I got this Aerial Unit C off Kevin and you couldn't see through the ammeter glass. I took the meter cover apart and it has two thin layers of glass with a piece of clear plastic between them. The plastic had deteriorated so it wasn't clear anymore. I cleaned stuff up and left out the plastic and it looks good now. My question is "Why would they make it like this? A single layer of glass should have been sufficient I would think.

Laminated glass like auto windshields that also sometimes go opaque in the plastic layer?

That was my thought as well, Grant. Protection for the meter and the adhesive for the plastic has failed over time. I've see one or two CMP windscreens do the same thing and take on a yellow brown hue in the process.

David

I also wondered if the dial had (still does?) contained radioactivity for glow in the dark that might have originally been contained by the plastic and also have caused the plastic to deteriorate. This is pure speculation, NOT/NOT based on any parallel to known equipment.

Any radioactivity present would not be worth worrying about, Grant, and plain glass and plastic have zero containment capability in any event. To act as a radiation shield, you need leaded glass, but I am not sure what percent lead is required. Common crystal glass is around 22 to 24 % as I recall.

David

Tuner
 

I just received a C tuner from Kevin, I am surprised at how different it is to the Aust. made version, quite a bit smaller it is . Yes same problem, the glass has gone a yellowy faded shade , cannot read the meter .

Mike, just take out the four screws on the shield then turn it over and take out the next 4 screws and it all comes apart. Pull the two layers of glass apart and remove the plastic. Mine didn't seem to have any kind of adhesive on it, A bit of Windex and all is well!
What manufacturing company would R.G.D. be?

Ok
 

OK . I see the 4 screws and the meter cover .

I do have a spare meter - same as the one in the C unit .

Ba
 

The screws are BA thread - I replaced the 8 rusty screws that hold the chassis in the box .

The 4 BA C/sunk screws holding the meter cover on were really stuck, some patience needed .

The meter face is now visible ! I have a left over bit of crumpled 1940 plastic lens.

BTW I don't know who thought up the theory of the C tuner . In actual field use , I've heard that all it did was absorb some of the RF energy that was meant to go up the antenna :confused

Radio Gramophone Development Co.

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Radio_G...Development_Co

http://www.rgd.org.uk/index.html

Chris.

Gents be carful with playing around with the meter, Radon paint may have been used which is Alpha emitting, Which is shielded by glass, plastic or even paper. You do not want to ingest alpha as it is harmful inside the body, your outer layer of your skin shields it too. as long as the painted dial is intact and the paints not coming off it will be ok. A quick removal of the deteriorated plastic does not constitute a hazard in my opinion. I have another four of these units available if your wireless mates need any.

kevin.

I don't think I've ever encountered a plug-in meter with a luminous face, they've all been standard black paint on a white background. The 'three part glass' in the meter protective cover is almost certainly a piece of laminated glass that has delaminated with age. The outer sheets of glass are for scratch resistance and the inner plastic/adhesive layer is to prevent splintering if it gets broken. (Glass either side because you won't know which way it gets put in.)

Meters with plastic (plexiglas/perspex or celluloid) lenses were a later (cheaper) approach, and they discolour and distort (celluloid) or suffer from crazing (plexiglas).

The meter protector is to keep dirt and damp out of the equipment while still allowing you to change the meter if it fails - and I think they issued spare meters (and designed them to be plug-in) for that reason. (It also allows them to be tested easily during overhaul, without dismantling the equipment)

Chris.

Mia culpa Mia Culpa Mia maxima culpa

I was asked for a return copy this by someone on this thread who so generously posted it to me more than a year back .

In the great hurly burly of life the reminder system and my feeble memory had pushed it to the outer limits.

I will post a copy of it to anyone who e mails me at ginavampire@bigpond.com

My deepest apologies and regrets fort not attending to this an eon ago .

Hi, that's a drawing I did, it's the gasket, pax board and pins for the 11 set plugs.

Hi Kevin
you very kindly sent me a plug and the drawing . I am sure you asked me to e mail back a copy....

I very negligently forgot ...and for that my apologies.

No worries, better late than never.


Kevin

Would anyone be able to send me an image of the front of a spare valve case for the British 11 set? I want to make a decal. I guess one for the spare parts case might be in order too. Thanks.

Stone the crows cobber I only have an Aussie set . Wouldn't it put a knot in yer nightie

I found an image of Bruce McMillain's on the wireless of the week 11 set thread. I have an empty 19 set case that I can just change the 9 to a 1 and it'll look authentic until I find an original. Bruce's on the left and mine on the right.
Now what about a spare parts case?

I can send pics of the Canadian W/T 11 spare parts box if interested.

Spare Parts Case
 

I've got two of these on their way from ebay.
I changed the link to a picture of the listing.
The second pic is from Bruce showing the lettering. I'l try making decals for them. After painting of course!
I'll have to make the dividers and need a copy of the list of contents for inside the lid.

