Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hi Bruce.

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.

I'm wondering what those are too.

The bin by the rear door the 52-set boxes are sitting on also has a smaller box marked ‘TELEGRAPHY EQUIPMENT’ sitting on it.

That one I can explain: it's a standard "Deed Box" as used by the legal profession, only painted green instead of black. The UK version was stencilled "Telegraph Equipment Unit B" (There was a "Unit A" for other purposes.), and it contained the issued stock of paperwork, binders, and possibly the "Stamp, Army Signal Dating, Mk.II" for the station/office.

The contents will be listed in the relevant section of "Regulations for the Equipment of the Army, Part 2, Section 13" (I think it's the base section 13 (no suffix letter) that dealt with Royal Signals as a whole). I have not been able to get my hands on a copy of this.

Basically it contains the various "Army Book" covers (155 Message Forms, 156 (Records), etc.), plus pads of Signal Register, Wireless Log, Message Form, D/R Docket books, envelopes, pencils, and so on that would be needed by the station or signal office.

The Wireless Log and Signal Register stayed in the AB156 covers, Message pads in AB155 (or used 'loose' in an office) and the forms were removed and distributed as required once filled out (and kept in bulldog clips or mousetraps to keep them organized). Paperwork was retained for 24 hours (I think) and then burned for security. (It's all in Signal Office Organization (for major units) or Signal Training (All Arms) for smaller ones.)

I need to scan more documents, I'm sure I have more forms somewhere!

Chris.

[David Dunlop]

Hi Chris.

Thanks for your input. Would the TELEGRAPHY EQUIPMENTS box be a key locked steel box, like a small strong box by any chance? I have seen the odd one over the years at flea markets but with no ID on them.

Here is a slightly different angled photo of the mystery bits under the 52-Set bench. The photo is from the same RCSIgs .ca Website. In this photo it looks like either two large units with two sets of fittings at the top of each, or four smaller ones with a single fitting on each. There also appears to be a clamping devise across the top of them locking into a vertical rod at the right side, not unlike a battery hold down clamp.

David

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hi Chris.

Thanks for your input. Would the TELEGRAPHY EQUIPMENTS box be a key locked steel box, like a small strong box by any chance? I have seen the odd one over the years at flea markets but with no ID on them.

Here is a slightly different angled photo of the mystery bits under the 52-Set bench. The photo is from the same RCSIgs .ca Website. In this photo it looks like either two large units with two sets of fittings at the top of each, or four smaller ones with a single fitting on each. There also appears to be a clamping devise across the top of them locking into a vertical rod at the right side, not unlike a battery hold down clamp.

David

Deed boxes are key locked but not thief-resistant.

Reinforced (rolled) edges to box and lid, lock at top edge of front (pipe type key) and a folding wire handle on each end. eBay lot 164550836688 looks about right but is damaged, has no key, and the lock may be broken.

All the ones on eBay appear to have been broken open - the hooks on the lid are missing!

.....

Mystery units under the bench: possibly Canadian versions of the Converter DC/AC No.1 to power TYPEX machines? There's what looks like the slider for a rheostat at one end, plus a meter at the opposite side to the switch, so they may well be rotary converters to turn 12V DC into 230V AC at 50 c/s for coding equipment.

It's a 3-ton command vehicle, so may well be for higher formations and would need that sort of kit.

Best regards,
Chris.

[David Dunlop]

I pulled the Remote Receiver off the shelf this morning and in very short order am now pleased to have the original non luminous dial it came with mounted to it and the fully luminous one is now available as the likely candidate to be installed on the Frequency Dial of the Sender when I get to reassembling it.

The attached photo shows the dial the Sender came with on the left and the replacement candidate on the right. Interestingly, the yellow phosphors still really pop on both of these dials, the Green on the right side dial comes in a pretty good second, not so much on the left. The orange on both really takes a long time to load up and start glowing, but has a very short duration time. This is interesting because in conversations I have had with current suppliers of phosphor luminous paints, it is now the yellow phosphors that are hard to find with any reasonable brilliance and glow time. Orange, on the other hand is now right up there with blue, green red and white for brilliance and duration.

