Wireless of the Week - week 11
 

Wireless Sets, Canadian No.43 Mk.II entered service in 1944 and is an enhanced version of the 1943 vintage No.43 (no mark) set. It is a high power, mobile transmitting station intended as a general purpose communication unit. It could be used as a ground station or in a 30 cwt ’Lorries, Wireless Special’ which towed a trailer with a generator to power the equipment. It was Canadian designed and built patterned after the British No.12 High Power set and used for communication between formations at the division, brigade and army level.

The main component of the set is the ‘Transmitters Canadian No.43 Mk.II. Its three major sub units (Audio Unit, lower; Master Control Unit, centre and; Final Amplifier Unit, top) were set in a steel case and could be easily removed for service. A fan drew air in through a filter on the rear of the set for cooling. The transmitter was 42” tall, 20-1/2” wide, 23” deep and weighed 271 lbs (which is why I don’t want one even if I found one). Below the transmitter was a ‘Supply Unit Rectifier’ that provided correct voltages to the transmitter and was 15-5/8” tall, 30-1/4” wide and 18-1/4” deep weighing 340 lbs. It was powered by an Onan W2S generator. The receiver unit was a ‘Reception Sets, Canadian V.R.I.’ (V.R.I standing for Vancouver Radio Laboratories) and could be located away from the transmitter. The entire station could be operated remotely using Remote Control Units No.1 (Canadian).

Aerial gear, including ‘F’ sections and 34’ masts, remote units (RCU’s) and even Wireless Set No.19 control units were used. Specialized tools and spares boxes were supplied.

The transmitter covers an AM frequency range between 2 to 12 megahertz in two bands, 2 to 5 MHz and 5 to 12 MHz. It was capable of RT (Radio Telephony or ‘voice’) and WT (Wireless Telegraphy, or ‘morse’) with a range of 50 to 75 miles (RT) as a mobile station. Power required to run the station was 117 volts though a transformer would allow for operating between 105 to 130 volts and also between 220 to 265 volts.

The manual for the 43 set includes warnings and a number of cartoons showing what happens to signalers who ignore them indicating this is a powerful set that can injure or kill if not operated correctly.

I have never seen or heard of a surviving 43 set and would be most interested if anyone knows the whereabouts of one.

Item No. 26
 

Can you ID this item in the group photo, Bruce? Down on the floor, lower right.

David

No.26 under the petrol can? It's a 'Converters Vibrator', model S-1172. It was used to power the reception set, though the reception set could also be plugged directly into a wall socket if the socket was the correct input voltage.

Thank you Bruce, You just solved a 40 year old mystery for me.

I bought one of those converters with it's manual from Westbourne Supply here in Manitoba way back in the 1970's. Had no clue what it was all about but it was green, complete and had a manual, so I had to have it.

I recognize the 43 Set as well. At the time I bought the converter, this surplus dealer had a whole section of his yard filled with surplus radar and communications equipment that had come out of either the Pine Tree Line or a Ssction of the Dew Line. Sitting among all the radar stuff was at least one complete set of all the major bits for one of these 43-Sets. As you mentioned. Hugely heavy and far more than I could deal with in the back of a Pontiac Acadian.

The Converter was built by Electronic Laboratories of Canada Ltd in 1943, Serial Number C 638

The larger electronic stuff sat out side for at least a year and then disappeared. I think somebody bought the lot for scrap.

David

Glad to help. I think between your converter and my switch box, we may have the largest collection of surviving 43 set bits out there.

I will try and post some photos of the Converter and manual in the next few days. Nothing tiny at all about this Wireless Set. The Converter is about the size of two shoe boxes and weighs 42 pounds!


David

You are probably right. There weren't that many made, in the low hundreds.

The earliest mention I can find on this set is 23Jul42 if the date on the first memo is correct. Brigadier Genet is ordering 100 sets for the Canadian Army Overseas (CAO).

