Aerial mast base

nigel ward · #1 31-03-09, 22:25

Ok Adam
Your on the list.
Nigel

nigel ward · #2 03-04-09, 14:57

Hi All
Please find photo attached of the first aerial base mount as it has come off the laser cutter. I intend folding this one into shape, welding and riviting where required.
Once this is done, it will be checked against original, adjustments made where required and than I will do a estimate costing.

The costing will be posted for all to....
1. die in fright
2. think I'm mad
3. think its a bargin

The indication so far is that I have to be nuts. But the whole idea is to devide "nuts" by 10 or more units and all will be good. The good news is that I'm mad enough to do it anyway.

Now......Jordon, is this the stage at which you would like to purchase?

Till next time
Nigel

Dave Page · #3 03-04-09, 17:46

Hi, amazing job you are doing! The slide-on, brass grease nipples are available at:
www.vintagecarparts.uk - part number 107
Cheers,
Dave

Grant Bowker · #4 03-04-09, 19:19

I think the web site is actually:
http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/
If it isn't the same company,they also sell a grease fitting as part # 107.

Dave Page · #5 03-04-09, 19:29

Hi Grant,
yes, that's them.
Dave

Philliphastings · #6 08-04-09, 05:54

Just a thought on the grease nipples - have you tried uncle Tim Vibert - the are similar to the later style used on Centurion, Ferret, Saracen etc. The main difference being in that the later pattern had a machined flange, often cut to the same profile as a bolt head near the screw in base.

You may have to do a little tweaking on the lathe or use then as is.

Also does anyone have a clear image of the toothed base - I think I may have found a broken one only days after this post was begun !

Cheers

Phill

Mike K · #7 09-04-09, 03:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliphastings

Also does anyone have a clear image of the toothed base - I think I may have found a broken one only days after this post was begun !

Phil ,

Pics of this stuff isn't easy to find . BTW what is different about a "scout carrier" ?

I noticed your Austin K9 ..those are rare over here. I think a contemporary of the MRA1 .
Mike

lssah2025 · #8 26-04-09, 23:14

I think there might of been a aerial base No 2 on Ebay recently. I was wondering what it was (since I don't have a carrier and didn't know what exactly it was) it was metal and looked just like the drawings. I don't think it sold and he wanted like $30 for it. The guys ebay name is BC-191 out of Holland, I buy a lot of 19 set stuff from him.

Lance

Mike K · #9 30-04-09, 13:09

Is this the base in question ? A fellow MLUer emailed these AWM pics to me

BTW the 11 set pictured would be a EK Cole British one, not the el cheapo AWA Aust. clone.

For those who have the cheap Aussie power suppies, the genemotor casings are made from a terrible, nasty pot metal that tends to crack and expand, probably from impurities in the base metal ( zinc ?) . The best solution is to squeeze super glue into the cracks. Sometimes the casings are distorted to the point of jamming the rotating armature .. the ball races each end , are out of alignment. I cannot imagine why or who was responsible for AWA making such a botch up of the job. During the war ,the sets were not issued to units until many faults were worked out. At wars end here, the first set the Aust. army junked and declared surplus was the 11 set . With around 6000 made , think of the wasted man hours of labour and huge cost.

Ron Pier · #10 30-04-09, 15:21

Hi Mike Kelly. Long time no speak. As you know I have an 11 set in my PU that you helped me with. Hopefully here is a picture of my ariel base. The bacolite mushroom was turned down from a ground station ariel mast, and fitted into an alluminium base that I had cast from a wooden pattern that Rory made.

Ron

Mike K · #11 01-05-09, 02:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

Hi Mike Kelly. Long time no speak. As you know I have an 11 set in my PU that you helped me with. Hopefully here is a picture of my ariel base. The bacolite mushroom was turned down from a ground station ariel mast, and fitted into an alluminium base that I had cast from a wooden pattern that Rory made.

Ron

Hello Ron

Yes, been ages hasn't it . The antenna base on your PU looks the part I must say .. well done. Would you be so kind to post some photos of the 11 set mounted in your truck .. would love to see it installed where it was intended to be. I guess the rubber watershed is next ... maybe try a soccer ball cut in half , painted black !
Mike

Philliphastings · #12 01-05-09, 08:00

Hello Mike, thanks for the pics and info on the WS No 11. Please read the following and take it with a grain of salt.

'Having carefully read your comments on the quality of the Australian No 11 sets ( which my grandfather proudly assembled during the early war years), I went out to the shed and scooped up all three sets I had and smashed them !

