Antenna support, aluminum

[Colin Alford]

Gents,

I have found CMHQ files "55/5091/1 Antennae" and "55/5091/1/2 Antennae" They can be found at:
https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/o...7/3734?r=0&s=3

The documents were placed in the file in reverse chronological order so if you intend on reading the entire file it will be best to start at image 3910 and work backwards to image 3734, skip to image 4085 and work backwards to 3911.

Specifications:

Specification O.S. 52 - Antenna, Vertical 34 Ft. Steel (Canadian Telescopic) Ref. No. PC 82495C-190 dated 5-11-42 can be found at images 3807 - 3824

Specification O.S. 145 - Antennae, Vertical 34 Ft. Steel Mk 1 Ref No. P.C. 82495C-300 dated 1 May 44 can be found at images 4004-4025

Updated Specification for electrical tests dated 14 Dec 44 can be found at images 3920-3921.

Nov 1942 User Instructions can be found at images 3826-3832

Design Change Instructions:

Can be found at images 3923, 3925-26 "Since the base is sealed during manufacture, it cannot be assembled in the field", 3954, 3957, 3961, 4026, 4028- 4031, 4050, 4052; and 4057-4059.


I will need to re-read the documents to properly digest the contents.

My initial impressions: The "First" specification from 1942 describes the Steel Aerial Base (I presume that this means the Campbell manual from Feb 43 will also describe the steel base). This would seem to indicate that the Aluminum base was not part of the "First" kit.

It seems that the Aluminum Base has a lower PC number, but a higher ZA/CAN number than the Steel base. Could these Aluminum bases have been produced and trialed during development of the 34' Steel Antenna, but initially deemed unsuitable, then at some later point they were taken into service and allotted a ZA/CAN number?

The two main specifications mention NDHQ file numbers "89-4-18" and "HQ 9070-12-17". There is some potential that these files are available online and might provide some pre-production development info.

Conclusion: More research is required!

Colin