Fullerphone details needed
 

I have a pair of 1943 Northern Electric Canada production Fullerphones in really great shape, with the exception they have both been repainted in typical postwar Cdn Army gloss green.

Can anyone post some detail photos showing what and where the factory original stencils were on the outside of the cases? Not sure how long Northern Electric made these items in Canada. I have only ever seen 1943 dated ones with serial numbers in the 1,700 to 1,800 range.

David

Here's my 1941 Fullerphone, serial C-329, so rather at the start of production.

I have a 1943 dated N.E. unit also painted like yours (lousy brush job).

I can see on the bottom the original stencil if I hold it to a light at the right angle.
The letters were raised and it reads in approx. 1/2" type:

FULLERPHONE
TYPE IV >|<
(CANADIAN)

The font was pretty basic, square forms to the letters.

fullerphone
 

very similar to my own...some time ago one sold on ebay to a swiss museum for £600.00 GBP...and now I see on milweb a complete 38 set for £650.00GBP my collection must be worth a small fortune!!!! :giveupbest regards form a cold and foggy north-northumberland ...malcolm

Found this on the web. This is what my set looks like. Similar to Bruce P.'s set but missing the YA number.

Hey, Bruce...does that Fullerphone look familiar to me?

Great photos, everyone! Thanks. I should not have a problem scaling an appropriate font from them.

A quick question you have raised, however, is what are 'YA' numbers and how do these relate (if at all) to 'ZA' numbers?

Hmmm. I guess, technically, that is two questions.

David

YA are to do with telephony and ZA are to do with wireless.

These are VAOS numbers, Vocabulary of Army Stores.

There are sources on the net that list what the various numbers are.

I had a closer look at the side of the box where original markings should be and lo and behold, they are still visible under the postwar paint. Three lines as per the photo Bruce M posted. No sign of the "YA Line" at the very top. Also noticed Northern Electric also made the headphone assemblies (two metal head band style) and the Buzzer Mk. F pieces as well.

Both units were made in 1943, about 100 numbers apart in Serial Numbers, but the schematic plates inside the back of the boxes are different. Looks like more than one manufacturer may have been involved in the manufacture of the wooden cases.


David

Bruce P
 

Just noticed the tool mounted on the strap of your Fullerphone. What is it? I have seen a lot of those straps, nearly always fastened to Signals equipment like RCU's, Fullerphones etc and wondered what the three small canvas loops and the small adjustable canvas strap secured. I think the strap has a YA number on it (YA 1532 or 1632) sometimes stamped in black. Don't think I have run across a maker code or date on any and some are completely blank. Both my Fullerphones have these straps. One has the YA stamp only and the other is blank. The small buckled straps on both have a reddish dipped end to keep it from fraying. May need to find a few more if them.

David

Fuller phone
 

http://www.wftw.nl/ful.html

Every thing you need to know about the fuller phone.
The tool is actually the ground spike for the L 2 terminal on the phone as the fuller operates on a 1 wire system.

Thanks, Roberta.

The detail bits for wireless equipment never ceases to amaze me. In these parts, I have never seen a fullerphone sold with a ground spike, so I guess somewhere there must be boxes of them waiting to be discovered.

David

Here's one on ebay
Fullerphone

Ahah! A Mark V.

Never seen one in person, but somehow over the years I seem to have acquired a set of headphones for a Mark V. Supported by an adjustable canvas head band and a single wire strap about the same gauge as a coat hanger. The backs of each headphone are marked:

D.L.R.
No. 5
I.T.BA5

Totally surplus to my needs, so if someone is in need, let me know.

Cheers for now,


David

They're a general-purpose headset and issued with all manner of kit (most receivers, e.g. R107, R109, the various remote control units, wavemeters, et cetera).

As for what all the letters/numbers mean...

D L R = "D" type insert, low resistance coils.
No.5 = the fifth version/type of the headset - the earlier ones had metal headbands and were impossible to wear under a helmet.

I.T.B.A.5 = Insert, Telephone, Balanced Armature, type 5 (the actual earpiece assembly).

Fullerphones normally came with CLR headsets (different earpiece) which were somewhat lighter weight and (I think) folded up flatter so they would fit in the case easily.

Both were fitted with the No.9 jack plug (the one with the wide collar at the bakelite end, and the purpose of that was to prevent them being accidentally plugged into microphone sockets (for the No.3 carbon microphone) where they would silently discharge the battery).

Chris.

They've probably been mostly melted down for scrap by now, but the basic design was still in service up to the 1990s and may still be around. (It did, however get dramatically cheapened over time.) Top to bottom: Modern (cheap & nasty) bent mild steel rod with sprayed zinc coating that comes off easily. Next two are 1942 Canadian manufacture to the original specification: machined square bar with the crosspiece made from some of the turned bar welded on and then ground flush with the sides, terminal is (I think) 2BA, properly countersunk and with a wire loop retainer for the knurled nut. Bottom one is WW2 British mass production, bent square bar but still with the properly fitted terminal.The mottled effect on the Canadian pins is the remnant of hardened preservative, the British pins are just oxidised, probably mostly from the blacksmithing process.

Chris.

One reason for that is because the fullerphone wasn't used in the same way as during WW1; it was mainly intended for static warfare in the "danger zone" where earth return circuits could be easily intercepted using a couple of earth pins and an amplifier. For WW2 things were a lot more fluid and the forward positions mainly used Telephone Set 'D' with twin cable if possible (in India they were restricted to earth return circuits a lot due to cable shortages and the speed of the advance). One major use of the fullerphone was on "phantom" circuits between headquarters and signal centres for passing routine (and coded) traffic. (Using a "Superposing transformer" you can piggyback a DC telegraphy (fullerphone or teleprinter) on top of a speech circuit without mutual interference. The ideal setup is two 2-wire circuits, followed by 2 wires and an earth return, with the last resort being the fullerphone in series with the telephone on a single wire and earth.

The 10-line UC switchboard had an optional "superposing unit 3 transformer" that allowed 3 fullerphone or teleprinter circuits to be piggybacked on any of the 10 lines (1 per line, naturally!).

Chris.

Chris
 

Thanks for taking the time to decode the headsets and for posting the photo of the ground spikes. I will certainly recognize them now if they show up at flea markets and swap meets.

At a first glance, they look a bit like tent pegs. Wonder how many got sold for that in surplus shops after the war?

David

They're a bit to heavy for that! (I wouldn't like to carry 10 of them plus a tent any distance.)

I did recently discover why the sticks that my parents/grandparents used to support chrysanthemums in the garden were (a) tapered and (b) had a small screw about halfway up; It also made me _very_ annoyed because I had been looking for some for a very long time: the staff for Flags, Signalling, Small! The sticks were long gone, but I found a stock of new ones at the War & Peace show this year, so was well pleased. (I already had the white with blue stripe flags to fit them.)

Chris.

If you have a lathe and welding facilities, they should not be that difficult to reproduce from 1/2" square mild steel bar.

Chris.

Chris.

Lacking said equipment, I would more likely try and find one original Canadian spike and take it to a local Technical College to be cloned in their metal shop. The instructors are always looking for meaningful projects for the students to work on. Cost is materials only and perhaps a favorite beverage bottle for the instructor.

No rush on it, Chris, but if there are any markings on the Canadian one you have, can you post what they are?

David

I had to reduce the resolution on that photograph, but you can just make out the markings.

The two Canadian pins are hand-stamped MCA over 1942, and I think some of the British ones were simply stamped with the stores code: YA 1152, but I'll check that.

I'll also see about some decent measurements of the pins when I get a spare moment.

Chris.