Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Gosh, Bruce.

As you probably know, the wartime era Military District 10 was headquartered here in Winnipeg at the old Ft. Osborne Barracks. The old ‘District’ structure was abandoned after the war and the ‘Command’ structure adopted and by the late 1950’s, Kapyong Barracks had been built just south of the Ft Osborne site, which was abandoned to the Provincial Government for use by a few Departments.

In the 1980’s the site, which had remained intact from its wartime days, was handed over to a private group and it became a new university campus.

I would LOVE to say I found 10 complete 52-Sets still crated in an old forgotten storage room, but no such luck! Not even one badly used one! But if it ever comes true, you will be one of the first to know!

This Project is definitely a challenge, but I really enjoy research and learning new things and that certainly helps balance out the challenges.

The other nice thing is the amazing assistance and support available from MLU members. As much as this site might be considered vehicle oriented, military vehicles all too frequently were equipped with complex, unrelated equipment like wireless kit, that draws expertise in from other areas. Sooner or later, all these little bits come together and we all grow that much wiser for it. Our sanity might be questioned a bit, but I think we do get wiser.

David

[David Dunlop]

Although I am physically inactive with the 52-Set Project at the moment, my Mind plays by a different set of rules. In this instance, it is firmly entrenched in the next step beyond getting the Main Set Receiver back up and working. It is merrily churning up all sorts of things relative to the Supply Unit.

One of the things on my Mind is the above noted parts, the conical rubber connectors between the various headsets and drop cords found on many wartime Commonwealth Wireless Sets. On the 52-Set, there are two 5-Point Sockets, No. 5 mounted amidships on the Supply Unit, of which one socket looks like it had a blow torch applied to the end of it, it is so badly deformed. So it will end up getting replaced with an NOS spare I have on hand.

Currently, on the “wireless-set-no19 Group” website in England, there is a very interesting topic running about the chronic failure of all sorts of electrical wiring in the Clansman and Larkspur wireless sets. The rubber insulations crumble rather like the wartime synthetic rubber tyres used to on CMP vehicles.

That thread brought me back to these wireless connectors. I have a headset connected to my Wireless Set No. 19 Mk III, which I still fire up from time to time and the plug and socket were last disconnected from one another some 20 years ago. It was a relatively easy thing to do. Gently flex the joint between the two pieces until the metal retaining ring popped out of its groove and then pull the two pieces apart. I tried doing that a couple of years back when I started the 52-Set Project and the first thing I noticed was the two rubber cones felt VERY hard and there was definitely no desire for the area around the joint to flex at all. So I stopped trying.

While looking for Headsets No. 10 for the 52-Set, I found a minty set on which the central rubber plug in the connector had been popped free. Why this was done I do not know, but it looked like a screwdriver had been dug about in the seam between the two parts to accomplish the task. Electrically this headset is perfect, but for the life of me I cannot reinsert the circular plug back into position. The rubber is just too hard.

What my Mind is playing with now is the notion I may very well get the complete 52-Set restored and running perfectly but not be able to connect a headset to it because all these conical rubber 5-Point Plugs and Sockets have hardened up too much over time.

So my questions are if anybody else has noticed these Plugs and Sockets have hardened up, is anyone still able to easily connect and disconnect these pieces on their wireless sets and is there a way to refurbish these pieces…just in case?



David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Dave, they all harden over time and better storage only slows the process. For my operating 19 sets I leave the headsets plugged in rather than risk breaking them. I've also noted that sunlight and warmth softens the snatch plugs as well as No.8 and No.9 aerial bases (this I discovered by accident when displaying vehicles with radios at various shows). A long term make work solution would be to cast new ones. The sculpture supply store I go to has dozens of plastic/resin mold materials one of which I'm sure would duplicate the right WW2 rubber consistency.

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Although I am physically inactive with the 52-Set Project at the moment, my Mind plays by a different set of rules. In this instance, it is firmly entrenched in the next step beyond getting the Main Set Receiver back up and working. It is merrily churning up all sorts of things relative to the Supply Unit.

One of the things on my Mind is the above noted parts, the conical rubber connectors between the various headsets and drop cords found on many wartime Commonwealth Wireless Sets. On the 52-Set, there are two 5-Point Sockets, No. 5 mounted amidships on the Supply Unit, of which one socket looks like it had a blow torch applied to the end of it, it is so badly deformed. So it will end up getting replaced with an NOS spare I have on hand.

