Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Several years back I had purchased a preassembled 12-foot Aerial Connector Cable Assembly for use with an FRG-7 I owned at the time. It was a run of RG-58A/U Coax with a UHF Plug at each end. The first time I tried it; the Central Conductor of one Plug jammed in its Socket and tore out of the Plug Assembly. A close inspection showed the Plugs used were cheap; using folded central pins, rather than rolled ones. The folding was off, creating one large sized face that stuck. Set the cable aside and forgot about it.

This morning I dug it out of a bin and decided to lop off the duff end and convert the cable to a small ring terminal at that end to allow for the future fitting of a turned brass PLUGS, Aerial. The type that sits at 90 degrees to its cable and has a cheese head BA screw holding it in place. I could then use this coax cable to connect either of my two 19-Sets, or my 52-Set to my external dipole aerial.

I got the job done this afternoon, and decided to see how the Main Set Receiver reacted to officially being connected to the dipole through all its proper fittings. I use ‘proper fittings’ carefully because at the moment, the Connector between the Sender Output Socket to the Coils, Aerial Tuning No. 2A, is about 4 times longer than it should be and that might be putting a bias into the works for a while.

It was so much fun listening to the WWV Time Signal at 5.0 MC slowly improves as the Sender and Coil Tuning came into play. I cannot help but wonder when the last time was, here in Winnipeg, when the Receiver of a complete 52-Set operated this way.

The three photos are of the cable I reworked for the task, the 52-Set up and running with all bits finally interacting and the output feed to the dipole on the wall, with the running CPP-2 Power Supply doing its thing on the lower shelf. If you look carefully in the last photo, you can see the output leads from the CPP-2 connected to the DC Voltage Distribution System I built for the Wireless Bench. On the back wall, just above the bench and between the two 19-Sets, you can also see the Battery Cable for the 52-Set connected to one of the 3 Distribution Boxes in the system.

A big thanks to Bruce Parker at this point once again for sending me the spare Coils, Aerial Tuning No. 2A he had on hand when I started this crazy project. Between it and what I had on hand, I now have a complete and functioning Coils and was even able to send a couple of spare bits to a fellow 52-Set Restorer in Northern Ireland to help with his work.


David

[David Dunlop]

This Project is at a very interesting point right now in that the pieces I have been working on for the last three years are finally interacting with each other to some degree. Kind of like when pieces of a vehicle start coming back together in a meaningful way. The timing for this is very good since I have to step away from the Receivers and Sender for a couple of weeks and I can take the time to review the work done to date to identify details I have missed, or not fully recognized the importance of, in my restoration work to date. For example, the noisy tuning coils in the Sender. I have now discovered these since the Receiver can once more interact with it as it as it was intended.

In addition to the three Aerial Loading Coils located in the Sender, there is also the much larger Coil, Aerial Tuning No, 2A that sits on top of the Carriers No. 4. The latter item is noisy throughout its tuning range, which is not the least bit surprising, since I have done no internal cleaning of that assembly at all so far, It will eventually be carefully disassembled, however, in order to restore the paintwork inside and outside of the wooden case, to return it to original Marconi Semi Flat Olive Green. At that time the Coil Assembly and its related WHEELS, “V” Contacts, will be fully cleaned.

As for the coils in the Sender, I did clean all of them of the sooty residue covering them, but did not pay as much attention as I should have to their related WHEELS, “V” Contacts. The result is intermittent scratchy spots on them as they tune throughout their ranges. The same effect as you hear on an old radio or television volume control that needs cleaning. What I think I will do in the interim is set the two sets of coils back to their start points of ‘0000’ on their Counters and then run them both full range, recording the Counter Values at every noisy section. Then, once I can get back to working on the Sender again, I will be able to find each spot on the coils that needs attention, as well as giving the WHEELS “V” a good cleaning.

The other thing I will be focusing on for a while will be a careful study of the actual Operating Procedures for the 52-Set. I need to be far more comfortable with the process than I currently am, and that only comes with reading, learning and practise. The Working Instructions Manual has good information for this but it does tend to be spread out through the manual a bit, which makes the flow of the information a bit choppy. On the bright side however, I discovered that some time ago, I had obtained a copy of the TELECOMMUNICATIONS FZ 523 1st Echelon Work for the Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian. Issue 1 dated February 1945.

This is an excellent training source, covering all the operating steps in a very nicely arranged sequence. It also has a wealth of useful Operators Reference material, troubleshooting information and Maintenance Data. One thing I did notice is you have to pay attention to what piece of the 52-Set they are discussing when it comes to working with the Meter, which is mounted in the Receiver, but services the Sender as well.

On the Receiver, the switch for the Meter is called the ‘METER SW.’, but on the Sender the switch is identified as ‘METER SWITCH’. In order to activate the METER SWITCH on the Sender, the METER SW on the Receiver has to be turned to ‘SENDER’.

See what I mean?


