History

How did we get to the power generator?

Where does the device actually come from?

And where does the name "Tamagotchi" come from?

Before it goes to the technology, these questions should first be answered.

How did we get to the unit?

The generator is not from the THW. It is a donation of the company Scholpp (specialist for work with heaviest loads). In 1994 the company Scholpp opened a branch in Chemniz. On that local area there was the generator and it was doing his lonely existence. Since Chemniz did not find any use for the generator, it was brought to Stuttgart on a low loader. There it was put into trial run; but noboday could not use the device there either.

An employee of the company living in Leonberg immediately recognized the possibility of leaving the generator to the THW. An appointment for the visit was made and it was inspected. At the time, however, the whole generator did not look nearly as good as it does today. Unfortunately, there is only one image from the newspaper at that time. Despite everything, we have decided to bring the generator to Leonberg. The company Scholpp wanted to donate the generator, so we can definitely try it once. If it is not running, there would still be the possibility of scraping the "thing".

Luckily this did not happen! We did a few trial runs and it was as clear as day that the genset stayed with us and we wanted to make it really great again. There was also a volunteer, who agreed to take over the work. Since that moment, "Me and my Tamagotchi" is a really sticky film of grease, drip oil, and everything else that makes a generator go away.

Where did the name "Tamagotchi" come from?

The first big use of our new generator was during a joint weekend exercise with the Red Cross Leonberg. We provided the power supply for all tents and the floodlighting with the generator. It was then turned off overnight. The next morning, I checked all the moving parts, if maybe something has loosened. Of course, I also checked the oil level. During all this time, I was watched by a team mate and then said at breakfast only: "Marten is the only person in the world with a 5 tons Tamagotchi."

Thus, enough laughter was provided and the term Tamagotchi from that moment firmly connected to our generator.

Technology

The power generator was not brand new when we got it. Rather, there was a lot to be done to make the technology fit for the new millennium. What special features there are and what we have rebuilt is described below and in the following chapters.