My father in law goes to clock shows, and recently gave us this piece. It has a lever on the back that you push to wind the spring, and then the gear turns one complete revolution. It also has what looks like two electrical switches. One is closed when stopped and opens while the gear turns, the other is open when stopped but gets pulsed by the gear as it rotates: 4 pulses in a row, then a pause, then 7 more pulses followed by a longer period closed before finally opening again.
So my question for all you creative minds out there: what is this thing? Some kind of SETI communicator for steampunk aliens? An exotic binary-inspired egg timer? What?
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