Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Hi James.

Yes indeed. I was quite pleased with that discovery. Just the Case, Operating, Remote Receiver to eventually take a closer look at now.

No paints in the mail again today so I took advantage of that and finished cleaning the two PA LOADING Coils on the right side of the chassis and the rest of the lower, rear chassis deck. Went through about 30 Cotton cleaning sticks to reach all the fiddly places.

The larger of the two 1.75 to 8.0 MC PA LOADING Coils cleaned up really well. On the front end I can now clearly read the Coil Serial Number and on the rear end, the CMC Stock Number for it.

David

[David Dunlop]

A little bit more data gathering was achieved on this item yesterday.

Based on the illustration in the Master Parts List, the free ends of the soldering iron cord with the Mueller Clips fitted, looked to be about 5 to 6 inches long. A bit difficult to tell for certain as the cord is shown coiled up against a 2 dimensional sizing graph in the background.

I was able to get some excellent information and measurements from Chris Suslowicz and Jordan Baker with regards to the size of the wartime wireless batteries, and from that, was able to calculate the distance between the two battery terminals is about 8-2/3 inches.

So taking the length of the Mueller Clips into consideration as well, the 5 to 6 inch free cable length for the soldering iron cord ends is perfect. That would give the soldering iron the ability to be connected to pretty much any battery, or wireless vehicle 12 volt supply board, it would ever encounter.

Of course, in the process of this investigation, I discovered I am out of the black, Size 10 Binding Cord I will need to finish the cord with, when its two leads are freed up the required length. Fortunately, a local craft shop has a whack of 300 metre rolls of it in stock, so I can pick one up after the Holidays.

David

[David Dunlop]

Well we got the turkey stuffed and in the oven and I decided to take advantage of some free time and do a little more work on the LEADS, Aerial 25-3/4 inch part of this project again.

Basically just the zinc plating of the brass terminal sleeves I found earlier in the year. I am finding that as you use the electroplating solution more, a higher concentration of zinc ions accumulates in it. It becomes more efficient in the transfer of current between the anode and cathode and the plating takes place much faster.

I have done two sets of the brass sleeves. The first set I ran for 15 minutes, the second for 30. The attached photos are of the 15-minute set only. They should end up being slightly darker than the 30-minute set once I let them dry out completely for a day or so. Then I will see which ones will look best on this LEADS assembly.

The run of photos is basically, sleeves as purchased, lightly sanded with extra fine emery paper, being plated, after 15 minutes on their own, and with the Terminal Pins inserted.

David

[David Dunlop]

This afternoon was spent finishing the clean up of the three PA LOADING Coils. In the process of doing this, I noticed I had also not cleaned the greasy soot from the inside faces of the ¼-inch thick brown phenolic resin boards the three coils are mounted on. This in turn, also drew much closer attention to component S17A, which is also mounted to the rear board immediately to the left of the large upper PA LOADING Coil. This is the very important Relay Switch that disconnects the Receiver from the Aerial Circuits whenever the 52-Set goes into transmit mode.

I has noticed the S17A Relay Switch many times but assumed it to be of a metal box construction. It was only now that I finally realized that it was built around three large, white ceramic insulating plates, and these has gone grey-brown with the crude I was needing to clean up.

I started by sliding three layers of paper towel underneath the three coil assemblies and above the large metal tuning condenser at the bottom of the chassis, in order to catch any drips. I then sprayed everything that needed cleaning, with my trusty solvent.

Earlier, I had found a section from an old flannel sheet and a set of my wife’s pinking shears. The latter are used to cut fabric in a triangle saw tooth pattern, rather than a straight line. This stops the fabric from fraying and shedding bits all over the place. I made several 2-inch wide, three foot long strips and by looping them carefully around each coil was able to hold each end and pull it gently back and forth along each coil, cleaning off all the soot the solvent had lifted free, Then a few puffs of 30 lb. air from the compressor to dry the coils off and I was done.

I was able to get other strips of the flannel up against the inner faces of the front and rear brown phenolic boards, rather like dental floss and clean them up as well.

For the S17A Relay, out came the Q-Tips once more and about a dozen were used with the solvent to clean up all the crud on the ceramic insulating plates. And out popped the CMC Part Number on the bottom plate.

When I removed the layers of paper towel when finished, they were soaked and varied in colour from pale amber to grey-black. Wiped up the lower edges of the boards with another towel and I was done.

David

[David Dunlop]

I was doing some research into the 52-Set late last evening and ran across these photos of a 52-Set installation in a Canadian Army Signals 3-Ton Command Lorry somewhere overseas. The vehicle was equipped with a 52-Set, with a 19-Set Mk III directly across from it. The photos are from the RC Sigs.ca Website, in their ‘VEHICLES Section.

Some very interesting details in these photos.

In the first one, the Remote Receiver can be seen on the floor with its face turned towards the wall. The next two show two different mounts for the COIL, Aerial Tuning, but what is really interesting is the dark colour of the wooden case for the COILS. It is a lot darker than the Carriers No. 4 holding the 52-Set. This photo also confirms no Canada Decals were ever applied to the front panel of the COILS assembly.