Currently, on the “wireless-set-no19 Group” website in England, there is a very interesting topic running about the chronic failure of all sorts of electrical wiring in the Clansman and Larkspur wireless sets. The rubber insulations crumble rather like the wartime synthetic rubber tyres used to on CMP vehicles.

That thread brought me back to these wireless connectors. I have a headset connected to my Wireless Set No. 19 Mk III, which I still fire up from time to time and the plug and socket were last disconnected from one another some 20 years ago. It was a relatively easy thing to do. Gently flex the joint between the two pieces until the metal retaining ring popped out of its groove and then pull the two pieces apart. I tried doing that a couple of years back when I started the 52-Set Project and the first thing I noticed was the two rubber cones felt VERY hard and there was definitely no desire for the area around the joint to flex at all. So I stopped trying.

While looking for Headsets No. 10 for the 52-Set, I found a minty set on which the central rubber plug in the connector had been popped free. Why this was done I do not know, but it looked like a screwdriver had been dug about in the seam between the two parts to accomplish the task. Electrically this headset is perfect, but for the life of me I cannot reinsert the circular plug back into position. The rubber is just too hard.

What my Mind is playing with now is the notion I may very well get the complete 52-Set restored and running perfectly but not be able to connect a headset to it because all these conical rubber 5-Point Plugs and Sockets have hardened up too much over time.

So my questions are if anybody else has noticed these Plugs and Sockets have hardened up, is anyone still able to easily connect and disconnect these pieces on their wireless sets and is there a way to refurbish these pieces…just in case?



David

[Mike K]

A chap here in Adelaide ( VK5WT) had some repro No.8 bases made in a ceramic material . After painting the bases appearance was pretty good.

https://www.sentimentaljourney.co.uk...ase-aerial-No8

[David Dunlop]

Even though the work on the Main Set Receiver is on hold at the moment, things are still getting accomplished.

This morning, I had a lovely drive out to visit with Derk Derin and his lovely wife, Dawn. It is so nice to get out and visit with people once again. It was a good visit; we were able to catch up on a lot of general news and progress on our respective military restoration projects.

Part of that catching up was Derk passing on to me the PINS, Tent, Wood he found at our favourite surplus yard. They will make a very nice tribute and representation of the Kit No. 6 Tent Kit, which formed a part of the overall Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian system.

80 years on, I doubt very much any of these Tent Kits have survived undisturbed anywhere in any condition, never mind complete.

As per the first photo, these PINS were tied together with hemp twine in bundles of six for each tent and. Along with a second style were found inside the Wireless Tent Valise in a cotton bag. There is a small tied off loop in the end of the twine that probably secured a paper ID Tag at one time.

As per the illustrations in the Master Parts List, all these particular PINS have ‘C.M.C. 42' stamped in blue-black ink on one side of the head. That begs an interesting question. If a Wireless Tent existed in 1942 that Canadian Marconi was involved in manufacturing, they must have been doing it for either, or both of, the Wireless Set No. 9 and Wireless Set No. 9 Mk I prior to introduction of what became the Wireless Set No. 52.

The second photo shows this ink stamp on one of the loose PINS Derk found in a building on the verge of collapse.

The other photo is of two more loose PINS, the top one I have cleaned the years of accumulated dust and dirt off of it with Lemon Oil furniture cleaner and the ink stamp is just visible. The lower pin has not been cleaned at all, for comparison. I am not certain what the wood is at the moment, however my top two choices are either Oak or Douglas Fir.


David

[David Dunlop]

Just a ‘heads up’ that I copied the title ID in the previous Post verbatim from the 52-Set Master Parts List and have now discovered it held a typo. The VAOS Section Code should have been the one shown above here, not the ‘1J’ CMC printed in error.

David

[David Dunlop]

I got an email late yesterday afternoon my hook up wire had arrived so scampered up to the electronics shop first thing this morning to pick it up.

Project for the week: add appropriate leads to the replacement Trimmer Capacitor for my Main Set Receiver.

Project for next weekend: stay sane and get the Trimmer Capacitor replacement job done.


David