The original dial from the Sender had a lot of splatter on it that covers the luminous sections and I doubt it can easily be removed without taking the original paints underneath it along for the ride. It also has a lot of rust now on the plated surfaces. I am thinking I might use this dial as a test bed to see what can be restored and how, before I take a closer look at the remaining two Sender PA LOADING Dials.

David

[David Dunlop]

On a whim, late this morning, I decided to check the local Michaels store for the black Cable Lacing Cord I discovered I was out of recently. In the modern Crochet World, this is known as 100% Mercerized Size 10 Cotton Crochet Thread. Their website showed a limited supply in stock in 350 yard balls for $4.49 Cdn.

What the heck. I ordered one. 45 minutes later, I received an email confirming it was ready for curb-side pickup, so off I went. Did that, picked up lunch for Debbie and I and was back home, just as the latest snowstorm rolled into town. Life is good sometimes.

This cord will be used with the soldering iron portion of my 52-Set Project in due course.

David

[David Dunlop]

This morning was spent getting the soldering iron cord prepped for installation of a set of Mueller clips, once I find a pair of the correct ones.

First step was to remove the AC Plug, which turned out to be a 4-piece item made by Belden. The central portion of the plug, between the blades, turned out to be a plug and a small slot head screwdriver could be slid down to meet the bottom edge of the plug and pop it free. I then just clipped the two leads at their solder points on the blades and pulled the cord out of the plug, By gripping each blade with pliers and twisting it, they unlocked from the plug shell and could be pulled free.

Next was to measure up 5.5 inches from the end of the cord and mark that point with a wrap of ¾-inch masking tape. I figured 5 inches was a good length to avoid strain on the cord and the 2-3/4 inches of Mueller clip for the No. 24A 25-Amp clips needed gives an excellent reach. The extra half-inch covers the distance from the crimp at the bottom of the Mueller Clip that captures the lead insulation and the screw terminal the lead is secured to and soldered. Interestingly, these Mueller Clips used on the Soldering Iron are identical to the ones used on the 19-Set Dummy Load Grounding strap.

The leading edge of the masking tape was where the loom of the cord would be cut back. The back side of the masking tape marks the start point for the black lacing cord that will be wound forward from that point to cover the main loom and first quarter inch of the two leads to secure them and prevent further fraying of the loom.

When the loom was finally bound, a coat of varnish was brushed on to hold it all in place. Should be ready in about three hours and then I just have to find the Mueller Clips.

There is an important addendum to working with this power cord. You may be familiar with cutting back the sheath on electrical cords to find two or more cords of twisted brown paper entwined with the electrical leads inside the sheath. This fills out the innards of the cable and presents a smooth exterior finish to the loom. It is also very flexible. On older high hear electrical appliances such as this soldering iron, toasters and laundry irons, they could not use these paper fillers. If the cord came in touch with the hot appliance, it was a serious fire hazard. This cord had three windings of asbestos in it, one formed the central core and the other two wrapped around this central core with the two electrical leads. I found that by cutting around the circumference of the black cotton loom at the masking tape and then using the edge of an Exacto Knife Blade under the loom and cutting away from it, I was able to easily slice straight down to the end of the cord, at which point the black cotton loom literally fell away. I did this with disposable rubber gloves on and a respirator and full eye goggles. With the loom off, I sprayed down the asbestos cords with a water bottle and they unwrapped easily and were cut free. Wiped everything down with a damp cloth after and everything went into a plastic bag. I can drop it off tomorrow at a hazardous waste depot at Manitoba Hydro tomorrow.

David

[David Dunlop]

Yesterday afternoon’s Mail brought these three paints I need for upcoming detail work. With the current COVID limitations and the Xmas Rush, it only took 19 days ‘First Class Mail’, for an otherwise 2-3 day delivery. Oh well, they are here now. Happy Dance!

The colours are all Testors products: Flat White TES2751, Gloss Red TES1103 and Gloss Dark Blue TES1111.

David

[David Dunlop]

From earlier Posts here, you will know the Flat White paint that arrived yesterday is to provide a reflective background strip on all the luminous paintwork coming up for the various knobs and markers on the 52-Set.

The red and the blue gloss, however, might be more of a mystery.

