11 Set stuff

[cletrac (RIP)]

The second pic shows the adapter I presume and the first shows the power wire with nothing fancy on the battery end.

[things_green]

Hope I'm not muddying the waters here as my Wavemeter Class C is an Aussy one.
The adaptor appears to be the same as your English one requires?
The pin outs seem to be an original fitting but after 70 plus years there are no guarantees on that score.

Brent

[cletrac (RIP)]

No muddy waters! I have both an Aussie wavemaker and a Brit one. Those pins could be part of a Niphan plug.
Here's a guy on eBay that has some brass Niphan plugs that are pretty close to the wartime ones and they're a good price too. I bought a few from him and now I just have to find some of the other half.

[Mike K]

Maybe we should do a group build of WW2 battery boxes !

I have two 1942 British batteries , the 6V ones in the wooden box with the Niphan connectors . I uploaded drawings of the box somewhere on this forum .

I think Ron Pier has some of the original batteries as well . Rory B made some I believe .

I was talking to a WW2 signaller, he told me his job was to recondition the wireless batteries every 3 months. He would use a kero blowtorch and melt the tar seal , insert new plates , reseal and add acid .

[Ron Pier]

Quite right Mike. I have three out of the four I need for my set up, and have had to accept later dates on them than would be correct. I also have your drawings which came in very handy as one of my 6V boxes was a larger size and my chippy mate took it apart and rebuilt it the correct size. No mean feat I might add. Ron

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's a wavemeter on Aussie ebay with a tatally different setup for the power supply.

[things_green]

its been basterdised ...

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's a signals outfit in the western desert. That's a remote unit A on the right and the other two look like Telephone sets D.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I copied this off another thread. Pictures like this are very interesting. This is in a Morris PU in the western desert.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I thought these connectors were for the Remote Unit A but this is the aerial lead for the Aerial Connecting Unit C. The other one that it uses would just have one connector and a plug for the wireless set.
I also got this wavemeter lid off a rough unit down under. I just got him to send me the lid. It has the brackets to hold the HT adapter inside the lid and the instruction panel is in excellent shape. The lid fits the Brit unit exactly except for the rivet spacing.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I got this NOS ZA4500 off ebay so now I can be sure I've got the right one. They used other 8amp No 2 keys on them too. I have a couple of spares now I guess.

[Mike K]

Looking good that NOS key David. You will have to try out the diddly dahs .... you might find it handy one of these days. Morse can be used in many modes , such as lamps and flags ! Not forgetting the sun and the helio. I could only copy the nice rythmic senders . Active on the ham bands today there are many horrid senders of morse.... trashy like bad music.

[Ron Pier]

Originally Posted by cletrac

I got this NOS ZA4500 off ebay so now I can be sure I've got the right one. They used other 8amp No 2 keys on them too. I have a couple of spares now I guess.

Well I'm still looking for one if you have a spare to sell.
I never received the US 19set key from 'Electrojunk' in Texas and so far they haven't replied to three emails Ron

[cletrac (RIP)]

So here's my take on the morse keys.
They started with a WT 8 amp no2 key assembly. The particular version didn't matter as long as it had the finger rest. They bolted on the brass base plate and hooked up the short wire with a No10 plug on it. This was now the Key and Plug Assembly No 2B. With longer wires they became the Key and Plug Assemly No 2C or D depending on wire length. Then they packaged the No2B ones up as the ZA4500. Any ot the period pictures seem to have the same key as my NOS one.
Ron, I'll send you a PM later. I got my Electrojunk key quite a while ago. It went in with my 19 set stuff.

[Ron Pier]

Elecrojunk have given me a full refund. Actually quite nice people. I think there were just mishaps with communications.

Thanks to Dave and ebay, I now have a selection of Morse keys to work from, including the Red/Black wires. I'll tidy up the frayed ends with some fine whipping cord.

I need the bench mount sliding plate if anyone has one spare to sell. Otherwise I'll have a go at making one. Ron

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's a British set made by Aeronautical and General Instruments Ltd, so I guess some Brit units made it to Canada. I didn't think the stand looked like a Brit one but after checking again they're the same as the Aussie ones.
The wireless trucks would have had them for when they set up remotely but I haven't seen any British pics like that ( but some Aussie pics). They must have stored the stand in the compartment behind the operator in the wireless trucks.
Do we know how many companies manufactured these radios? The only other that I know of is EK Cole. The one at Blanford Camp Museum is made by Aeronautical and General Instruments Ltd
I just paypaled him the payment for this set so I should have it by Monday.
I guess I'm one of a select few owners of a Brit 11 set.
The Aussie set will go in the Carrier when I get around to it.

[cletrac (RIP)]

The Aussie and Canadian 11 sets were made in 1941 and later. The cab 11 C8 and F8 were made in 1940. That means they had to be equipped with the British 11 sets. No others existed. The cab 12 8cwts could have had the Canadian or Aussie sets.