Also, you can clearly see the colour differences in grey between the overall front panels of the three main set components and the Blowers Covers, Sender Access Door, Receiver Vibrator Supply Panel, and the Knobs and Handles Assemblies. All of these pieces show the original Gloss Navy Grey and it is showing up lighter than the front panels of the 52-Set. This set has likely been in use for less than a year but already the varnish is darkening, Quite likely it is the Canada Balsam varnish that was used, and which had a reputation of darkening very quickly.

The last picture was a really nice find. It is the 52-Set Tool Box sitting on the top front shelf beside the 19-Set station and it shows all its original factory markings. These match perfectly the ones I found on my Tool Box, on the bottom layer of factory paint. Mine has the additional features of the later coat of NATO Gloss Green with the later, more abbreviated and spaced out stencil markings for the Tool Box on it. The 52-Set Spares Case is also sitting against the wall in this photo, behind the Tool Box. The Operating Case for the Remote Receiver is probably on the floor somewhere, near the Remote Receiver.

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

It's funny how threads sometimes interwind. Just now there is David Moore's thread on the Elliot Brothers yard. I've crawled all over and through that yard (including their museum) many times. The reason there was so much good stuff is because the brothers seemed more interested in talking and not selling anything. And even if they considered selling so much as a bolt the asking price was silly high. If you finally got them to agree on a price (buying something...anything...as an ice breaker) inevitably it went up by the time you actually went to pay.

Now where it meets with this thread. In the Elliot's yard were several (four if I recall) 60cwt wireless boxes, one of which was a 'Command, Low Power' like the one pictured here. It was complete down to the operator's lamps and base for the 19 set. Everything was there less the generator sets. At the time I had a perfect donor 60cwt Chev to set it on. But, you guessed it, not for sale and the boxes remained at the yard until they crumbled into rotten heaps. I regret to this day not being able to recover that box.

The brothers finally sold out, the Fox and Otter in their museum going to a big collection in Salt Lake City. The yard had to be cleaned up for environmental reasons so everything remaining was scrapped. Not a big disappointment because what was there was well past its prime.

Some notable items that did pass through that yard include a half dozen carriers (one of which is the Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment museum one), three Fox, two Otters, a DUKW, HUP, 12 and 13 cab FATS, a Stuart and a Harvard.

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I was doing some research into the 52-Set late last evening and ran across these photos of a 52-Set installation in a Canadian Army Signals 3-Ton Command Lorry somewhere overseas. The vehicle was equipped with a 52-Set, with a 19-Set Mk III directly across from it. The photos are from the RC Sigs.ca Website, in their ‘VEHICLES Section.

Some very interesting details in these photos.

In the first one, the Remote Receiver can be seen on the floor with its face turned towards the wall. The next two show two different mounts for the COIL, Aerial Tuning, but what is really interesting is the dark colour of the wooden case for the COILS. It is a lot darker than the Carriers No. 4 holding the 52-Set. This photo also confirms no Canada Decals were ever applied to the front panel of the COILS assembly.

Also, you can clearly see the colour differences in grey between the overall front panels of the three main set components and the Blowers Covers, Sender Access Door, Receiver Vibrator Supply Panel, and the Knobs and Handles Assemblies. All of these pieces show the original Gloss Navy Grey and it is showing up lighter than the front panels of the 52-Set. This set has likely been in use for less than a year but already the varnish is darkening, Quite likely it is the Canada Balsam varnish that was used, and which had a reputation of darkening very quickly.

The last picture was a really nice find. It is the 52-Set Tool Box sitting on the top front shelf beside the 19-Set station and it shows all its original factory markings. These match perfectly the ones I found on my Tool Box, on the bottom layer of factory paint. Mine has the additional features of the later coat of NATO Gloss Green with the later, more abbreviated and spaced out stencil markings for the Tool Box on it. The 52-Set Spares Case is also sitting against the wall in this photo, behind the Tool Box. The Operating Case for the Remote Receiver is probably on the floor somewhere, near the Remote Receiver.

David

[David Dunlop]

Hi Bruce.

I am sure those Command bodies would not weather well, long term. I think they were all wood framed and interior clad with just a thin sheet metal skin in small sections for an exterior.

Some interesting other details in these photos. Some very hefty, equipment under the 52-Set bench with a row of white switch knobs along the top. The bin by the rear door the 52-set boxes are sitting on also has a smaller box marked ‘TELEGRAPHY EQUIPMENT’ sitting on it. The large front panel on that bin with the bars on it is a fold out desk and folding chair that deploys across the rear entrance. My guess would be Cypher Clerk Station.

Also, the No. 9 Key for the 52-Set is bolted down to the wireless table but not in use. The Key and Mic sockets on the Sender are occupied by the key and mic plugs from the Wireless Remote Control Unit by the front compartment wall, left of the 52-Set. The left hand 5-pin connector from the Supply Unit is also connected to the Remote, so I suspect the headphones for the Remote are also plugged into the lower right corner of the 52-Set Receiver.

David