Mountings, Carriers, No. 1

[David Dunlop]

I thought a bit about posting in this thread rather than the Restoration Thread for the WIRE-5 elsewhere, but decided here was best as I am pretty sure these items are not exclusive (though most definitely elusive) to the WIRE-5.

If anyone has a set of these, or a good clear photo, please post.

These mountings come as a pair, with Table Mounting Strips and are used to hold the 19-Set Carriers, Sets, No. 23 (the 'Bread Board') to the Wireless Table inside the WIRE-5. They look rather like a small steel box channel, with a slot cut the length of the top and fittings on the bottom to bolt it to the top of the wireless table. Support straps go top and bottom of the table as well to strengthen it. The front ends of the steel channels have spring clip assemblies fitted to them with a metal tab. They spring upwards in the 'locked' position and the tabs are pressed and held down to unlock them.

For those of you lucky enough to have the Carriers, Sets, No. 23, if you look at the bottom at each end of the main board, you will see a steel plate assembly with a strip of steel rod welded along the end. It is these rods that are slid into the slots on the top of the Mountings, Carriers No. 1 to secure the 19-Set assembly to the wireless table. When the rods reach the back of the Mountings channels, the clips pop up at the front of the mountings and engage the leading edge of the Carriers, Sets No. 23, thereby locking it in place.

Not one set of these mountings was to be found in all of the boxes at Princess. I even crawled inside a couple of upside down ones to check them out. You could always see where they had been located on the tables and Princess did not seem to be concerned about stripping parts out of the boxes for separate sale, so my best guess is that the military deemed them essential wireless equipment parts and removed them themselves before the wireless trucks were disposed of. Pity. Wonder if they follow a similar policy today when disposing of radio vehicles?

David


David