Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[James D Teel II]

I think the latter hypothesis is probably correct. It could also be that at the time of manufacture no red wrapping was available so the positive was just marked at the end. We never know.

[David Dunlop]

Hello and Good Afternoon, Mr. MacMillan! Nice to hear from you again.

The Type 10 Headgear has been an interesting little side project to work on. Back in the 1970’s and 80’s, I never saw too many of them. I knew they were made with aluminum cases for the microphones and the story at the time was they had been made for tank crews because the Bakelite No. 7 style microphones were too easily broken. End of interest/information, but I suspect the breakage issue for the No.7’s was probably quite real. I was quite surprised, when I opened the first one up to discover it was caste aluminum, not the stamped sheet I was expecting. VERY robust indeed compared to the No. 7 Bakelite mics.

I have limited, dateable documentation covering the Type 10 Headgear, but what I have, from newest to oldest is as follows:

15 Feb. 1945: FZ 526 Issue 1 for the 52-Set

01 Oct. 1944: FZ 256/3 Issue 1 for the 19-Set

Oct. 1944: The Philco publication for WS 19 Mk III Cdn Installation Instructions for Truck and Ground Station. This was clearly a rush publication because the headgear illustrations in it all clearly have No. 7 Mics but are identified at Type 10 Headgear.

08 May 1944: The 52-Set Operators Manual, which has an actual photo of the headgear.

The latter document is interesting since it would have been the reworked version of what had originally been intended as the Operators Manual for the Wireless Set No. 9 Mk II that Canadian Marconi was targeting delivery for in late Winter or early Spring 1944, and which got delayed with British approvals and name change. The original manuscripts were probably written, proofed and delivered to the printers in late 1943 to keep things on schedule, so the Type 10 Headgear had to have been available sometime earlier in 1943 for CMC to have taken advantage of it with what became the 52-Set.

Besides the two complete Type 10 Headgear I have for my 52-Set that are marked top to bottom by Philco and RCA (the RCA markings of which match up with the ones on the Supply Unit Drop Cord photos in the 52-Set Manual) I also have another Type 10 with no RCA stamps, or Philco on the receivers for that matter. No. 2 Brown microphone case with just a yellow C-Broad arrow under the D-ring on the back. Two other sets are devoid of any markings at all and the microphone cases have been NATOed.

My thoughts on all this are that RCA was probably the prime, or sole, maker of the Type 10 Headgear and were approached by Canadian Marconi to supply the needed amount for their 52-Set Contract. Since these types of wireless accessories are never serial numbered, maybe as a means of production control, RCA elected to stamp parts with their logo in the production line to help them identify and separate the Headgear that were to be used to fulfill the CMC Contract?

Either that, or the executives on either company knew each other in the business and social circles well enough the RCA Executives decided to do it just to poke the bear?...

So perhaps today, some Type 10 Headgear survive that were originally part of the 52-Set Contract and many more are out there which were incorporated into other wireless equipment from 1943 (?) onwards.


David

[David Dunlop]

Indeed, James. But then what's Life without mystery…

David

[David Dunlop]

I decided to clean up the large Bakelite socket assembly on the Connectors, Twin No. 17 this afternoon. I was thinking this would also give me an opportunity to open the assembly up and see if any red colour remained on the small section of Positive Cable inside the assembly. However, as soon as I had unscrewed the socket assembly from the front of the Supply Unit, I realized that was not going to happen since I could clearly see the cotton windings from the terminal sticking out of the socket assembly about one eighth inch. But I got a break anyway.

As you can see in the photos today, particularly the third one, there is a roughly two-inch section of the Positive Cable that faced towards the Supply Unit that shows the remains of a red colour. Finally! I feel good about that find.

These three photos show the uncleaned socket assembly and the last one I have started cleaning the oxidation off one of the brass sockets that accept the large banana plugs on the front of the Supply Unit.


David

[David Dunlop]

These last three photos today show the Socket Assembly after cleaning and polishing. The dirt is all gone and about 80 % of all the scratches, which is a major improvement. Even the ‘LT’ and the ‘ 12 VOLTS’ caste into the upper and lower parts of the front face are easier to read now.

Once the dirt was cleaned off the white ID Printing, it turned out to be in very good condition and will not require any attention.


David

[David Dunlop]

If, by any chance, one of these Connectors has survived with original (or even near original) red colour on its Positive Cable, can we get a photo of it to see what shade/tone of red it is?

Even if it is a small surviving section of the overall 8-foot cable, it would be a nice bit of information to have documented.

David

[Chris Suslowicz]

My guess is that it would be "Chinese Red" if the cable is a cloth braided type, the problem being that it fades badly due to sunlight. To add to the difficulty it will have been waxed or varnished and that will darken towards brown over time.

I've got some D3 Twisted that is still close to an original colour somewhere.

Chris.