These two colours are for the Flick Indicator Dots on the Handles No. 72, as shown in the attached photo. As you can see, all these Handles on the Sender received a spray coat of varnish during their last overhaul, which has now turned that typical greenish yellow.

I had intended to redo the paintwork on all the Handles No. 72, but was initially hoping to save these two sets of original paint dots on the handles. These dots are all nicely placed in recessed holes, so a drop of Rubber Paper Cement placed on each would have protected them quite well, and would simply roll off with a little finger rub when the grey paint had cured. The problem was that very noticeable ridges would have been left behind around each dot from the build-up of a new layer of grey paint. It also eventually dawned on me these red and blue dots had also been covered with the aging varnish and, therefore, were no longer close to their original bright colours. This was confirmed when I compared a Handle No. 72 from the 52-Set to the original unvarnished ones on my Wireless Set No. 19 Mk III. The colours on the 19-Set popped by comparison. So I made the decision to remove all the paint on the 52-Set Handles No. 72 and build it all back up. A web search a while back found these two Testors colours were the closest matches to the originals.

So the rebuild of the Sender can continue now!

David

[David Dunlop]

I have been able to clean out all the old paint from the marker slot on the Knob today with a small awl. The slot was surprisingly deep when finished.

Masking tape was then applied to each side of the slot and a base coat of flat white enamel laid in with a 20/0 round brush.

I can now let this cure for a couple of hours and then start the process of building up the rest of the marker slot with Neutral Luminous Green paint.

David

[David Dunlop]

I used the DecoArt Glo in the Dark DS102 luminous paint to fill in the marker slot in the BAND Switch Knob. It is the thicker, pastier paint, you may recall, with a very even distribution of phosphors through out.

It took two coats to fill the slot to its original level, just below the face of the Knob.

The first photo shows the Knob after I was finished and the paint was charged with my UV Lamp. About five minutes later the BAND Switch Knob was reinstalled on the Sender front panel and in the second photo you can see it is still glowing happily away.

In the last photo, the upper half of the Sender front panel has now been fully refurbished and this is what it looks like under the UV Lamp.

Next step will be starting on the clean up of the FREQUENCY MC Dial Assembly components for the lower left side of the front panel.

David

[David Dunlop]

I was going to cover this off in Post #488 on this topic but realized the photo I had taken back then was not properly illuminated to show the necessary detail.

At first glance, if one were considering completely stripping the old paint from a Handles No. 72, the first and obvious fear would be how you would ever know or remember what coloured red and blue dots and marker lines went where. All four corners of the part look the same. The beauty of these external dial tuning drives used in the 52-Set, 19-Set and many other British and Commonwealth wireless sets is the designers used a standard, keyed assembly process for all the parts. They will only fit properly one way.

If you look at the centre opening of the Handles No. 72, you will see straight away it is shaped like the letter ‘D’, keyed in reality to fit only one way onto the machined brass drive head.

If you orient the Handles No. 72 in front of you on your work bench, so you can see the letter ‘D’ properly, you will find the four corners of the Handle automatically orient along the ‘x’ and ‘y’ grids of a graph. The x-axis, parallel to the front of you is the Red Flick Indicator Dots. The y-axis, pointing directly towards you is the Blue Flick Indicator Dots. Beside each dot is its corresponding coloured Marker Slot. These slots originally held an appropriately coloured Neutral Red or Blue luminous paint. These may be missing, faded or replaced with plain flat white paint at this point in time.

So if you keep this simple orientation trick in mind, it is very easy to strip down a Handles No. 72 and repaint it. I would use caution with any chemical strippers, however, as these handles are cast metal, possibly a zinc alloy.

David

[David Dunlop]

I was reviewing my notes on the Flick Drive Assemblies and realized these Handles, No. 80, basically the Flick Levers, were an integral part of the total Drive Assemblies so should be included with the repainting process, with the HANDLES No. 72.

These smaller handles are also cast parts, likely from a zinc alloy, but are simply overall Gloss Navy Grey with just a small (approximately ¼-inch) Marker Slot cast into the upper curve of the handle, visible at the top right edge of the second photo. These slots were filled with the Neutral Luminous Green paint originally.

I might as well spray paint both handles at the same time.

