[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

The Wireless Set No.1 was a pre-war British built radio coming at the end of a long experimental period of military wireless development. It represents the first practical set that was efficient (for its day), reliable and tough enough to take the knocks of military service. Production ran from 1930 to 1938 when it was replaced by the No.11 Set.

Designed for continuous wave wireless telegraphy (W/T) and radio telephony (R/T) originally at the infantry or artillery brigade level, the No.1 set was used as a portable field station or in vehicles on the move. Range was 2 to 5 miles depending on whether the set was operated R/T (voice) or W/T (morse) and could be significantly greater if a horizontal sky wave aerial was used. Frequency range was 4.28 to 6.66 MHz, amended in March 1939 to 4.2 to 6.8 MHz.

The set itself came in a sturdy, copper lined metal case 19-3/4” long by 8-1/8” deep by 12” tall weighing 48-1/2 lbs. On the top was a leather carrying handle and two plugs for the battery connections. The lower part of the set’s face had hinged covers to access the valves and a morse key slid into a housing on the bottom left. The lid, held on by two clips, was removable to access the set’s controls and on its inside had clips to store the earphones and microphone as well as a brass instruction plate. Power was supplied by two batteries: a dry replaceable one for H.T. good for about 200 hours and a 6V 16 A.H. rechargeable battery that lasted about 40 hours. Each of these batteries came in its own case and connected to the set with cables and plugs fitting into the sockets on the top of the set. Aerial gear was flexible enough to enable a variety of configurations and heights depending on circumstances.

In addition to the above, a complete station also included a spare valve case, an aerial bag, a ‘Coupler A’ unit and cable (to allow the aerial to be set up some distance away from the set) and a Control Unit in a leather case to permit signalling from short distances away. For greater distances or remote operation, “Remote Control Units A”, identical to those used for the 11 set, were required.

This particular No.1 set was made by Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd. in 1936 and supplied to the Canadian government as indicated by the large “C Broad Arrow” painted on it. Approximately 1800 British sets were built by Marconi and Standard Telephone & Cables as well as 180 by Northern Electric in Canada. It was also built in Australia by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. which evolved into the No.101 Set. Today there are perhaps a half dozen known British and Canadian survivors.