Wireless of the Week - week 9
 

Signalers had a dangerous job. If you weren’t making a target of yourself walking around with a radio on your back and an antenna sticking out the top, you were radiating signals that the enemy could use to locate you. To help with this, many wireless sets had remote units which allowed them to be operated from some distance away by connecting the remote unit to the set by wire. Once that was possible, it was logical that any number of other telephone type devices could also be used to remotely transmit on the set. There were other reasons for operating a wireless set remotely however. A command post might want to send and receive messages without a radio set whirring away and a signaler underfoot, or you might prefer communicating deep down in a nice safe trench.

One such remote unit is the Wireless Remote Control Unit No.1 (Canadian). It is used with all models of the No.19 set as well as the No.9, No.9 Mk.1, No.43 and No.52. The units (R.C.U.s) are used in pairs; one relatively local to the wireless set called the “Nearby R.C.U” connected by a cable to a wireless set headset ‘snatch plug’, and the second, called the “Remote R.C.U.”, located some distance away connected to the first with two strands of signal wire. An operator would talk through his microphone or tap out a message on his CW key on the Remote R.C.U. and the signal would pass through the wires to the Nearby R.C.U. and then transmit on the wireless set. Receiving at the Remote R.C.U. would occur exactly the same way only in reverse. Alternatively, the Remote R.C.U. could be further connected to an exchange or switchboard which in turn could be attached to a number of telephone sets that could ultimately be connected to the wireless set (these switchboards and telephone sets will be covered in following weeks). Each R.C.U. required an operator to handle the incoming and outgoing calls and these operators could communicate with each other over the units to coordinate the send and receive functions and monitor traffic.

Each unit came in a wooden box 12-3/4” long, 9-3/4” deep and 7” tall with a hinged lid. The complete unit weighed 22-1/4 lbs. Inside the box was the unit with its controls, a space for four 1-1/2 volt ‘X’ cells in series, a CW (morse) key, a ringer, snatch plug connector and terminal posts to connect the signal wire. There was provision for the operator’s mic and earphones as well as operating instructions printed on a metal plate attached to the inside of the lid.

Range between connected Nearby and Remote units (and hence the ability of the Remote unit to transmit on the wireless set) was 3 miles but could be increased by adding external X cells to the Remote unit in addition to the four on board. Roughly speaking, one cell would add one mile of range.

Shown in pictures 3 and 4 are two other examples of remote units. The Wireless Remote Control Unit H No.2 is used with the Wireless Set No.33 and the Wireless Remote Control Unit A is used with Wireless Sets No.1 and No.11.

Pictures of my NOS Remote Control Unit A.

excellent stuff thanks very much it helps us mere mortals and radio virgins to understand exactly what the various parts i see for sale and the information found in WFW was actually used for well done
Nicky

Could one of you wireless guys help me with what I have hear please. The two top boxes are empty and I can't find any dates. The bottom unit has a 1945 date on the webbing strap. Cheers Ron

The bottom one is a Telephone Set D. That 4 prong plug is the same as the Remote Control Unit A uses.
Does anyone have a spare handset for a Telephone Set D? I could use one to make up another connector for my second Remote Control Unit A.

connector
 

I have some of those 4 prong connectors - I had NOS ones , hopefully I can find one

The remote F is for a WS22 I think .

Who won the charging switchboard ?

Not me! I tried hard but got pipped. Ron

Damn
 

Oh bugger :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Maybe David got it ..he's sleeping now I guess

Holy Cow it sold for 747 pounds

It's GPO "Plug No.406" and a common item. (I think the matching socket is Jack No.8, or something similar.)

I can almost certainly find you a spare plug, to save hacking up a handset.

Chris.

Somebody wanted the switchboard pretty bad. Over $1000. At least we have some pictures now.
Here's some pics of the remote connector. The numbers are the exposed wire lengths in inches.
The 31 inch one is two wires.
The wires are twisted together for 10 inches.

Remote Control Unit F No.1 is (in your case, was) the local "Set unit" part of the outfit, with the No.2 being the Remote unit for Wireless Set No.22.

Telephone Set "F" was an "office" telephone for headquarters use, mostly.
Your case is dated 10/55 (October 1955) but that's almost certainly a refurbishment date. Telephone Set "F" Mk.1 was built in a cast-alloy case with a full length piano hinge at the back and two captive screws holding the lid down. the Mk.II used a Bakelite case with a detachable lid and three screws to hold it on. Originally they had a combined buzzer/induction coil so that they could work with the earlier Telephone Sets 'D' using buzzer calling, but the buzzer was replaced later with an induction coil unit that gave better speech quality and the "Buzzer call" button does nothing on those instruments,

Telephone Set "D" Mark V is at the bottom of your photograph; this was the standard WW2 telephone for use in forward areas and at unit level. It's a buzzer call and buzzer/magneto ringing unit with buzzer morse facilities for use in poor conditions or on bad lines. A later change (D Mk. V*) deleted the headset, and required the headset terminals to be bridged with a shorting link. This set will work with Switchboards Universal Call 6 or 10 Line, and also Switchboards F&F (which probably stands for "Field & Fixed" though some references refer to it as "Field & Fortress"), both of which support buzzer and magneto signalling. It won't work with the 10-line Magneto switchboard, as far as I know, as I don't think the flags will drop on a buzzer signal.

Tele-D Mk. V is frequently mis-advertised as a Fullerphone, which it definitely is not.

Chris.

Chris, would you have any spares of the other plugs? Wishful thinking maybe.
Do you have one of those connector assemblies in your collection or is mine the only one?

I don't even have the connector assembly (or the webbing strap with pouch) for my own remote control unit 'A'. :(

The connectors are simple enough: No.9 plug for the headset, No.10 plug for the microphone, and what I assume is a WW2 vintage banana plug for the morse key (sharing the earth connection with the headset and microphone).

I can almost certainly find you the No.9 and No.10 jack plugs (and the actual specification of the connector cable from the VAOS and/or handbook).

Chris.