David I just bought the other one for the sake of 11 quid. I'd have happily paid that when I was looking for door clips for my switchboard. But these ones appear to have the lettering embossed in the lids with what looks like No 5C. So I'm guessing these were the next generation box? The lettering could be just picked out in white. Ron

The first 19 sets used the same case so could be. I almost bought all of them but thought somebody else might want one. I like how they were listed as art-deco collectable tins. The guy didn't have a clue what they were.

Good when that happens! I bought an utterly rare WD Miller motorcycle tail lamp for £15 because the bloke had listed it as "Strange Lamp" Ron :)

They're variations on the same outer case for different wireless sets.

5A ZA.0942 was for Wireless Sets 9, 12, 12HP, 33, etc.
5B ZA.0943 was for Wireless Sets 11, 12, 12HP, 14, 33.
5C ZA.1904 was for WS19 and R.208
5C Mk.1/1 ZA.29388 was for WS19 or SR C12
5D ?
5E ?
5F ZA.24797 was for R308

According to Wireless for the Warrior Volume 2.

I bought a couple of Canadian 5C tins with assorted contents many years ago, advertised as "Parts for Case Tractor" on eBay. :D They had a lot of WS19 spares inside and about four of the operator lamps, plus unrelated fuses and oddments.

The 5C has a wooden block to take fuses, lamps and brushes. I think the 5B has a soldered/welded in divider/compartment that takes the spare thermocouple meter for the WS.11. Externally they're identical.

Latches vary by manufacturer, as does the style/colouring/lettering, without considering repainted ones.

Chris.

Some of the ebay spare parts cases have the embossed lettering and are 5C for the 19 set. With not much effort with a hammer and punch the C could become a B. The others have no lettering and would need a decal or a stencil. I have no idea which ones I'll end up with but they'll both become 5B cases.

Here's a list of the spare parts case contents from the operator's manual:
Ammeter H. F.
350 mA No 1
Brushes, D or M, No 4
Brush holders No 5
Brush sash tool No 2
Bulbs, 6V J (4 req)
Lamps, operators, No 2
Tablets, calibration
No 1
No 2
No 3
No 4
No 5
Voltmeter, pocket,250 volts, No 2
Case for meter

I have the voltmeter and case and the operator's lamp.
What's the brush sash tool?
What are the calibration tablets?
The left picture is one of a 5B that Bruce sent me. The dividers are riveted in place.The right picture is a newer 5C but it's the same dimensions and I put my voltmeter and light into place. In Bruce's the green circle obviously holds the ammeter and the compartment on the right is for brushes and the other small bits.

Dave as far as I can make out from the ebay pictures, all three have the embossed lettering, but like you, I'll see what I get.

I've had this one for years in my universal carrier and haven't paid much attention to it in a long time. But inside it has a fixed wooden block with lots of holes and there is a No9 Morse key? Maybe Chris can enlighten me what it's all about? Ron

spares box
 

The Aust. No. 11 set spares box is quite a bit larger than the 5B/C types, I will have a look and see if I can find mine and take a pic

Those 19 set 5C boxes. In the early 1980's, I bought a lot of them from Ham Radio supplies in Highett st Richmond, for $2 each.

The full complement of spares (and the actual holes in the block) vary according to the set and supply unit. Usually there's a contents list in the lid.

Standard contents are:

Left to right....
1 x spare microphone insert (dynamic type).
12 x 250mA fuses for the supply unit.
4 x Bulbs, 12 volt, 'F', ditto.
2 x replacement fuse carriers (in case you drop them into the bowels of your AFV, never to be seen again).
2 x LT brushes and 4 x HT brushes for the dynamotor.
carried loose in the tin (or in small envelopes)

Spare wire clips for the 6pt and 12pt plugs on set and supply unit, control boxes, etc.
Spare wire clips for the Pye connectors on the set.
Spare circlips for the 6 & 12 point cable connectors.
Rubber (blind) grommets for plugging unused holes in the set canvas cover and possibly unused droplead connectors on junction boxes.
4 x flick locking screws.
2 each Aerial Pigtails for the A and B set aerial bases (8 or 10, and 9)
The morse key.

Optional (not always supplied): dummy antenna (AFV kits only, I think.)

The operator lamp sometimes ended up in the box, too.

The dynamotor brushes varied according to the supply unit, and I think were discontinued later on as the were rarely needed. Likewise the quantity of springs and clips were reduced post-WW2. Sets with the Canadian Supply Unit No.2 also got 12 x 10 Amp fuses for the vibrator part of the supply, these had a blue band on them as a distinguishing mark.

Regards,
Chris.

Tablets, Calibration will be celluloid (or similar) sheets with a preprinted grid and/or lettering for the operator to note settings on (in pencil) for various frequencies, etc. Think of them as a very early whiteboard or reusable Post-it notes. :D

Brush, Sash Tool will (I assume) be a small round paintbrush for keeping the set free of dust - especially carbon dust from the dynamotor brushes.

Chris.