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Originally Posted by David Dunlop
One of the items issued with the Remote Receiver and stocked in its Operating Case was a 100 foot coil of antenna wire; Wire, Electrical, R4, Mk 1. Next to impossible to find today under that specific identification. A little over a year ago, however, I stopped searching for the official military named product and started searching the internet using the actual description of the cold draw, stranded copper wire, provided in the Master Parts List for the 52-Set.
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How detailed was the description? (Somewhere I have the UK Military Specification for Wire, Electrical, R4 (and the heavier R7 type), and it may still be a current item - though it will be for specialist uses and a controlled item due to its scrap value.)
Quote:
Not only did I discover this product is still alive and well and in production, but 100 foot coils can still be purchased from a number of Amateur Radio suppliers in the United States, or directly from the primary manufacturer, Davis RF, also in the USA. Most pricing falls in the low to mid $20.00 USF range but pay attention to shipping costs. Some will hit four times the value of the goods, or more.
I picked up my order in Pembina, North Dakota today and was delighted to find the coil was wound to within one quarter inch in diameter of the size of the coil illustrated in the Master Parts List. The weight of this coil comes in at 1.375 pounds and it was nice to finally have one of the items stored in the left side compartment of the Operating Case, actually in place.
David
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That seems to have a shorter lay (i.e. rather faster twist rate) than the UK version, which was issued in 41-yard packets (a quarter-wavelength at the lowest frequency likely to be used) for making up or extending/repairing issued aerials. I'll see what I can dig out, but I think it was "one inch lay", or 12 turns per foot. I may be able to turn up the stores code and NSN, but these will not be for the WS52 "100-ft coil".
The "ready made" aerials seem to have been constructed without much attention to detail: I've got at least one where the first section (of something intended to replace the "set of six" wire aerials) is ten feet too long - making it unusable for the intended role. (One of the other sections is ten feet short, so it's a cutting error during manufacture, but it won't match any settings provided on the standard tuning charts - this may be why it survived WW2.)
Best regards,
Chris.