David

[David Dunlop]

Here is a set of photos of the Handles, No. 72 and the Handles No. 80 stripped and cleaned up.

It is interesting that both of these items are cast zinc products. The larger Handles No. 72 shows no casting lines at all on it anywhere. They appear to have been cleaned off when the part went for finish drilling and milling.

On the other hand, and probably because of its smaller size, a casting line is clearly visible completely around the midline of the Handles, No. 80. The only place it is not present is where the Marker Slot was machined into the upper curved edge, on the right side of the second photo.

It was at this point a light bulb finally went on in my head. These parts are zinc. The metal primer I have on hand will not work for very long on this material if I try using it. So a search of the Internet took place last evening and I found a supply of the appropriate primer for zinc and galvanized steel at a local RONA Store and a can is now ready for pickup Wednesday morning. Disaster averted!

David

[David Dunlop]

While I was looking for the correct primer for zinc and galvanized metal, I also realized I will soon need a bottle of Gun Blue for this project, so a bottle is now on order from Cabala’s. More on that when the time comes.

All three sets of Screws, Clamping No. C2, used on the Sender tuning drive assemblies are in tough shape and I am running low on my supply of NOS originals. That brought me to cleaning the set for the Frequency MC Dial and replating them to see how they would turn out. That was todays project.

The attached photos show the original condition of the Screws, Clamping from the Sender, what they looked like once cleaned up and the wire support system I put together to suspend the four of them in the zinc plating bath so all of them were not touching anything. The challenge was there are no easy holes in these items to hang them in the solution from.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized another key point in plating these Screws was to avoid getting the threads on the end plated with additional metal. I solved that problem by suspending the Screws from the threaded ends by wrapping a 2 inch lead of 14 ga stranded copper wire around the threads, placing two Screws on each wire, one end handing higher than the other A small centre section of insulation on the wires was cleaned off to provide continuity with the heavier copper support attached to the Cathode of the plating jar. One hour later they were done.

The last photo shows the Sender Screws along the bottom after plating and drying out, with a set of NOS original Screws above them.

David

[David Dunlop]

I picked up the can of Zinc/Galvanized Metal Primer Paint this morning.

It is an interesting cream white flat primer, which looks a little odd initially, but makes sense to have it visually different from the normal red and grey metal priming paints. No mistakes unless you are colour blind.

I wrapped the tip of a bamboo chop stick and a similar length of 7/16-inch dowel with some masking tape and they both held the two handles perfectly. A couple of correspondingly sized holes drilled in a block of 4 x 4 post and an drying stand was all ready to go.

Both the Handles No. 72 and Handles No. 80 for the FREQUENCY MC Dial Assembly have now been primed with this Zinc friendly paint. 24 hours from now I can give them a base coat of grey and, with luck, by the weekend they will get their coat of Gloss Navy Grey.

David

[David Dunlop]

a productive day today for a number of little things, all related to the restoration of the FREQUENCY MC Flick Drive assembly.

First and foremost, the Handles No. 72 and 80 received a grey base coat. That should cure by the weekend and if the weather holds the final Gloss Navy Grey paint can be applied.

David

[David Dunlop]

This part really only needed a bit of cleaning to get rid of a small amount of dried oil or grease from the surfaces. Interestingly, I think it is the first shiny, nickel plated part I have run across in the entire 52-Set.

It will be the first part to be reinstalled on the central brass hub of the tuning drive shaft.

David

[David Dunlop]

As I had mentioned in an earlier Post, I have decided to use the spare DIALS I have available on the Sender FREQUENCY MC Flick Drive Assembly. It will be a perfect match for the corresponding dial on the Receiver.

The only cleaning required was a small amount of surface rust on the very rim of the dial. There was also a bit of dried oil/grease on the small brass shim that sits between the dial and the PLATES, Locking No. 2, behind it.

I think the purpose of the shim it to help centre the dial rim in the groove for it on the Slow Motion Drive Assembly.

David

[David Dunlop]

The last little bit of work today was on the POINTERS, No. 7 that fits on the left side of the DIALS, Engraved CMC 115-477.

It just required a slight cleaning and a reapplication of the luminous green paint to its Marker Slot.

The heads of the two screws that mount the POINTERS to the front panel of the Sender were quite rusty, so I cleaned and re-plated them.

