Wireless of the Week - week 9

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Signalers had a dangerous job. If you weren’t making a target of yourself walking around with a radio on your back and an antenna sticking out the top, you were radiating signals that the enemy could use to locate you. To help with this, many wireless sets had remote units which allowed them to be operated from some distance away by connecting the remote unit to the set by wire. Once that was possible, it was logical that any number of other telephone type devices could also be used to remotely transmit on the set. There were other reasons for operating a wireless set remotely however. A command post might want to send and receive messages without a radio set whirring away and a signaler underfoot, or you might prefer communicating deep down in a nice safe trench.

One such remote unit is the Wireless Remote Control Unit No.1 (Canadian). It is used with all models of the No.19 set as well as the No.9, No.9 Mk.1, No.43 and No.52. The units (R.C.U.s) are used in pairs; one relatively local to the wireless set called the “Nearby R.C.U” connected by a cable to a wireless set headset ‘snatch plug’, and the second, called the “Remote R.C.U.”, located some distance away connected to the first with two strands of signal wire. An operator would talk through his microphone or tap out a message on his CW key on the Remote R.C.U. and the signal would pass through the wires to the Nearby R.C.U. and then transmit on the wireless set. Receiving at the Remote R.C.U. would occur exactly the same way only in reverse. Alternatively, the Remote R.C.U. could be further connected to an exchange or switchboard which in turn could be attached to a number of telephone sets that could ultimately be connected to the wireless set (these switchboards and telephone sets will be covered in following weeks). Each R.C.U. required an operator to handle the incoming and outgoing calls and these operators could communicate with each other over the units to coordinate the send and receive functions and monitor traffic.

Each unit came in a wooden box 12-3/4” long, 9-3/4” deep and 7” tall with a hinged lid. The complete unit weighed 22-1/4 lbs. Inside the box was the unit with its controls, a space for four 1-1/2 volt ‘X’ cells in series, a CW (morse) key, a ringer, snatch plug connector and terminal posts to connect the signal wire. There was provision for the operator’s mic and earphones as well as operating instructions printed on a metal plate attached to the inside of the lid.

Range between connected Nearby and Remote units (and hence the ability of the Remote unit to transmit on the wireless set) was 3 miles but could be increased by adding external X cells to the Remote unit in addition to the four on board. Roughly speaking, one cell would add one mile of range.

Shown in pictures 3 and 4 are two other examples of remote units. The Wireless Remote Control Unit H No.2 is used with the Wireless Set No.33 and the Wireless Remote Control Unit A is used with Wireless Sets No.1 and No.11.