RCAF Wireless/Communications Equipment

[David Dunlop]

Does anyone know if the RCAF maintains a museum anywhere dedicated to this equipment, or do they have a Directorate of History anywhere that would have references to equipment used/manuals for same?

I have an ex-RCAF Communications Receiver, which RCA ID'd as an AR88LF for the Army during World War II. The identical receiver in RCAF use was known as the GR-17 Communications Receiver. This set was built exclusively by RCA Canada in their Montreal plant during the war. The set would have been issued with an RCA published manual for the AR88LF, but apparently the RCAF also produced their own manual for the same set. This RCAF Manual was identified as:

EO 35BB-5GR-17-x

GENERAL PURPOSE COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVER INSTRUCTIONS


I haven't a clue how to decode the alphanumeric reference other than it contains the GR-17 ID and the last two characters '-x' would relate to the version/edition.

I have only seen a few very old thermal transfer onion skin photocopy pages from this manual. It would appear to be an 8.5" x 11" looseleaf format that included some update pages from 10 April 1961 and 23 May 1961 coded EO 35BB-5GR-17-7.

The RCAF used some of these sets in an Intercept Monitoring Station close to the Whitehorse Airport during the war and probably into the Cold War at some point.

David

[Bruce MacMillan]

Hi Dave,

Have you tried VE3CWM at the Diefenbunker? They have a working GR17 on display and may have a manual.

Bruce

[Bob Carriere]

Stuart Fedak in Ottawa may be able to facilitate things for you.

Bob C

[Dean (Ajax)]

I have been donating RCAF Radio Items to the Canadian War Museum, Aviation division for sometime, perhaps they can help you.

Dean

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for the suggestions, gentlemen. I will look into them. In the past, whenever I needed information on a Canadian Army related topic, I would write to the Directorate of History in Ottawa and they nearly always came through with something useful. I was not sure if they covered RCN and RCAF information as well, or if these two Services maintained their own history sections.

In the meantime, I have now discovered this set was apparently used in it's GR-17 guise by both the RCAF and the Canadian Army, so there must be some GR-17's out there with Canadian Army ID plates on them.

A couple of photos attached of my RCAF Receiver.

David

[David Dunlop]

While I think of it, the second line of the RCAF Data Plate reads "SEC/REF. No.", which for this set happens to be: 10EU/5479.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what "SEC/REF. No." is and what it relates to? My current guess is that it might be a specific RCAF coding or identification system, and the 'REF." is probably short for "REFERENCE". The "SEC" baffles me.

David

[Bruce MacMillan]

SEC/REF is Section/Reference number. In this case it is 10EU/5479.

Section number 10EU refers to valve type radio equipment and Reference number 5479 is the individual stores number for the receiver.

I believe this numbering scheme was began by the RAF and there are some references on the net as to what each section number means. There are quite a few section numbers.

[David Dunlop]

Bruce.

Thanks for that information. The word "section" actually came to mind while I was thinking about that data plate, but for some reason I ruled it out as "too easy" for a piece of military equipment. Silly me!


David

[David Dunlop]

I finally located a photo of the back cover, complete with wall mounting brackets. Seems easy enough to replicate, with the exception of the two columns of louvers. The only place I can think of that used to do that sort of work was custom automotive body shops many years ago, but it also looks like the kind of thing any well equipped sheet metal shop should be able to do.

Anybody had this sort of work done?

David

[David Dunlop]

I have run across a 17 March 1945 Technical Memorandum from the Director of Signals, Canadian Army advising of proper lubrication of the tuning gear set for the AR88LF. The above noted lubricant is identified in stock as the one to be used for this work.

Does any one have any other references to DND 640, know if this item is still in stock, or what lubricant may have evolved from it in today's world?

David

[Mrs Vampire]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSnkeVnjE8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PsYAJVFBH4

[David Dunlop]

A chap in Holland recently sent me some photos of his RCA AR88 speaker. It is a version designed with an open back, no outlet hole on the lower right side for the speaker cable and oddly, no holes on the bottom for mounting the RCA Speaker data plate.

The frame of the speaker element inside, however, has this unusual paint stamp marking. Could this be a date stamp? The middle '44' would certainly be on the money for a valid production year, but how would one read the '3' and the '5'? March 5, or 3 May?

Just wondering if anyone can confirm this would be a date stamp and how it would be read.

David

[David Dunlop]

I finally got around to replacing the finishing hardware on my AR88 Series Loudspeaker today, with a bakelite holder and correct military pocket watch, thanks to the great service from BA Bolts in England getting me the correct hardware.

When I removed the rear cover from the speaker case to work on the hardware, the markings on the rear of the speaker element surprised me. These speakers were built by RCA in their Montreal plant and the bottom of the case has a yellow C-Broad Arrow stamp on it. I assumed the inner speaker element would also be either of Canadian or American manufacture. The idea was sourcing in North America would avoid delivery problems. As you will see in the first photo, there are two stamps on the PM Housing on the back of the speaker element. The upper one is a black ring with R.C.A. at the top and a broad arrow stamp at the bottom. To me, that suggests a speaker element build in England.

The lower stamp, I have seen somewhere before, but cannot recall it's origin. It is a large red Capital P, with a broad arrow fixed to the foot of the P and a single arrow barb fastened to the P in the top left part of the letter.

Can anyone ID this stamp?

The second photo is of the completed speaker together with the AR88LF Receiver.

David

[Mike K]

Hi

Cannot help you with your speaker marking .

I' ve seen a few AR88's here in Aust., never owned one myself but a neat set they are . I had no idea they were made in Canada . I think there was a LF version made somewhere else .

Mike

[Bruce MacMillan]

I have the same mark on a wooden crate that came with two 34' masts. The lid was marked "Philco Corp. of Canada". It could be an acceptance mark or just identifying the source. It's possible RCA aquired the speakers from Philco. The actual masts inside the crate were made by Campbell Manufacturing so subcontracting was well practiced.

[David Dunlop]

Bruce.

Thanks for reminding me about Philco. Easy to forget sometimes how, as you say, they were often interconnected for production of a particular item, and also that production of many items was either done at more than one company at the same time, or alternatively shifted completly from one company to another over time.

Cheers, David

[sapper740]

My 1943 RCAF "WIRELESS MECHANICS/WIRELESS OPERATORS" Students' Handbook contains a brief reference to the GR17 (AR88) - (10D/5479) General Purpose Ground Station Receiver (RCA). There are no schematics but it lists the number and quantity of valves as well as all the chokes and filters and their location in a plan view of the set. There are some maintenance tips but no mention of any lubricant used. If you wish I can scan and email you what info is included on your set.

CHIMO!
Derek H.

[David Dunlop]

PM sent, Derek.

Thanks,


David