[David Dunlop]

So far this morning, it has been far too dull and overcast to provide the sunlight needed for further polishing of the Sender front panel. There is a bright side to this, however.

When we returned from some errands yesterday afternoon, a REELS, Cable, No. 2 Mk II, I had found, was waiting in the mail. One of the two possible versions shipped with the Wireless Set No. 52 Kits, by Canadian Marconi.

According to the manuals, these REELS are normally shipped empty, with a separate, larger wooden spool of wire also included. Wire is drawn from the wooden spool and wound onto the REELS as needed.

This particular REELS came with wire already fitted, and from what I can see, it would appear to have been professionally wound onto this reel. The starting end of the wire passed through the small hole and is fitted with the two connector terminals shown. These both have claw crimps and have been soldered in place as well. About six inches aft of the terminal connectors, a rubber guard has been fitted over the cable to prevent the twist from unwinding. The terminals and rubber guard have been removed from the free end of the cable. I trimmed those ends back about ¼-inch to confirm the specs for the cable. The wooden block has been fitted to the inner part of the REELS to prevent the cable from relaxing off the hub. Originally, I think the free end would have been passed through the elongated hole in the side plate and tied off with light cotton twine to secure it.

What I would like to find out is the correct identification of this cable, what it was used for and if it is wartime or postwar in nature.

The core of the cable is 16 ga stranded copper wire. It has a rubber sheath and a woven cotton loom, either khaki tan or light army green in colour and possibly a clear coat of some sort added as well. As noted earlier, the cable has been assembled as a twisted pair.

My current thought on use is either phone line or wireless remote control line.

David