Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

The standard GSTP Pocket Watch used by the Canadian and British Armies during the war had specifications that all the watch makers complied with to the best of their ability during the war. Just like other war production, however, what was available to wartime watch makers varied enough that the size standards in particular were often not met exactly. Adding to the problem, for security reasons, all G.S.T.P. pocket watches bore no maker names on the watch face, and to really mix things up, it was very common practice for the watch parts makers to be supplying more than one watch manufacturer. You cannot rely on the look of the face, hands, crystal or other bits to accurately identify what company made the completed watch. All that information is stamped in code on the chassis of the movement inside the back cover of the pocket watch. That coded information will tell you who made the movement, who made the watch, the model number of the watch, the serial number of the watch and often the month/year, or year, of manufacture.

Not strictly true: a lot of the British watches have a maker's name on the face, and a serial number on the back. (Of course, it's now difficult to trust watches being sold on eBay (etc.) because there's a big incentive for the unscrupulous (nay, crooked) seller to erase or add markings, or change the dial for one marked Rolex or Omega, in order to inflate the price.)

I have four, all British and all different makers. All have the standard Ball winder on the top of the stem, and a ring fitted to the stem for adding a watch chain or lanyard. All are stamped on the back of the case G.S.T.P. with a serial number and broad Arrow. Interestingly, only one fits like a glove in any of my pocket watch holders and it is also the only one fully working still. It is currently mounted on the front of the RCA Speaker Assembly on my AR88LF. Another watch is mounted on my 19-Set Mk III and fits nicely (ever so slightly loose). A third one is quite loose and is mounted on my 19-Set Mk II. If the set was in a moving vehicle, it would rattle around a bit in the holder.

GSTP = General Service Trade Pattern (or possibly "Temporary Pattern") and were standard (-ish) pocket watches for the period.

There was (briefly) a "Watch W/T Non-Magnetic" which was actually _cheaper_ than the GSTP watches, having a chrome-plated iron case to screen the movement from the magnetic fields of generators and rotary converters in the wireless sets. They were later found to be unnecessary (and also less accurate, being cheap).

The last Pocket Watch I have has an original leather lanyard and sits on my radio bench. If I try and insert it in any of my Pocket Watch Holders, the ring is positioned slightly lower on the stem than the other three watches so it prevents the watch from dropping low enough into the holder for the bottom part of the watch to be secured. The crystal would probably get broken on this watch if it was in a holder on a wireless set that was in a wireless vehicle going across country. Or the Bakelite holder would get shattered.

The GSTP was a standard issue pocket watch, and not intended for fitting to equipment or use in watch holders. The massive expansion of radio usage meant that the original nickel-plated brass watch holder (on the No.1 and 11 sets) couldn't be produced quickly enough and it was replaced by the Bakelite version we (mostly) see today. The watches for those are mostly the 'B' series, produced without bows (the ring for a lanyard or chain on the winder stem), and usually with a short stem (probably specified for the WS19 Mk.1 which caused trouble with some watches being unable to fit the WS19 Mk.III because the power supply connector was a larger diameter and too close to the watch holder as a result). Earlier sets had the watch holder at the top of the front panel with nothing above them, but the WS19 was designed to fit a restricted space in an AFV.

When a watch is mounted in a holder on a 19-Set, or the AR88 Series of receivers, the operator has full access to the winding ball on top of the stem, even with the guards in place on the 19-Sets. It gets very interesting, very quickly, however, if you install one of these round ball GSTP Pocket Watches in the holders on the 52-Set Receivers.

Try a 'B' series watch with no bow, it is more likely to fit. (Note: a lot of surplus watches will have been retrofitted (frequently rather badly) with bows for subsequent sale.)

When I first saw the illustration of the pocket watch Canadian Marconi was using with the 52-Set, I thought it odd the watch used the flat style of winder on top of the stem, and that there was no ring. None of this made sense to me until I tried fitting the standard GSTP Pocket Watch into the two holders on my 52-Set and could not get any of mine to fit properly or be accessible to wind and change time. It was then that I realized how smart the designers and engineers were at CMC. They anticipated the problem and solved it with a custom pocket watch for the 52-Set. The flat top winder is only half as high as the ball winder and without the ring, the operator can easily wind and change the time on either pocket watch when it is in place.

Yep!

Another feature utilized by CMC was to ensure the pocket watch they needed for the 52-Set was none magnetic. This additional step would ensure these watches would keep running accurately for wireless use in such close quarters to high RF voltages. There was no risk of the movement parts all becoming mini-magnets attracting and repelling each other to a complete halt.

Not RF, it's the magnetic field from the rotary transformers (Dynamotors, "Anode Converter", etc.) that they were worried about - and probably more about eddy currents induced in the balance wheel slowing it down, which would vary according to the amount of time the set was in use and so couldn't be easily "adjusted out" by the radio operator.