No sense saving something so abundant and of such poor quality as you have pointed out now is there ?

Now I have more room on my shelf to collect rusty Landrover parts...'

Seriously though, None of the above is true.

I still intend fitting my Australian manufactured No 11 set into the Mk1 Scout carrier because:

1/ I have at least one complete working set in excellent condition.

2/ The scout carrier was discovered in Western Australia and shows obvious signs of having seen Australian Service, including having been rebuilt at 5BOD Nungarin prior to disposal.

3/ The only Genuine British EK Cole and Co manufactured Wireless set No 11 I have ever seen is still crumbling to white powder in a blackberry bush invaded shed belonging to a well known military hoarder in Perth. It may once have been a proud, top quality Military communications set but is now too light to be a boat anchor and too heavy to be a paperweight.

Having said all that I hope you will forgive me for being proud of the Aussie made set afterall. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Cheers

Phill

Ron Pier · #13 01-05-09, 09:32

OK Mike. I hope it's alright to talk PU's on this forum, but at least it's related to the wireless theme. Enclosed a couple of pictures of my 11set station( Thanks again Mike) Manned as usual by my operator, Private Spoons.

Ron

Mike K · #14 02-05-09, 12:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

OK Mike. I hope it's alright to talk PU's on this forum, but at least it's related to the wireless theme. Enclosed a couple of pictures of my 11set station( Thanks again Mike) Manned as usual by my operator, Private Spoons.

Ron

Looking great Ron, I see you have gone to some trouble to 'get it correct' . re: the wooden battery boxes . Did you use my drawings ? I found those batteries out at Hughes, in Sydney rd , years ago. I realised what a rarity they are, 1942 dated lead/acid wireless batteries... and British ones as well.

The info is from the British 11 set manual
Mike

Mike K · #15 02-05-09, 03:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliphastings

Hello Mike, thanks for the pics and info on the WS No 11. Please read the following and take it with a grain of salt.

'Having carefully read your comments on the quality of the Australian No 11 sets ( which my grandfather proudly assembled during the early war years), I went out to the shed and scooped up all three sets I had and smashed them !

No sense saving something so abundant and of such poor quality as you have pointed out now is there ?

Now I have more room on my shelf to collect rusty Landrover parts...'

Seriously though, None of the above is true.

I still intend fitting my Australian manufactured No 11 set into the Mk1 Scout carrier because:

1/ I have at least one complete working set in excellent condition.

2/ The scout carrier was discovered in Western Australia and shows obvious signs of having seen Australian Service, including having been rebuilt at 5BOD Nungarin prior to disposal.

3/ The only Genuine British EK Cole and Co manufactured Wireless set No 11 I have ever seen is still crumbling to white powder in a blackberry bush invaded shed belonging to a well known military hoarder in Perth. It may once have been a proud, top quality Military communications set but is now too light to be a boat anchor and too heavy to be a paperweight.

Having said all that I hope you will forgive me for being proud of the Aussie made set afterall. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Cheers

Phill

Yep OK .

The early AWA built sets ( 11 etc.) used cotton covered wireing ... imagine this scenario - tropical moisture and humidity to levels we cannot imagine down here and the cotton factor. Ideal for fungal growth . One unit up there devised a clever solution, they built a wooden box..housed the wireless inside it ..lined the box internally with light globes and kept them on - the only way the radio was kept going ...keeping the set dry and warm . In that case it was a AR7 receiver .

Usually, the 11 set genemotors would last about 7 days before expiring , moisture intrusion a major factor . Plus, can you imagine lugging it around the jungle terrain. I couldn't carry the heavy thing 20 yards , let alone up and down hills and muddy tracks . Reading accounts of the Malayian campaign ,wireless communication was hopeless.. the 8th division had AWA 101 and STC 109 sets .. they had better luck shouting at each other from hilltops. The sets were low powered, .5 watt for the 101 and 10 watts for the 109.

The reason so many Aust. 11 sets have survived is: many of them were not even issued ..they spent their life in storage. On some of them, you will see a red 'TP' stencilled on the case..this stands for Tropic Proofed . All they did was spray the insides with shellac , a natural varnish stuff made from Beetle wings.

Around 43 or 44, PVC insulated wires arrived here . Before that the British used cotton, and a cheap rubber insulating coating e.g., on their 22 sets , with age it cracks and falls off....leaving bare wires ! Nasty.

In the desert.. it's a different story.. dry and so on . Wireless was more effective there.
Mike