Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Interesting articles, Mike. Thanks for posting.

David

[David Dunlop]

An interesting bit of 52-Set information made a surprise arrival this week.

I had asked a friend in Edmonton to document the data plates on his 52-Set for me whenever he had a chance, so I could pass the information on to Jacques Fortin, in Quebec, who is assembling a database of known surviving 52-Set components. The set in question was on a pallet on a high shelf in his shop with an array of M20 parts in front of it.

A forklift finally brought the 52-Set down to earth and photos of the data plates were received and sent on to Jacques.

The big surprise was the data plate on the Main Set Receiver, photo attached.

Not only is it unlike any other 52-Set data plate I have ever seen, the serial number is unlike any other 52-Set serial number I have run across. The composition of the plate is thin Bakelite, with the white lettering painted on the Bakelite. It is completely devoid of any references to Canadian Marconi and it’s part-numbering system, and it is not the normal four-digit number between 5000 and 9000 that one would expect.

My first thought was the plate was a fake, so I asked my friend to pull the receiver out of its Carrier No. 4 and check to see if a Mod Card was located in it, to see what it had to tell us. Indeed there was. Notice the second photo. The modifications to this set were not done until 1964. The modifications performed have been in existence since November 1945, when Modification 1 came into being: The Installation of the Modification Card Holder inside the component.

So my thoughts are that this 52-Set Receiver was build around the same time as all the other 52-Set pieces known so far, 1944, boxed up and stored somewhere in the Army Supply System, until it was put into service in 1964. When requisitioned in 1964, it was unpacked and the modifications needed were performed and the receiver delivered to whatever unit needed it. With this data plate in place from the start.

The other pieces of information my friend has about the history of the set are that he purchased it directly from the Crown Assets facilities in Edmonton when it was surplussed out and that the paperwork he got from Crown Assets confirm all the components he has were the complete set Crown Assets sold as a single unit.

Bakelite seems a very fragile medium to make a data plate out of, especially when it is thin. And the serial number looks very odd. It is almost like it identified this receiver as the 25th out of an unknown number built for an Order or Contract Number 4075.

I now wonder how many other 52-Set components are out there with similar Bakelite data plates. I cannot recall thin Bakelite ever being used for data plate material on anything before now. and why such a vague and fragile plate?

David

[David Dunlop]

I had to pass on one of these last year, as it simply wasn’t in the budget at the time it showed up for sale, However, a few weeks ago, a gentleman in Kent, England had a post on the internet with a number of NOS ones for sale.

My Daughter and three Granddaughters had given Papa some Mad Money to put towards my WS No. 52 Project for Xmas, so I was quite pleased to be able to order two Holders to replace the ones removed from the Remote Receiver and Main Set Receiver when still in service.

It’s always fun to find old stock with original packaging and these two holders were no exception. Each still has its factory tag attached with a small run of hemp cord. The tags read:

ZA/4250 HOLDERS, Watch, Multi-purpose Part, Qty 6


David

[David Dunlop]

This is undoubtedly going to be a long project and I am carefully avoiding any thought at all about an anticipated completion date for it. The bright side of this, however, is the lack of stress about ‘finishing on time’. It will be done when it’s done.

The other nice thing about this approach is that it allows one to focus on and enjoy the little milestones as one reaches them. They don’t get brushed aside because of looking so far down the road at ‘meeting the deadline’.

I reached one of those little milestones this morning when I was able to reinstall the two Holders, Watch on the fronts of the Receiver and Remote Receiver. These were removed back in the early 1960’s, when the receivers were still in service and the three empty holes at the top of each panel were a constant reminder of the missing parts, and they were the only missing parts on both receivers.

There are still a few rusty/worn hardware items I want to swap out for better condition ones on the main set receiver and a few other physical things to attend to, but it is finally getting close to the same condition physically as the remote Receiver.


David

[Bruce MacMillan]

David, very nice work. I hope that you will have it operational for QSO's on the 75th anniversary of D-day .

Your dedication to restoration is to be commended.

[David Dunlop]

Although this thread is supposed to be a simple documentation of what I am doing with regards to restoring a Wireless Set No. 52, I have come to realize that it is also indirectly documenting things I learn about the 52-Set as I plod along. That is probably a good thing in that there seems to be a lot to discover. Typically details never discussed or illustrated in the manuals pop up and I suspect a lot of other 52-Set owners out there are unaware of them either.

Case in point this week. Reg Hodgson, in Edmonton, has started a restoration/clean up of his 52-Set and sent me the attached two photographs of what he discovered. Reg has had many years of military vehicle restoration work behind him and has developed an eye for detail. He is working on his Carrier No. 4 at the moment. His was a lucky one. No aggressive strip down of the original paint (wrinkle No. 2 Brown in this case), just a simple spray over of NATO Green.

When he removed the Coil, Aerial Tuning No. 2 mounting rails on the right hand side of his Carrier No. 4, he noticed a lettering shadow underneath the NATO Green. A little careful sanding later and the attached stencilled ID turned up sitting on top of the factory original wrinkle No. 2 Brown. This marking would be hard to spot with the Coil rails in place and utterly impossible to see once the Coil box was mounted on the side rails.