Just 4 more components to finish off for the FREQUENCY MC Flick Drive assembly, and it can get reinstalled.

David

[David Dunlop]

The luminous paint in the Marker Slot of this Pointer, which mounts on the right side of the Frequency MC Dial, had pretty much called it quits, so it was cleaned out and a new application of paint added today.

Another part ready for reinstallation now.

David

[David Dunlop]

I found a pair of these for sale a while ago and they arrived this morning. The nice surprise was they were a matched set and NOS. One has the Positive "+" punched into it and the Negative one is blank.

These are the same clips as used on the Wireless Set No. 19 Aerial Dummy Loads, and for the 52-Set, were used as the battery clips for the 12V DC Soldering Iron.

I am presently not that pleased with the look of the cable ends of the iron I am presently working on, so that little sub-project will get placed on the back burner, while I give it some more thought.

David

[David Dunlop]

The Handles No. 72 and 80 now have their final top coat of Gloss Navy Grey applied.

They should be hard cured by next weekend and then the luminous paint detailing for both can be done.

David

[David Dunlop]

This component, and its mounting screw are the only parts of this assembly that need any touching up.

The bearings were shot in the Slow Motion Drive unit when this 52-Set was found and purchased, but when Jacques Fortin took initial delivery of it for me, he was kind enough to find the problem and rebuilt the bearing assembly.

There is a little surface rust on the Bracket and Spring Assemblies, which some '0000' Steel Wool will tidy up nicely. The spring steel has what amounts to a factory blacking done to it. Back in the 1970's when I first started restoring my Mk III 19-Set, I discovered that several coats of a good Gun Blue will darken down the spring steel to a near match to the original blacking.

I received a call from our local Cabela's store the Gun Blue I had ordered was in, so went down and picked it up this morning.

The mounting screw will get a cleaning and zinc plating.

David

[David Dunlop]

An interesting discovery this morning.

The Bracket portion of this part is made of brass, with the two steel spring leaves riveted to it with a pair of steel rivets.

David

[David Dunlop]

I was able to re-plate the mounting screw and lock washer last evening so this assembly is now ready for re-installation on the Sender.

David

[David Dunlop]

While the Handles No. 72 and 80 continue curing, I decided to move ahead to getting the three switch knobs along the lower portion of the Sender front panel cleaned up and ready to go.

These are all the above noted KNOBS, Phenolic, Pointer No. C1 and this is turning out to be great practice, as there are 5 each of these same knobs also on the Receiver panels and I now want to go back and restore their luminous marker slots.

The attached photos show the original condition of the knobs, what they look like cleaned up and lastly with the base coat of flat white paint applied to the marker slots.

Tomorrow, I shall fill in the marker slots with a new layer of Neutral Luminous Green paint.

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Great work Dave. I only hope when you are all done and need to give it that final authentic 'patina' you can find a room full of chain smokers to blow tobacco smoke at it!!

[David Dunlop]

Indeed, Bruce! That could be a real challenge these days.

I possible backup plan, however, would be to find a Blacksmith's Shop where I can place the set beside the forge for a few months.

David

[David Dunlop]

I was able to infill the marker slots on the three knobs with Neutral Luminous Green paint this morning.

Once they have dried for 24 hours I can put the knobs away until needed.

David

[David Dunlop]

Two NOS pairs of these cables arrived in this morning's Mail.

These are the interconnecting cables between the two 6 Volt Wireless Batteries that sets them up in series to provide the 12Volts DC needed for the wireless set.

One pair of these cables was issued with the basic Wireless Set No. 52 and served as the working set for the wireless. The second set was issued with the Remote Receiver Kit and when not in use, were stored in the Case Operating for the Remote Receiver.

There is an interesting production history with these cables. The ID collars on two of them have three lines of information in large font as follows:

CONNECTOR,
SINGLE #3
CMC 110-317

The other two cable ID collars read in four lines in a smaller font:

CONNECTOR,
SINGLE No. C3
CMC 110-317
ZA/C 2270

I am assuming the second set is a later production run from Marconi than the first set.

The slotted copper lugs on each end have been zinc plated and stamped on one side with:

S-90-A



David