Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

As mentioned in Post #543, there are three main parts to this Sub-Project. The first part, now completed, was to fabricate the Receiver end of the LEADS, as it was the most complex.

The second part will be to add an Identification Sleeve to the LEADS.

From what I have seen from available photographs, this sleeve is between one and two inches in length (closer to the two end) and in most instances is yellow in colour with black lettering. A few photos suggest there might also be a version out there with a brown resin impregnated sleeve. The yellow one, I think, is early production as the illustrations in the manuals show it with “ No. C7” just legible. The 1948 Update to the Master Parts List shows this illustration but notes the wording on it is early production and should be ignored.

The challenge I have encountered with this ID Sleeve is getting the right size of sleeve in yellow. A 9/32-inch Inside Diameter just slides nicely over the 7mm HT cable for the LEADS. I have been able to source thin wall heat shrink tubing locally in that size, but only in black.

David

Um, not wishing to rain on your parade but heat-shrink tubing is a fairly recent invention and definitely post-WW2. (From the patents it looks like a mid-1950s development at the earliest.)

The WS19 (etc.) connectors I've seen have used printed & varnished cambric sleeving, metal tab-fastened ID labels, and printed rubber tubing (usually yellow or pink), plus pasted-on paper labels for fairly early stuff not expected to be exposed to the elements. Printed (shrink-on?) plastic sleeving is mainly seen on later Larkspur and Clansman cabling.

The expandable rubber sleeving is Hellerman/Tyton and there are various hand tools for applying it (as labels or number sleeves) to cables. I bought some of the yellow variety but am not sure it's small enough for the P11 cable used for aerial leads.

I'll see if I can get a photograph of the leads included with the "Dummy Aerial No.2 & No.3" set I have, which I think will use the same construction as the WS52 aerial lead. (The pin connectors on the ends are nickel-plated turned brass and uninsulated apart from a black rubber sleeve covering the cable joint to the connector.)

Best regards (and probably apologies for not posting this earlier),
Chris.

(The 'salmon pink' rubber sleeving tended to be used on internal equipment wiring and connecting cables for test equipment - the latter probably as a distinguishing mark to prevent it leaving the workshop with the repaired kit.)