TPS, originally Transistorised Power Supplies, was started in the early 1960s by Dane Horgan and David Gemmell to look after the University of Queensland's Physics Department's requirements for power supplies.
The company began to provide power supplies through Townson & Mercer and Selbys, Brisbane's two largest scientific equipment suppliers at the time.

TPS Instruments
A company of firsts
TPS were approached by Townson & Mercer to create a pH meter, something relatively new at the time. Original pH meter designs from TPS used an imported and adjusted multimeter from Japan and a hand lettered readout.
Early on, TPS Designed and manufactured a diverse range of products ranging from research EMG (Electromyography), plant moisture sensors, sugar DI sensors, and automatic chemcial dosers for pools.
TPS has since built upon these humble beginnings, coming to represent Australian quality, world-class expertise, and unparalleled service in the measurement and water quality industry.
Legacy P51 pH Meter
- This image comparison features a TPS legacy pH meter, the P51.
- The left image is from a 1976 TPS brochure, printed 49 years ago.
- The right image is a modern 2025 photo of the unit, which stands in our headquarters in Brisbane.


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What do TPS Instruments Measure?
One of the most fundamental measurements of water quality is pH - a scale of acidity versus alkalinity. Often used in conjunction with other parameters such as EC to determine the health of a body of water, the safety of drinking water, the quality of foods such as meat or cheese, and the performance of industrial solutions.
Regular pH readings are also important for the understanding of the health of natural bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, creeks, and dams.
pH is also used to understand qualities of nutrients in irrigation water from crops as well as runoff from agriculture.
Aquaculture is also a critical use-case for pH monitoring - such as prawn and fish farms, as well as the health of natural water bodies.
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