It's not until a year later in July 1943 that the equipment scales are amended to use this set to replace the C33 (Maple Leaf set). By this time 69 of the original (not MK II) sets were already in the UK. The CAO though had not accepted the set for use in the ETO.

By August 1943 both SRDE and First Canadian Army Signals had tested the C43 and found the power output lacking. It delivered only 80 watts, not 250 as the spec had required. The interim subs were the RCA 4332, WS12HP & the C33.

By October 1943 the CAO still did not accept the unit but it was released to the British. It wasn't until May 1944 that the production of the MK II sets became available. To modify the early sets for the Brits it was requested to ship them back to Canada.

With so much delay I think both the CAO and the Brits gave up on using it.

Here are the promised photos of the 43-Set Converter and it's manual. I have done no restoration work on it at all other than a general cleaning and electrical check. It works perfectly.

These converters were built both in Canada by Electronic Laboratories of Canada Ltd and in the USA by Electronic Laboratories Inc. The two version are identical other than the differing name on the front data plate and the paint. Canadian converters were finished in Light Khaki Green wrinkle, with the inside of the cover Zinc Chromate Green. The American converters were wrinkle black finish with Zinc Chromate Green under the cover.

Information stencils were added by various components in yellow paint and these were preserved by the military when this converter was repainted Nato Gloss Green sometime postwar.

The vibrators in the converter are MTS-1114's. Two are mounted in sockets on the top of the chassis next to the transformer (which as you will notice, accounts for 3/4's of the weight of this sucker being on the right hand side). The right hand vibrator operates when 12-volt input is used. The left hand vibrator operates when 24-volt input is used. In either option, the alternate vibrator becomes the 'spare'.

Inside the cover are two sets of clips to hold the spare fuses: 15 amp for 24 volt operation and 30 amp for 12 volt operation. The active fuses are held in a mount under an access cover on the left front of the chassis. While one is clipped into the circuit, the second serves as a first line spare. Both must be of the correct amperage for there voltage being worked.

The output power is rated at 117 volts AC. A tap switch provides rated voltage at 75, 100, 125, 150 or 175 watts.

AC frequency is 60 cycles, adjustable over a range from 59 to 61 cycles.

The set has been designed to be RF Noise free over a frequency band of 200 kilocycles to 20 megacycles.


David

Thanks for the pics Dave, that's the first major 43 set component I've seen!!

Here some scans from the manual that show the arrangement of the various parts (including your converter), the 30cwt wireless lorry (a 12 cab Chev no less) and numbered parts to go with the illustration in the first post. Note that Item 1 is a little something for the wife.

Funny how bits and pieces come together to make sense eventually, Bruce.

I will be sure NOT to mention Item 1 to my wife. Guess it was to keep the blower dust free in the back of the transmitter.

I was trying to figure out why this set stuck in my mind from Westbourne so many years ago. While thinking about it I poked a bit on the web for info on the Reception Set Canadian VRL and found an interesting photo of one. It has a very odd green front panel and I think the transmitter must share that point. I could not describe it years ago, but it stuck out like a sore thumb among all the grey colour radar equipment with it's amber CRT's and black hoods. Today I would say it was the colour of a bowl of bad guacamole.

The other interesting bit that surfaced was a 2001 post from the Eddystone Users Group in England where a member had a Reception Set Canadian VRL for sale for 100 Pounds Sterling ONO, complete with it's Converter. That set was apparently dated from 1945. That is probably due to these receivers having a significant life of their own. Bruce M's documents would indicate the full Wireless Set 43 was not long for the world in late 1944, unless things changed rapidly for some reason.

Nice to see a Cab 12 Wireless Truck, or Lorry I guess. They seem to get neglected.

David

Quite correct David. The UK kept all the VRL receivers to be used standalone.
The Canadian Army used them with the C33 xmtr along with the AR88 & HRO.

The photo is my VRL model 250 (the actual model #) in Canadian Army brown/green. I've seen it in grey & orange as well. The SPARC museum near Vancouver has a sample of each as well as a prototype.