WW2 Canadian Wireless Valve Testers

[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

[David Dunlop]

I got one of these from a friend of mine today. Looks rusty but it is just a surface tarnish that should clean up OK and one set of original hardware is still attached that should be easy to match. He thought it would make a nice addition to the adapter project and I quite agree.

David

[David Dunlop]

Found a very nice shade of high gloss grey paint today which should look appropriately vintage.

Should be able to get some preliminary work started on the case assembly in the next few days. Just a bit of careful work to get out of the way on my 52-Set Main receiver first.

David

[David Dunlop]

A little bit more progress on this project over the holidays.

I have now mapped out, and drilled the holes in the adapter case for the connector cable assembly and the four rubber feet on the bottom. Next step will be painting the case a flat black primer. After it has cured, a coat of wrinkle black will be applied and allowed to cure.

David

[Mike K]

Interesting about the British versus North American valve sockets. Right from the beginning of local military wireless production here ,around 1939, they decided to use the North American standard valve base configuration. Who made that decision I don't know .The 11 set (Aust ) and all of the other wartime built sets I've come across utilize the North American valve configuration.