WW2 Canadian Wireless Valve Testers

[David Dunlop]

Thanks, Chris. Your help is very much appreciated.

I have found a potential source for the octal plug in the States. They carry them with clip on covers with a metal grommeted hole in the end for the cable to pass through. Just waiting to see if they have the ones like Bruce’s photo, with the metal cable clip which I think serves as an anti strain devise for the cable.

Will let you know what I find out.

Best regards,

David

[David Dunlop]

An hour's worth of driving South this morning was a very worthwhile trip. It took me to Pembina, North Dakota and my favourite Parcel Service Shop where I was able to pick up some pieces for the British Valves Adapter I will be building this Winter.

I had found a suitable sized enclosure locally on Saturday to officially start things off. Todays trip produced a three foot length of brown cloth loomed 8-Conductor Cable for the project, along with a pair of Octal Plugs and a metal Plug Cover with a metal cable anti-strain fitting as per the photos Bruce posted earlier on this thread. All of this from Radio Daze out on the East Coast of the USA.

David

[David Dunlop]

One more request, Bruce.

Can you give me the diameters of the four holes punched in the cover to mount the sockets? It looks like the two inner ones are the smallest and, perhaps identical.

I thought the two larger outer holes might both be identical to each other, but a closer look suggests one of the outer holes might be larger than the other.

I have a set of socket hole punches, but can also access an adjustable cutter if I need it.

Factor in possible socket variations among manufacturers and this part of the project becomes interesting very quickly.

Best regards,

David

[Bruce MacMillan]

The white B9G socket is 1 3/8" (1.375), the two black ones in the middle are both 1 1/8 (1.125) and the large black one is 1 1/2" (1.5).

I think these are standard sizes like the Greenlee punches.

[David Dunlop]

Perfect. I have tools on hand to cover up to and including 1.5 inches.

Thanks for the quick response, Bruce.

David

[David Dunlop]

Since the valve adapter I will be working on is going to be a free standing item, unlike the Stark design Bruce has, which is hard mounted to the valve tester case, I decided a set of small rubber feet for the bottom of mine would be a good idea to prevent it sliding all over the work bench when in use,

Translating that into an actual product was a bit of a surprise. The web is chocablock full of rubber feet! Somewhat overwhelming really. After about half a hour of looking, a name suddenly jumped out at me under a photo of a set of four rubber feet. It was Long and McQuade, a local musical instrument dealer who happened to be a mere kilometre from home. So off I went last Saturday morning, as their website said they still had one set in stock for only $3.10 Cdn. No size given, however, but they were the screw on type I had in mind,

On arrival, the clerk confirmed one set was still in stock and they were 5/8 inch in diameter by 5/16 inches tall. Done deal!

Interestingly, they turned out to be a product of a company named "John Dunlop Electronic Components" that specialized in restoration items for guitars, guitar cases and amplifiers and these were replacement guitar case feet. The central screw the feet came with was a 4-40 half inch Phillips self tapping. Even better as I had also rediscovered my old stash of 4-40 round head slotted machine screws and hex nuts this weekend.

So one more tick off the parts list.


David

[David Dunlop]

Since this is going to be a free standing Adapter, I have decided to finish the case in a wrinkle black paint and the face panel in a gloss grey similar to the Stark original in Bruce’s Post # 6. I think that should give it a suitable vintage look.

David