The "Signals Office" used a GSTP watch but didn't adjust the time very often - they kept a record of the "error" relative to the 21:00 time broadcast from HQ and (presumably) adjusted the watch when the difference became too great. (Saves wear and tear on the watch, and they'd just add/subtract corrections in the paperwork, as required.)

I have a few "B" watches, some GSTP ones, an Australian W/T watch in a brass case (that some idiot removed all the black paint from and _polished_), and a Watch W/T Non Magnetic (with Roman numerals on the dial). I've also got my father's watch (which I must get restored) that _was_ used with his WS19 (because the issue watch was unreliable), and that was a present from his uncle (who was a Major in the army and ended up in Katyn).

There's an overview of military watches here:https://royalsignals.org.uk/photos/watch.htm

Best regards,
Chris (G8KGS)
Junior Password Gnome

[David Dunlop]

Yikes, Chris!

First of all, thanks for taking the time to post all that information. The ‘humble’ GSTP pocket watch is a far more complex topic than I ever imagined.

When I was trying to find appropriate watches to mount on my wireless sets a few years ago, I did run across a number of such watches with names on their faces, but confusion set in quickly with many comments being found on this that these were maker names and other comments they were just the names of ‘bespoke’ military tailors where officers would go to get kitted out for custom uniforms. Out of that confusion I assumed makers were unlikely in wartime to advertise themselves, so all those names were more likely just tailors who did not think the officers would be dumb enough to get captured. Beyond that, most of my research information focused on a handful of North American watch makers, as the most likely candidates to have produced the Canadian Army pocket watches.

Interestingly, the steel cases came up in the NA readings I found regarding none magnetic watches with comments they were not that good. Three or four very odd alloys were discussed that had been developed in the years prior to WW2 for making the watch main springs and other movement parts that seemed to be quite effective. These alloys had very odd names that made me wonder if they had not been discovered while excavations were underway in the Mile Forts along Hadrians Wall.

Sorry to hear about the polished brass watch holder. I have also seen that done to wartime military compasses, sniper scopes and binoculars ‘to restore their true value’.


David

[Chris Suslowicz]

I think Waltham and Elgin were the major American suppliers of watches (certainly to the British under Lend -Lease), and they were just their standard watch. My suspicion is that the Canadian WS19 Supply Unit No.2 had the watch holder moved to the front of it (instead of being on the set) was to solve the problem of tall winding stems.

The Australian watch (not a watch holder) should be finished in black "opticians enamel", I think, but mine has been "got at" by the Mad Brass Polisher[TM].

There's worse: I've seen optical instruments polished and CHROME-PLATED at some events! (Theodolites, heliographs, Instruments Flash-Spotting, and so on - they would never have been accepted for service with that finish.)

On the subject of Westclox (Western Clock Co.) - they also made daylight signalling lamps as well as morse keys for the WS19.

Best regards,
Chris.

[David Dunlop]

Another step closer to starting work on the Supply Unit.

These two cartridges of grease were picked up today, destined for the four bearings in the two rotary transformers. This grease follows the lineage of the original wartime grease used up until the 1970’s and discontinued by Imperial Oil shortly afterwards.

The original Andoc-C was a Grade 4, high temperature grease for electric motors. Imperial/Mobil no longer makes a Grade 4 grease, but their Polyrex line is still intended for this equipment today. Polyrex EM 103 is a Grade 3 grease but very hard to find in cartridges at a reasonable price. This Polyrex EM is a Grade 2 version rated to be stable up to 499 degrees which should be more than adequate for running the 52-Set on short term transmissions at standard room temperatures for the rest of its life. The tricky bit will be flushing out all the old sodium based original grease from the bearings before repacking them with this newer lithium based product.

I do not anticipate using very much of this grease, but the cost of two cartridges locally for pickup was well below the single cartridge price of this stuff I could find anywhere on the web. Leftovers will be transferred to the one pound tin and labeled, as part of the supplies for the 52-set shown in the Parts List.



David

[David Dunlop]

I think I have mentioned it before, this project would have been better started 50 years ago when 52-Set equipment was much more readily found. But then what is a project without challenges.

One of the items issued with the Remote Receiver and stocked in its Operating Case was a 100 foot coil of antenna wire; Wire, Electrical, R4, Mk 1. Next to impossible to find today under that specific identification. A little over a year ago, however, I stopped searching for the official military named product and started searching the internet using the actual description of the cold draw, stranded copper wire, provided in the Master Parts List for the 52-Set.

Not only did I discover this product is still alive and well and in production, but 100 foot coils can still be purchased from a number of Amateur Radio suppliers in the United States, or directly from the primary manufacturer, Davis RF, also in the USA. Most pricing falls in the low to mid $20.00 USF range but pay attention to shipping costs. Some will hit four times the value of the goods, or more.