David

[David Dunlop]

Two weeks past cataract surgery on my right eye and so far so good. One good eye and one blurry eye definitely wreaks havoc on one’s ability to perform detail work, however. Even trying to read up on operating procedures has its challenges. Sigh! Two more weeks and the other eye should be done, so fingers crossed.

In the meantime, while looking for things I can actually accomplish, I stumbled across my old A and B Lists of things to find for the 52-Set Project. A surprisingly large number of things could be crossed off both lists now, which was encouraging.

Close to the top of the list overall now is the CURTAINS, Waterproof to install across the top front of the Carriers No.4. Be interesting to learn how these were originally packed from the factory; tagged and packed in sets in boxes, or individually rolled and wrapped in brown paper? Could have gone either way I suppose. Also be interesting to learn who made them.

David

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Two weeks past cataract surgery on my right eye and so far so good. One good eye and one blurry eye definitely wreaks havoc on one’s ability to perform detail work, however. Even trying to read up on operating procedures has its challenges. Sigh! Two more weeks and the other eye should be done, so fingers crossed.
David

For reading (assuming the un-blurred eye is the fixed one and you chose "distance vision") I'd suggest a pair of cheap reading glasses and tape over the lens for the blurry eye. (If the eyes are too far apart in terms of focus distance you won't be able to correct with a lens and get stereoscopic vision because of the difference in perceived image size - which is why they do both eyes.)

Best regards,
Chris. (Who has been "fixed focus" for a number of years now.)

[David Dunlop]

I was just going through some old notes on this part and rediscovered an oddity.

Every so often, one sees one of these HOLDERS with a thin disc of grey felt, or perhaps cork, placed at the back of it, over the three mounting screws.

Were these thin pads an actual production/supply item, or were these just ‘local level fabrications’, to reduce rattle of the pocket watch in the HOLDERS?

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I was just going through some old notes on this part and rediscovered an oddity.

Every so often, one sees one of these HOLDERS with a thin disc of grey felt, or perhaps cork, placed at the back of it, over the three mounting screws.

Were these thin pads an actual production/supply item, or were these just ‘local level fabrications’, to reduce rattle of the pocket watch in the HOLDERS?

David

I think there had to be a felt or cork backing. Otherwise the watch flops about in the case no doubt straining and ultimately chipping the socket at the top. My question is whether the watch was removed to wind it...which would be a very often occurrence. If so the fragile threads on the case would no doubt cause trouble very quickly (and it's not an easy item to remove and replace). On the other hand it is very difficult to pull up the knob and wind the watch while in its case. The 52 set probably would not be that bad but the watch and winder (not to mention the case itself) is not very accessible on Mk.II 19 sets.

[Bruce MacMillan]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I was just going through some old notes on this part and rediscovered an oddity.

Were these thin pads an actual production/supply item, or were these just ‘local level fabrications’, to reduce rattle of the pocket watch in the HOLDERS?

David

My 2P worth thinks it was local. I had bought an unopened box of 6 watch holders and upon opening there were just the holders, no extra bits. I've found no documentation on field changes with the holders or stores numbers for the backing. Looking at the many photos on google where the holder is visible none have padding. I think the solution (has been verified) was to remove the offending watch and store safely in a padded pocket.

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Bruce MacMillan

My 2P worth thinks it was local. I had bought an unopened box of 6 watch holders and upon opening there were just the holders, no extra bits. I've found no documentation on field changes with the holders or stores numbers for the backing. Looking at the many photos on google where the holder is visible none have padding. I think the solution (has been verified) was to remove the offending watch and store safely in a padded pocket.

I'd agree with "added by the user to stop it rattling". The GS/TP (General Service/Trade Pattern) watches that were probably used later on came in a variety of case thicknesses (also stem lengths) and would have needed some sort of packing to avoid vibration affecting the movement.

The original watch was the "Watch, W/T, Non-Magnetic" in a chrome plated iron case (to reduce any effects of the magnetic field from the power supply dynamotor(s) on its timekeeping), and was actually cheaper than the standard pocket watch. Later they used 'B' series watches (both of these types were manufactured without bows (specifically for use in holders), and I think to a specified overall size (the ones I have are reasonably consistent in terms of thickness).

The original watch holders were plated brass, but volume requirements led to the introduction of the bakelite version (which retained the same designation and stores code).

Long-stemmed watches probably won't fit the WS19 Mk.3 (fouling the power input connector), which is almost certainly why the holder was fitted to the front of the supply unit (where it is much easier to wind and set the watch without having to remove it from the holder) on the Canadian set. (I know my W/T Non Magnetic won't fit in the holder between the connectors on a British WS19 Mk.3, other watches are fine.)

(My father commented that the issued watch did not keep good time and that he used his own (a gift from an uncle - and quite how he managed to hang onto it given all the forced migration to Russia and then travel to Iraq is something of a mystery) that watch would have stayed in a pocket.)

Best regards,
Chris.