I was delighted Reg found this marking as I can now look for it and replicate it if necessary, if and when I find my own Carrier No. 4. It is also now referenced for anyone else in the future.

It was also nice to see this marking, as it is very similar to what I recall seeing once on a 52-Set Remote Receiver Case. The identifiers, of course, would be different for the Remote Receiver Case, but I am pretty sure now that marking was also centred on the side of the case, below the handle.

David

[David Dunlop]

This past weekend, I was able to replace the Handles, No. 72, and its related Screws, Clamping No. C2, on the Tuning Dial of my Main Set Receiver. Their original look can be seen in the left hand photo in Post 149 of this thread.

I had mentioned in an earlier Post that the Handles unit was badly chipped and dented and the Clamping Screws were really showing their age now. So replacing them all with the ones from my spare receiver made a lot of sense. A side project spun off of this related to the Slow Motion Drive Assembly on the Main Set Receiver, but I will deal with that in a separate Post shortly.

Any work on the tuning dials of the 52-Set (or even the 19-Set and any other wartime wireless equipment using this style of tuning dial) can be a very intimidating task. The four Clamping Screws operate the Flick Mechanism that enables the Wireless Operator to preselect two different operating frequencies, that once set, can be dialled in very rapidly. These are the ‘A’ and ‘B’ (Red and Blue) frequencies highlighted on the front panel of the wireless set. Typically, one frequency would be for daytime use and the other for nighttime.

To make all of that work, there are four separate components behind the Handles, the Clamping Screws pass through or screw into. Two of these pieces are Washer, Clamping, Front and a Washer, Clamping Rear. The 19-Set Manual refers to these as ‘Plates’ for some reason. I have added a photo of the Washer, Clamping, Front.

There is a bit of free play as to how these two pieces sit in the tuning assembly. They can move around a little and it only takes a little movement for the holes to shift out of alignment once the Clamping Screws are removed. So you do not want that to happen. You want gravity to work for you, not against you when doing this work and to that end, I would strongly recommend you lay the receiver on it’s back, on a couple of supports to protect the rectangular connector on the back. Once the receiver is lying flat on its back all the fiddly bits will stay put. If you are still nervous about doing this work, another great tip I got from Jacques Fortin, is to get hold of an early version of the Clamping Screws used on the Mark II Wireless Set No. 19: The straight ones with the slot in the end. These were designed and intended to allow the Handles No. 72 to be removed and replaced without losing the hole alignments inside the Flick Mechanism. Simply installing one of these older Clamping Screws and running it home will prevent serious hole misalignment.

To remove the Handles No. 72, first unscrew the grub screw on the lower side of the handle. This will require a small jeweller’s slotted screwdriver, not a Bristo or Allan Key. Then unscrew and remove the large screw in the centre of the Handle No. 72. Then comes the tricky bit.

There is a pair of Springs, Steel, Wire No. 1 (ZA 14271) located in slots on either side of the Handles No. 72. These springs were designed to put tension on the sides of the Clamping Screw shafts to prevent them from accidentally falling out of the Handle if they were completely unscrewed. There is a very small pivot pin located centrally along each Spring. These create the tension against the Clamping Screws when they are installed in the handle. When the tension is gone (the Clamping Screws removed from the system) these small pivot pins are free to fall out of the bottom of the Handles No. 72 when you try lifting it off the tuning dial. To prevent this from happening, grab the ends of one Spring with the index finger and thumb of one hand and do the same with the other hand on the other spring. Then pull the ends of both springs outward slightly from the centre of the Handle, while maintaining enough grip on the handle to lift it clear of its mounting shaft. As it comes clear, keep the tension on the springs and turn the Handle No. 72 on its back before putting it down on your workbench. This will keep the pivot pins safely in their two holes. See the attached photo of the back of the old Handles No. 72 I replaced. The two holes are at the ‘9’ and ‘3’ positions and clearly these pins have been lost more than once over time with my spare receiver. The one at ‘3’ is too long and the end of the pin shaft has been punched to permanently retain it. The pin that came out of the ‘9’ position is not an original pin but a section of screw shaft cut down to fit. Wow! The stories parts can tell sometimes.

For reassembly, make sure the holes for the four Clamping screws all line up. A small knitting needle can be used to tweak any slightly. From it’s upside down position on your workbench, do the same finger trick with the tension on the springs to pick it up and turn it over to drop onto its shaft. Only release the tension when it is down all the way. It is a good idea at this point to replace the four Clamping Screws. There will be a slight bit of resistance when the screws first encounter the spring but they easily push past that point. When you know they are all run home, replace the large central screw. Once the Handle No. 72 is fully seated, retighten the grub screw.

Last photo is the Main Set Receiver with the nicer looking Handles No. 72 and Clamping Screws installed.

And that’s all she wrote this time,

David