Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

I was able to apply the flat white base coat to the four marker slots on the Handles No. 72 and the single Marker Slot on the Handles No. 80 this morning. It actually took more time setting up all the little bits of masking tape than the painting itself.

Hopefully tomorrow, I can start filling in the marker slots with the luminous red and green paints.

David

[David Dunlop]

If you check back to Post #513, you will see the original of this dial from my Sender on the left hand side. I had decided to use the spare dial on the right, from my parts receiver, as it was in better overall condition.

I also wanted to try out a test electroplating with this original dial to see how it would work out. The results are in.

In the first two photos today, you can see the original dial after I had cleaned all the metal surfaces with a brass wire wheel on my Dremel Tool. Once the bare metal was cleaned of all rust and other crud, I cleaned the entire dial with a general purpose cleaner and then rinsed it with Isopropyl Alcohol. This was followed by a light coat of car polish, on the black engraved face of the dial, to hopefully further prevent any plating from happening anywhere on it. Then into the electroplating solution it went for just over two hours.

When it came out of the solution, I was very pleased with the even plating around the rim, and once it had dried for about 20 minutes the central hub and rear of the dial looked pretty good as well. As it continues to dry out over the next couple of days, I expect the colour of the plating with lighten some more.

A couple of interesting observations. First, deposits of zinc did occur on the black engraved face of the dial, but only as very small dots of sand. When I rinsed it off in warm water after plating, these all washed away.

Second, the plating around the rim had a fine sandpaper feel to it. I was not sure if this would interfere with the smooth rotation of the dial in the drive assembly when fitted to the bottom of it, so I gave the rim a quick rub with a smooth cotton cloth. This got rid of the sandy feeling and I suspect the dial would turn with no problems in its drive assembly.

So I am now pretty certain I will use this process to refurbish the remaining two dial assemblies on the Sender. No choice really. I have no spares.

David

[David Dunlop]

The marker slots on the two handles have now been filled with their respective luminous green and red paints. The red paint is from a different supplier than the green I have been working with, but is also a thicker style of paint. Dries quickly and does not run.

Just letting them cure for 24 hours now.

David

[David Dunlop]

A good day today, and another milestone event in the largely mechanical so far, overhaul of the Sender. All the detail pieces for the Frequency MC Dial Assembly went back on.

A pretty straightforward bit of work, with the usual exception of getting the tab on the spring portion of the Bracket and Spring Assemblies No. C1 to pop back into its locking hole in the front panel. It is doable, but never yet have I been able to accomplish it without the tab cutting into the paint on the panel a little bit.

As I have mentioned before, this job is one to do with the Sender on its back so things stay put. The first parts back on were the front Clamping Plate and the small brass shim dropped over the central post. The large set of holes in the Clamp line up with the large holes on the drive and the smaller holes with the smaller threaded ones on the drive.

When you drop the dial itself in place, just make sure the three small studs in the central portion of the dial are on the side of the central shaft with the ‘flat’ cut into it. You will see a corresponding set of three holes on the bottom side of the Handles No. 72, the three studs on the dial will lock into. The two holes directly opposite each other hold the small pivot pins for the Clamping Screw Springs.

I put the Handles No. 72 face down on the bench and slide the two springs as far back into their slots as they will go. When I see the little central ‘V’ in each spring slide past the pin hole, I drop the pins in place. The next step it to get the inverted Handles No. 72 up off the bench and turned right side up without the pivot pins falling out.

What I do is take hold of the two ends of one of the springs with the thumb and index finger of one hand, making sure the spring ends are at the midpoint of the thumb and fingertips. Then close your thumb and finger so that the tips of each jamb in between the ends of the spring and the sides of the Handle. What this does is pull the spring against the pivot pin, locking it in place. Keep that tension on the spring and lift the entire Handles straight up, keeping it level.

