to moving the Tone Arm so the needle came back to set,
and not another place. Attention I felt belonged to the preclear.
I sold my Ability 2 and ordered an Ability 3. And was glad when I
got it.

Used with a preclear, I set it up so that I push one of three buttons
(either side of the meter, or at the end of a lead) when I want to
send the needle to set. This is because I can not tell when the
preclear
will make a sudden body movement, and if the preclear does this, the
needle will be returned to set, and give an extra (false) addition
to the Tone Arm Counter reading.

When solo auditing, I set the meter so that it automatically resets
when it reaches either edge of the dial, and I just note the tone
arm position on my work sheet.

Conclusion.

In free scientology there are a number of sources of good meters.
It is a good idea to communicate around a bit if you want a good
meter. Incidentally, in Denmark at least, old church meters are pretty
easy to get. Following is a list of E-meter suppliers I know of. It
is by no means complete.

(1)Along with something
like 50 others. An LRH Executive Directive came out on the 1st January
1967 transferring us all from posts in Saint Hill (East Grinstead)
and World Wide to the newly formed Publications Department World Wide,
later Pubs Org.

(2)Well, actually some weeks


(3)My title was Director of Production Manufacture,
the head of Department 9 on our special seven division org board,
responsible for mass production of Pubs Orgs products. Department
8, Department of Production Activities was responsible for design,
art work, proofing, editing, of the books, meters, tapes and insignia,
which Pubs Org produced.





Mon Jul 31 18:01:06 EDT 2006