11 Set stuff

[Euan McDonald]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

That looks like a standard 19 set base to me Euan . Mike

Mike, the other one I have looks more like a ground mount.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Euan McDonald

Mike, the other one I have looks more like a ground mount.

Yes I have a couple of those, it is part of the golf bag kit . It is a ground base .

Does anyone actually have a pic of the LP carrier with a antenna base fitted. I have searched everywhere and never seem to find anything . The 11 set is apparently the correct set but what did they use for a base ? I did find this .

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P00399.004/

[Mrs Vampire]

Euan

I would be staggered to learn that No 19s were not fitted. The 11 was a bit of a limited radio and certainly not a standard post 1942
I cant imagine carriers were not fitted with 19s after 1942 say mid to late 1942 .
I know the first batch of Stuarts were around 1941 were fitted 40/60 11s and 19s because of production delays but buy the end of 1942 they were solid 19s .

My impression was the 11s went on to serve as base sets etc and the 19 was the standard.

http://www.qsl.net/ve3bdb/pics8.html

i am not sure when 11 production ceased in australia but I had suposed early on and the 19 was the standard as soon as stocks allowed.

[cletrac (RIP)]

This will be for an 11 set but is it in the right time frame? Here's the video.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by cletrac

This will be for an 11 set but is it in the right time frame? Here's the video.

That's the British base David with its rubber watershed , different to the LP type .

[Mrs Vampire]

Less than ten in the world Mike??? do you mean Pommy sets or Ozzie sets??

I have seem with my own eyes more than ten Ozzie sets . Last year at Corowa there was someone selling three. He had one on display that went in a second and two more in stock in Melbourne.,

And I have one of my own for the Blitz .

Euan the reason I am wondering about your choice of an 11 is that 19s are far far easier to get ...I even have a few bits I could help you with. But if you are trying for a 1941/42 set up I guess you need an 11.
I am not sure if they used 11s in the carriers during the Buna campaign. The evidence from the wrecks was the Stuarts had 19s .

Mike some of my 19s have PVC wire. I am not sure when AWA adopted it but PVC wire had been around since 1928 or so . I will have a look inside my No 11 and see what it uses.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Gina Vampire

Less than ten in the world Mike??? do you mean Pommy sets or Ozzie sets??

I have seem with my own eyes more than ten Ozzie sets . Last year at Corowa there was someone selling three. He had one on display that went in a second and two more in stock in Melbourne.,

And I have one of my own for the Blitz .

Euan the reason I am wondering about your choice of an 11 is that 19s are far far easier to get ...I even have a few bits I could help you with. But if you are trying for a 1941/42 set up I guess you need an 11.
I am not sure if they used 11s in the carriers during the Buna campaign. The evidence from the wrecks was the Stuarts had 19s .

Mike some of my 19s have PVC wire. I am not sure when AWA adopted it but PVC wire had been around since 1928 or so . I will have a look inside my No 11 and see what it uses.

Hi Gina

The UK made 11 sets are super rare . EK Cole made them . The theory is most of them were left behind as the BEF retreated .

re the insulation . Ive never seen PVC insulation on pre war equipment . I know that PVC was invented pre war . The post war rebuilt 19 sets did use PVC wire . As far as I am aware AWA used cotton insulation on everything . Some of the Uk built WW2 sets had a low quality rubber insulation, it falls of the wire leaving the conductor exposed , horrible stuff . The Uk 22 sets had that horrible stuff .

AWA was busily making radios for the RAAF in large numbers. The AT5/AR8 was ubiquitous , the US forces used them too .

The 19 set must have been in short supply here in Aust. because AWA made some in 1943 ( with cotton wiring ) . If overseas procurement was available, then why did AWA make the 19 set ?

BTW the AWA 19 set was a case of improvisation, just about nothing from it will fit a US British Canadian 19 set - even the valves were AWV brand , made here .

The AIF forces overseas did have 19 sets issued early on, late 1941 maybe . The book TANKS in the EAST , a story of the 7th div calvalry regiment, shows a 19 set in use with that unit in Egypt

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Gina Vampire

Euan



i am not sure when 11 production ceased in australia but I had suposed early on and the 19 was the standard as soon as stocks allowed.

The AWA production of the 11 ( Aust ) went well into 1942 . We think the production began late 1941 . It took AWA a long time to tool up and get the set into production, a huge effort that was wasted because they did not do any proper testing of the sets in a humid moist environment , how the set stood up to the tropical climates turned out to be less than ideal . Being on the other side of the globe , all kinds of improvisation was put into place , it all took time . Imagine drawing up the blue prints, making the dies, jigs and small gears and making the nuts and tiny screws etc.

It was only by 1944 that the then new PVC coated wiring and other water proofing solutions began to have an effect. The local 22 set ( Aust. ) was an example of this new approach . I have an audio tape of a chap who was in the army radio testing branch. His unit took over an old toy factory in Burwood Melbourne, they ran all kinds of water proofing tests on the 22 set ( Aust.) Even immersing the whole chassis in a water tank and then switching it on .