Once you have the Handles above the bench, take the thumb and index finger of your other hand and rotate your wrist counter clockwise, until your thumb is behind your index finger. In that position, grab the other spring ends in the same manner as the first one putting the same tension on that pivot pin. While holding the Handles with your inverted hand, reorient your other hand on its spring so the thumb is also to the rear and reapply the tension on that pivot pin.

With both pins under tension now, you can turn your hands and the Handles right side up, align the flat of the Handle socket with the flat of the central shaft and lower the Handles onto the shaft until it is resting on the Dial. The Dial will now keep the two pivot pins from falling out and you can let go of the two springs. One last small step.

While holding the Handles to prevent it from turning, grab the rim of the dial with your other hand and turn it back and forth until you feel the three studs on it drop into the holes on the bottom of the Handles. The two parts are now correctly aligned. You can insert the central washer and mounting screw in the Handles now but only run it in about half way. And don’t tighten the grub screw yet either.

The odds are very good that when you install the Bracket and Spring Assembly, the rim of the dial will not automatically drop into its slot in the Drive Shaft, so by leaving the two screws in the Handles No. 72 loose at this point, you will be able to slip a small piece of wood under the dial and lever it into its slot. I use half of an old wooden clothes peg for that. Once that is done, the two screws can then be run home.

Once the Handles No. 72 is in place, you can install the four Clamping Screws. Start with the two Blue Indicator ones first. They are the ones that go into the larger pair of holes you noticed earlier. They reach all the way to the rear clamping plate assembly. When you feel the first of these two Clamping Screws catch the threads of the rear clamping plate, insert the second Clamping Screw directly opposite the first one. If you apply too many turns on the first screw, it will pull the Clamping Plate up at an angle and you will not be able to engage the second Clamping Screw. Once they are both engaged, tighten them and then back them off two full turns. This prevents a Flick Frequency being established in error. Then insert the two Red Clamping Screws in the same manner.

That is pretty much all the tricky bits that come with reassembling a Tuning Dial Drive.

Now I just have to repeat this process two more times and the Sender mechanical work will be almost finished.

David

PS: The toothpick in the photos was holding the Lower Flick Arm in place so it could be easily retrieved when it came time to inset the small lug on the end of the Tuning Drive into it.

[David Dunlop]

I finally got all the parts cleaned and/or refurbished for the I.P.A. 7 - 16 MC Tuning Assembly in the lower middle section of the Sender. And best of all, they were all reinstalled this morning.

This was the assembly I had originally noticed had a none working Flick Drive and once the front panel had been removed, found the Lower Flick Lever and the Spring connecting it to the Upper Flick Lever were completely disconnected. So now everything works with that assembly.

I just have the luminous paint details to reapply to the handles No. 72 and 80 for the PA TUNE Assembly on the right side of the front panel, and it will be ready for reinstallation.

David

[David Dunlop]

The parts for the PA TUNE Dial Assembly went back on this afternoon. This was the assembly that had a broken spring on its Bracket and Spring Assemblies No. C1 when I purchased the 52-Set, so the PA TUNE was totally none functional.

A fellow Amateur in the Maritimes donated a complete Drive Assembly as a replacement and that spring has now been put back to work on the Sender.

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

The parts for the PA TUNE Dial Assembly went back on this afternoon. This was the assembly that had a broken spring on its Bracket and Spring Assemblies No. C1 when I purchased the 52-Set, so the PA TUNE was totally none functional.

A fellow Amateur in the Maritimes donated a complete Drive Assembly as a replacement and that spring has now been put back to work on the Sender.

David

Spectacular!!!!!

[David Dunlop]

Now that reinstalling the three dial assemblies has been completed on the Sender, I was also able to reinstall the three Knobs, Phenolic, Pointer on the set of switches across the lower right section of the front panel.

That just leaves the lock for the High Power portion of the Power Selector Switch to put back in the Sender. The lock is currently soaking in a small container of light weight air tool oil. A set of keys should arrive for the lock sometime this coming week. Much easier to leave the lock off the Sender until I have the lock working again.

David