Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Thinking about the ID Sleeve today, and the possible options for this Leads Assembly, my first decision was the easy one: going with the actual length of the sleeve from Bruce Parkers surviving example.

Another consideration was the markings on the sleeve. Bruce’s example confirmed them as well, right down to the size and font. My thought process for the markings had leaned towards pre-printed ‘Letterset’ style. 30 or 40 years ago, the odds of actually finding a matching font would have been excellent. Off the shelf today, not so much. I do have a few sets tucked away somewhere and will have to see if one is sized appropriately to work. That the font will not be a match to the original is fine with me. I am more concerned about fabricating a perfect working cable as close to specs as possible, without wanting to make it a perfect fake. 75 years from now, if this 52-Set is still around and in one piece, it will be nice to know that close inspection will reveal the replications and the care taken to make them.

I have now also decided to make this ID Sleeve yellow in colour. I agree with Bruce’s comments that his original very likely was yellow when made but age has not been kind to it. And that makes sense. Wartime was full of unexpected supply shortages, everywhere. It would not surprise me in the least that multiple manufacturers were involved in making these sleeves and they could have had to switch formulas for their production to maintain delivery obligations, Changes to formulas may not have altered the look of a product initially, but could very likely have impacted expected ‘life in use’ of the item.

So, next step is to find a suitable yellow colour paint for this ID Sleeve and see what happens.

Thanks yet again, Bruce.

David

[David Dunlop]

This little Sub Project has come together rather well, so far.

With the measurements Bruce posted from his surviving Leads, Aerial 25-3/4 inch, I cut a matching length from the heat shrink tubing I had available that just slides over the 7mm HT cable used in the Leads.

With access to shops once again, I checked available yellow paints in the local Canadian Tire Store and lucked into one remaining can of Rust-Oleum ‘Painter’s Touch’, gloss enamel that was a good match to the yellow ID sleeves on my CPP-2 cables. This paint is Stock Number N1945830 and is called SUN YELLOW. All of the other yellows I looked at were too much to the orange part of the spectrum, or the cream section.

The next thing I had to do was paint the sleeve I had ready to go and set it aside to cure. In the meantime, I measured out the length of cable I would need to finish this Leads Assembly off at the Sender Pin Terminal end, hopefully maintaining the required 25-3/4 inch length between the end faces of the two Pin Terminal Sleeves. With the working length of cable ready to go, I could then slide the painted and cured ID Sleeve up the cable from the free end to within about an inch of the insulated Receiver Pin Terminal end. Hopefully it will end up located and looking somewhat like the Leads does in the manual when finally installed.

With the ID Sleeve in place near the Receiver end of the Leads, I was then able to install the Pin Terminal assembly over the Sender end of the Leads. The Pin Terminal Sleeve at this end needed to be carefully crazy glued in place on the cable to prevent it from possibly twisting about and perhaps eventually cracking the inner copper wire core of the HT cable. So it was glue on and the copper core wire pulled 90 degrees over the end of the pin to snug it all down. The cable was then set aside 24 hours for the glue to fully cure.

This morning, I did the soldering at the Sender Pin Terminal end of the Leads and cleaned up and excess solder. Final measurement of this Leads ended up at just a stink over 25- 11/16 inches. I can live with that.

I have found just one black Letterset font in my stash that might work for the printing on the ID Sleeve. I will have to do some comparisons this weekend between the outer circumference of the sleeve I have used and the height of the font and see if I can get the required number of lines to fit in.

David

[David Dunlop]

The Leads is all jigged up now and ready to see if 50+ year old Letterset will still work on a soft squishy substrate.

David

[David Dunlop]

When I found the sheet of Letraset I was looking for, I found the original Sales Slip still in the bag. 1976 at a cost of $18.12 for one 10” x 14” sheet. The sheet holds four full sets of upper and lower case fonts, with numerals and an assortment of punctuation. Purchased at a local, long since gone, drafting supply shop.

The lettering is definitely more challenging to work with these days. It has a tendency to lift off the backing too easily, and shatter a bit more than I would have liked. Trying to apply it to a soft material did not help, but as I progressed, I began to like the tatty look quite a bit.

I definitely have to give the lettering a protective topcoat now. I have a jar of yellowing clear nail polish I want to test. Not sure, but I suspect the acetone in the polish will not be kind to the lettering. I will see what happens with the test.

David

[David Dunlop]

My suspicions about using the old nail polish as a clear top coat for the lettering on the Leads, Aerial 25-3/4 inch ID Sleeve were correct. As per the first photo attached, the lettering smeared instantly with the first stroke of the brush across them.

I went to Plan B, a can of satin finish clear acrylic Urethane, I had on hand to see what it would do with the lettering, being water based. This top coat worked a treat, as per the second photo, so that is what I used yesterday on the ID Sleeve.

David

[David Dunlop]

Here is the finished Leads Sub-Project finally, temporarily installed on the 52-Set, along with a comparison photograph from the Working Instructions manual.

I have no idea when the last time was that this 52-Set had one of these Leads fitted, but it sure feels great to have one ready to go now.

David

[David Dunlop]

Nearly a month ago, I had noted the meter readings on the Main Set Receiver were running low at 10 Volts DC and 130 Volts HT.

Since then, I have been running the set several nights a week for 15 to 20 minutes. Basically until it has warmed up and stabilized. During this process, the meter reading for the HT has settled in at a steady 125 Volts.

While killing some time this evening, I was reading through a few sections of the Operators Manual while the set was idling and noticed the comment in the Maintenance Section about checking the Meter from time to time to ensure it was correctly reading Zero when the Receiver was shut off.

I could remember checking the Zero Setting of the Meter on the Remote Receiver when I went through it, but could find no reference in my notes to doing so for the Main Set Receiver. The only references I had were to the fact the meters in both receivers were from two different makers. So I switched the set off. Sure enough! The meter needle pinned itself well below the Zero Mark. A quick adjustment of the Zero Set Screw at the bottom of the meter brought the needle spot on the the Zero Mark centre and I fired the set back up. I am now getting a steady 11 Volts LT and 135 Volts HT. A closer look at the resisters in the Meter Circuits will still be needed as that is the next likely point of issue. Some or all of these resisters may have finally gone off normal specifications.

David