[Ron Pier]

A real nice find Dave. In the other thread you started, Chris states this about the stand.

"When the station is used on the ground the front cover is removed and two collapsible legs pulled out from inside to form a stand for the set. A ground station (Low Power or High Power) may also be equipped to be transported by vehicle. In that case Supply Units and accumulators are supplied."

I can't find any dates on my AWA set? Ron

[cletrac (RIP)]

I looked at those Australian War Museum videos starring the 11 sets. The radios used are British EK Cole sets. The videos must have been made in 1940 before the Aussie sets came into being. So I guess I have seen pictures of the British sets on their stands.
In the Erecting the 11 Set video the first time they set it up they use the two 6 volt batteries. In the second setup they use the other batteries and accumulater because they're easier to carry.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I got the 11 set off the bus this afternoon. It's in excellent shape. The operating instructions inside the lid aren't even scratched up a bit. The finish on the face is the same. It's serial number 4766 and was built in 1940. That's in the first third of the production then.
The watsh has CYMA on the face and the broad arrow on the back with a serial number. That watch and holder sell for half what I paid for the whole thing. That wire on the earth post is a connector No 33 ZA10320 according to the label on it.
I put the Brit set on top of the Aussie set to compare the differences.

[Chris Suslowicz]

That's exceptionally nice! (But your comment about the cost makes me wonder just how much a watch and holder cost these days!)

The "Leads No.33" is an extension cable for the counterpoise (or two), and possibly not original WS11 issue - I've seen them with the WS19 and other sets.

You really did get a bargain by the sound of things. Is the interior in similarly excellent condition?

Chris.

[cletrac (RIP)]

The watch and holder sells for a couple hundred bucks. I paid $400 Canadian for the set. That's about 200 pounds.
I haven't looked inside it yet.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I took a close look at the top and bottom of the case and it shows no signs of being mounted in a carrier in a vehicle. The serial number is embossed in the left corner of the top of the case. The numbers are slightly raised. The scratch above the serial number is on too much of an angle to have been made by the carrier.
The ZA number on the carrying strap is listed in the Australian 11 set manual so it's likely original and it's not showing any signs of wear.

[Mike K]

Can we see the inside of the set ? The valves in these British sets are unique army types ? The AWA set uses USA type valves made under license by AWV.

[cletrac (RIP)]

WOW!
I took the case off and look what I found! It's immaculate! No dust, no crud, nothing! The dealer I got it from never touched it. He got it from an old time collector in Calgary who had it for many years. He likely got it from the military as the second owner.
That list of components is on the inside back of the case.

[Mike K]

That's a clean set

Makes you think how it got to be in Canada ?

I have a few of the meters , you will notice they are smaller than the AWA set meter. The plugs swap over OK .

[cletrac (RIP)]

Mike, Canada made about 9000 8cwts in Cab 11 and 12. There would have been at least 4000 wireless trucks and they would have all ended up with British 11 sets. There were no other options. All the sets you see pics of in North Africa are British sets. Australian training videos are British sets. The ones Canada kept would have had them too. My set doesn't look like it was used in a vehicle though so maybe for training.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I found another No 3 connector for my Aerial Unit C so now I can make the connector that hooks onto the set. This screenshot off the Erection of the 11 Set video shows the leads on that connector being about a foot long. Where would I get some of those wire ends that they show?
I got looking at my NOS aerial unit and it's made by PT&EW Co. What does that stand for? It's serial no 12649 made in 1941.
The tag on the connector reads Connectors Twin No 15 and that's what the manual calls for. I noticed the Connectors No 3 that it uses are a bit different to the one on the unit and the one I just acquired. The overall length is different. Probably just different manufacturers.

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by cletrac

I found another No 3 connector for my Aerial Unit C so now I can make the connector that hooks onto the set. This screenshot off the Erection of the 11 Set video shows the leads on that connector being about a foot long. Where would I get some of those wire ends that they show?
I got looking at my NOS aerial unit and it's made by PT&EW Co. What does that stand for?

PT&EW was Phoenix Telephone and Electrical Works Ltd. Bought out by a consortium in 1960, see http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Phoenix...Electric_Works

The wire for the connector is Cable, Electric, P13 (I think - they used that on the earlier Aerial Units A & B) and the connectors for the ends are "Lug, special, No.1". (They're a nickel-plated brass spade connector with a screw-on plastic (bakelite or ebonite, I think) sleeve. The end of the cable is bared, wrapped around the groove in the threaded lug and then fixed in place be screwing on the sleeve.) Another of the "Multi-Purpose Parts" that stayed in service for a very long time. They fit the spring loaded terminals on various equipment, and also fit screw-down terminals.

Chris.

[Joe C]

Came across this picture in my collection showing what looks to be a complete WS No. 11 Ground Station set up for wireless training.

http://www.rcsigs.ca/index.php/File:..._WS_No._11.jpg