Wireless of the Week - week 9

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

Could one of you wireless guys help me with what I have hear please. The two top boxes are empty and I can't find any dates. The bottom unit has a 1945 date on the webbing strap. Cheers Ron

Remote Control Unit F No.1 is (in your case, was) the local "Set unit" part of the outfit, with the No.2 being the Remote unit for Wireless Set No.22.

Telephone Set "F" was an "office" telephone for headquarters use, mostly.
Your case is dated 10/55 (October 1955) but that's almost certainly a refurbishment date. Telephone Set "F" Mk.1 was built in a cast-alloy case with a full length piano hinge at the back and two captive screws holding the lid down. the Mk.II used a Bakelite case with a detachable lid and three screws to hold it on. Originally they had a combined buzzer/induction coil so that they could work with the earlier Telephone Sets 'D' using buzzer calling, but the buzzer was replaced later with an induction coil unit that gave better speech quality and the "Buzzer call" button does nothing on those instruments,

Telephone Set "D" Mark V is at the bottom of your photograph; this was the standard WW2 telephone for use in forward areas and at unit level. It's a buzzer call and buzzer/magneto ringing unit with buzzer morse facilities for use in poor conditions or on bad lines. A later change (D Mk. V*) deleted the headset, and required the headset terminals to be bridged with a shorting link. This set will work with Switchboards Universal Call 6 or 10 Line, and also Switchboards F&F (which probably stands for "Field & Fixed" though some references refer to it as "Field & Fortress"), both of which support buzzer and magneto signalling. It won't work with the 10-line Magneto switchboard, as far as I know, as I don't think the flags will drop on a buzzer signal.

Tele-D Mk. V is frequently mis-advertised as a Fullerphone, which it definitely is not.

Chris.