Aerial mast base

[Mike K]

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]

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]

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]

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]

For a comparison: pics of the Aust., Canadian and Brit sets . The British set features their own peculiar valves ..apparently only made for the army ... the set was a late 30's pre-war design, got into production around 1939 ... The Aust .version uses the U.S. derived battery valves , made here by AWA ... The Brit set has in general, far better components ,and a higher level of finish in engineering terms...it has a lightweight alloy case. Of the 18,000 British sets made ( Meulstee figure) , only a tiny handfull have survived . As opposed to the approx. 6000 Aust. sets , of which many are still around today. Another rarity is the Canadian built 11 set ... the set features a green front panel and it appears to have been made in very small numbers.

[Ron Pier]

Thanks for those pictures Mike. I especially like the one with the crinkle finish, and the fob watch in place. Give you 50 quid for it ha ha! There's a British 11 set in the Signals museum at Blandford Camp here in Dorset. The only other one I've ever seen was about 12 years ago at The War and Peace show, it was waiting to be picked up by it's new owner, who had just paid £1000 for it!!! You mentioned the wooden batteries. The one in the foreground is an original 6 volt dated 1942. Would you believe I paid £2.50 for it at a show at Popham Airfield, that Dave and Rory had been at, at least 4 hours before me. Rory is still smarting about it. I have found another 6 volt box, but it is larger. I have dismantled it, and a friend is going to rebuild it the correct size for me, some job though. He has your pictures and measurements to work from.
Ron

[Philliphastings]

Hi,

Thanks for the pics and info. Being a military radio restorer as well as my many other interests, I appreciate any source of info.

There seems to be quite a few Australian No 11 wireless sets surviving in WA these days. I am told that the fire brigades used them in the 50's. I was lucky to have been able to rescue a few and some spare power supply units over the years. Also the climate here is predominantly dry so I guess thay gave good service.

Wireless sets No 19 Mk 111 seem to have been over here in good numbers, though I have seen many go to the eastern states over the years...

as for the batter boxes, occasionally a corroded 'Nifen' connector turns up or some hardware but the boxes fell prey to our rampant termites decades ago.

I wasn't even aware of the Canadian No 11 set - very impressed with it too I might add.

Perhaps MLU could host a new Military radio and signals equipment forum...

Cheers

Phill

[Mike K]

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