The little Australian made mk 2 108 infantry sets turned out to be a waste of time, the sets broke down during the Kokoda track campaign . The Mk3 version of 1944 did have the PVC wiring , but too late .

What was the first radio they got rid of onto the surplus market after the war ? The AWA 11 set , most of them probably unused .

Lou Meulstee reckons just under twenty thousand 11 sets were built in the UK. There are less than ten known surviving in the whole world now. What happened to them all ?

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Euan McDonald

Mike, the other one I have looks more like a ground mount.

The one on the vehicle is Aerial Base No.10 Mk.2, which is quite late-on and continues in use until the Larkspur sets and the conversion to VHF.

The ground mount one is Aerial Base No.11, and fits on a metal spike.

The WS19 originally used Aerial Base No.8 for HF and Aerial Base No.9 for VHF.

Base No.8 had a "concave" profile to the ribber insulator and a truly appalling method of retaining the aerial rods: the brass socket was slotted like a collet and had a wire spring wound around it with the ends formed into looks so you could squeeze the loops to release the grip on the aerial rod. It was not a success, as flexing of the spring caused it to break after a while, and you got a _lot_ of flexing on a moving vehicle. It was replaced by Base No.10, though US manufactured sets were still being shipped with the No.8 when WW2 ended.

Base No.9 was for the 'B' set and took Aerial Rod 'G'. It required a dedicated mounting, and there were three basic types of a square base with upright pillar.

Base No9A was the Truck and Ground Station version, fitted to a spring clamp for easy attachment to a wooden post, vehicle hoop, etc.

Base No.9B does not exist - there's a variation of the 'B' set base with a flat bottom, rubber gasket, and clamp ring. This was post-WW2 Pye, used with civilian mobile radio and to use up surplus component stocks.

Base No.10 replaced base No.8 and has a convex rubber insulator and a mechanical clamp with a butterfly nut to securely hold the aerial rod.

Base No.10 Mk.2 was an improved version, the clamp was a single piece rather than two riveted together, and the convex rubber base went concave at the point it was bonded to the metal in order to improve the strength of the bond (The Mk.1 was prone to separate).
In addition, the clamp screw was threaded at both ends to allow an aerial feeder to be attached to the clamp - this allowed the set to be connected to the top of the insulator rather than being fed from underneath.

Base No.11 was the ground mount used with the WS22, R109, WS18 and WS19 in certain setups, etc.

Chris.

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's the withdrawal from Greece.
Near the end of the video they're destroying some vehicles. The one guy has what looks something like a piece of radio equipment that he's using for a hammer. Maybe that's what happened to all the 11 sets!!!???
Here's a pic of a control unit A with a 1943 build date on it.

[Bob McNeill]

The radio museum at Kurrajong NSW has some film taken at the AWA factory on Parramatta RD during the 39-45 period if it,s of some use. Mum worked there for several years but kept mum about it right up till about 12 months before her death, 23 years ago.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I got this Remote Unit A off Oz ebay. The build year is 1943 and the serial # is 17876. It was still in the original wrapping so was never issued and was likely one of the last ones made.
The general consensus was that Australian 11 sets were made into 1942 but this seems to stretch that by another year. 2 Unit A's were used per 11 set so there were enough of them for about 9000 radios. The Unit A's were used in ground stations and radio trucks but not in AFV's so we could probably add 5000 or so more radios in the 2 1/2 years of production. This would make for around 14000 Oz 11 sets. This seems rather high.
The remote unit is ZA7533 which is the British number so the Australians never redesigned them or most of the accessories.
This is being shipped by sea mail and expected delivery time is 4 to 6 months. They must be putting it in a rowboat!!

[Chris Suslowicz]

The remote units would be a lot faster to manufacture than the sets and the contracts were probably completed (or not cancelled in time) when the WS11 was declared obsolete and production ceased. Also, some remote units would be needed for training purposes, replacements, et cetera.

The great thing about your unopened unit is that you have all the ancillaries - which are very hard to find. (And people still insist that the shoulder strap with pouch is for a Very pistol, despite cast-iron evidence to the contrary.)

Chris.

[Mike K]

It is unusual to find a unissued remote unit like that one is .

If you read the instruction plate under the lid, these remote units are actually to be used with wireless sets No. 1 and 11 .

The No. 1 set was a pre war 1930's British set , a handful of these sets were shipped out here pre war . At least one survives in NZ . There is a surviving pre war militia signal veteran, living in Adelaide , well into his 90's . He used the No. 1 sets .

This pic is of a No. 1 set in use in Tasmania of all places

The grainy pic depicts Woodside barracks, Adelaide and a No. 1 set in use with militia troops

The last pic is taken from the No. 1 set manual ..looks like a 11 set remote doesn't it