WS 58 set

[Bruce MacMillan]

The first prototypes were made by SDRE and were almost proof of concept radios. I have a MK1/1*/T and two MK1 sets. The MK1's came with the vibrator power supplies and the battle battery box & webbing. Both of those were equipped with rod aerials and a telescoping aerial.

I didn't know about the various headsets. Mine are all identical. Interested to see some photos.

The manuals I have are Mk1* and Mk1*/T. Of the Mk1*/T I have two different printing dates. One is 1950 so it was either for the army cadets or the navy as they used them post war.

Reading through some docs I have from 1943 there is a reference to a WS58 Mk0. There were apparantly 600 sets shipped to England.

Waiting to see what info Ron reports back with.

[universalgrl]

So far I have acquired everything for a MK I except the case for the vibrator power supply, sectional antenna and the radio it self.
The manual is dated 1 April 1943

[Ron Pier]

Nice collection Roberta. So far I haven't heard from the bloke who wants to sell his. Someone gave him my number but he hasn't used it yet. I'll have to track him down. Ron

[David Dunlop]

Interesting about the backlog of these sets in England.

I bought mine from a dealer in England in the mid 1980's. Was rather surprised when it arrived that Canada Customs had not torn into it as the brown paper wrap on the box was untouched. When I peeled the paper off I was surprised to see a big, green, waxy, linen wrapped box underneath with an ID Label in the wax. Carefully opening it up, I discovered three more smaller, green boxes neatly wrapped inside, each with a 'Contents' label encased in the wax. So a complete 58-Set came in three boxes. One held the Vibrator Supply, the second the Battery Box and Canvas Cover and the third the 58-Set and the Signals Satchel. The Satchel was shipped empty. The headset and aerials were packed inside the battery box. The set itself, the VPU and the Battery Box all had Factory Inspection Tags handwritten and signed by the inspectors.

Interestingly, the telescopic Aerial and it's canvas case should have been packed in the Battery Box box, but were missing. Recently found the steel telescopic aerial, but still missing the canvas case for same.

I wondered at the time how such a complete set made it all those years unissued. Now I know. Thanks.


David

[Bruce MacMillan]

At the War & Peace show this week I saw a dealer there selling a WS58 still in the box. It came with VPU unit, battle battery box and headset. Like yours it was in three boxes, never been used. He said he had more.

He was asking a 1000 GBP for the set. Yikes!

[David Dunlop]

Wonder if it is the same dealer? I paid 70 pounds plus another 12 to 15 for freight shipping via a company called Thomas Meadows back in the day. Took around 6 weeks to arrive. Now that I think of it, that purchase had also included an NOS set of 20 and 34 foot steel masts in their original wood crates. Suspect Customs left them alone because of all the Ccanadian markings all over the boxes.

Those were the days!


David

[David Dunlop]

Got your email. I will not be able to post photos for a while. Our wireless printer just packed it in a few days ago that I load all my photos and scans through. Just starting the process of rediscovering what is on the market these days.

For the VPSU for the 58-Set, there is no haversack for it, just a set of canvas straps. Is it pics of these two straps you need?

I have the sectional aerial put away somewhere safe??? at the moment. Bit of an oddball thing. Once you've seen one you'll never forget it. 4 pieces about a foot long each. Sections are not tapered like the larger 19-Set cousins but constant diameter. About an inch of one end is flared into a socket and an inch of the opposite end looks like the pointy end of an FN Rifle Blank Cartridge with four slots in it. Coloured bands on the flared ends to match them up correctly. The four sections are slightly smaller diameters so the colour bands seem a bit redundant.

Do you have the Canadian Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Regulations Wireless Sets Cdn. No. 58 Mk I Identification List and Echelon Repair Schedule? I have the 1 JUNE 1945 issue with a 1 JUNE 1944 addition and updates from 30 MAY 1947 and 10 July 1950.

Nice to see the two batteries in your collection. I am assuming those are the beasts that caused the backlog of sets in England. They did not form part of the basic set package but were a separate order item apparently.

David