Well I finally took a great step this weekend and decided to carefully unwind the 180 foot horizontal aerial I had stowed away for so many years to see what sort of shape it was actually in. Turns out it is pretty much scrap copper as it was in four pieces. Two pieces, each with an insulator link assembly at one end, measured a total of close to 192 feet, which doesn't match any horizontal sizing I could find for these aerials. The wooden reel ended up marked as for a 185 foot aerial. A third piece of the same twisted copper wire was about 15 feet long and ended in a cylinder connector like the one you described, Derek. The last piece of wire was also an uninsulated twisted copper section about 22 feet long ending in a C-shaped connector. At least the reel is in good shape.
Now I am wondering how and where the vertical aerial lead in was connected to the horizontal section of the aerial. From the photos on this thread the vertical lead appears to be an insulated wire, not bare twisted copper and I am guessing that the length of the vertical lead in was probably standard for all lengths of horizontal aerials.
One other side observation. When rewinding the horizontal aerial onto the wooden reel, one must really pay attention to keeping correct tension on the copper wire to prevent it from kinking. I wonder now if the Wireless Operators were trained on that point, or if it was something the Sargent kept to himself for entertainment value?
David
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