I picked up my order in Pembina, North Dakota today and was delighted to find the coil was wound to within one quarter inch in diameter of the size of the coil illustrated in the Master Parts List. The weight of this coil comes in at 1.375 pounds and it was nice to finally have one of the items stored in the left side compartment of the Operating Case, actually in place.



David

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

One of the items issued with the Remote Receiver and stocked in its Operating Case was a 100 foot coil of antenna wire; Wire, Electrical, R4, Mk 1. Next to impossible to find today under that specific identification. A little over a year ago, however, I stopped searching for the official military named product and started searching the internet using the actual description of the cold draw, stranded copper wire, provided in the Master Parts List for the 52-Set.

How detailed was the description? (Somewhere I have the UK Military Specification for Wire, Electrical, R4 (and the heavier R7 type), and it may still be a current item - though it will be for specialist uses and a controlled item due to its scrap value.)

Not only did I discover this product is still alive and well and in production, but 100 foot coils can still be purchased from a number of Amateur Radio suppliers in the United States, or directly from the primary manufacturer, Davis RF, also in the USA. Most pricing falls in the low to mid $20.00 USF range but pay attention to shipping costs. Some will hit four times the value of the goods, or more.

I picked up my order in Pembina, North Dakota today and was delighted to find the coil was wound to within one quarter inch in diameter of the size of the coil illustrated in the Master Parts List. The weight of this coil comes in at 1.375 pounds and it was nice to finally have one of the items stored in the left side compartment of the Operating Case, actually in place.

David

That seems to have a shorter lay (i.e. rather faster twist rate) than the UK version, which was issued in 41-yard packets (a quarter-wavelength at the lowest frequency likely to be used) for making up or extending/repairing issued aerials. I'll see what I can dig out, but I think it was "one inch lay", or 12 turns per foot. I may be able to turn up the stores code and NSN, but these will not be for the WS52 "100-ft coil".

The "ready made" aerials seem to have been constructed without much attention to detail: I've got at least one where the first section (of something intended to replace the "set of six" wire aerials) is ten feet too long - making it unusable for the intended role. (One of the other sections is ten feet short, so it's a cutting error during manufacture, but it won't match any settings provided on the standard tuning charts - this may be why it survived WW2.)

Best regards,
Chris.

[David Dunlop]

Hello Chris.

I checked several references on hand for this particular wire and none provided any notes on the lay of the stranding.

Also, as brilliant a job as the wartime illustrators did with the Master Parts List, the thinness of the 14 gauge wire was beyond their ability to detail the look of the windings. Our scanner is currently sulking so I cannot add an image at the moment. The illustration does show, however, that the last foot of wire is wrapped around the coil a couple of times, pulled back up the coil about six inches and wrapped off around the coil once more. This forms a kind of handle the coil could be carried with and the opposite side of the coil fans out slightly, since it is not secured. I suspect that when the coil of wire was packed in the Remote Operating Case, the open end of the coil went in first to keep it all in place, with the 'handle' at the top for easy retrieval when needed. This modern coil I got used electricians tape to secure the coil and I have seen others using plastic twist ties.

It would be interesting to compare original British wartime 19-Set Horizontal Aerials to Canadian made ones. The tighter you wrap the stranding, the more copper wire gets consumed, so a finished 100 foot run of stranded wire will hold considerably more wire than that when done. Actually, the central core wire would be the only one to be 100 feet long. the other six wrapped around it would all be longer. If you needed to conserve copper during the war, loosening up the wrap in stranded wire would certainly help. One would have to be careful, however, as if the concentric wrap is loosened up too much, it will degrade quickly into a 'bunched' wrap, which can become a complete rats nest to work with in no time.


David

[Bruce MacMillan]

decades ago I worked for a Canadian electronic distributor (Cam Gard Supply based out of Winterpeg) and we sold miles of stranded aerial wire. Looking back through the catalogues I saved the only info was that your choice was 7/22 or 7/24 stranded. The twist didn't seem critical.

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hello Chris.

I checked several references on hand for this particular wire and none provided any notes on the lay of the stranding.

The annoying part of all this is that I found the actual specifications on the Defence Standards website, years ago, and asked a wire manufacturing company how much it would cost to manufacture some (it was, of course, prohibitively expensive for a short run - I didn't need it by the mile).

If I saved a copy it's on a computer with a dead power supply (that's buried somewhere in the "I may want to resurrect this at some point" pile).

Shortly after I jokingly commented that "We ought to take a copy of the old battery specifications to reduce our load on their server" (but thankfully not before I had copied everything we were likely to be interested in) the Defence Standards website first deleted all the obsolete specifications, and later made the site private, requiring authorisation to look at anything.

It would be interesting to compare original British wartime 19-Set Horizontal Aerials to Canadian made ones.

I can do this. I've got one of the Canadian multi-section wire aerials (it came in one of the leather "Bags, Aerial Gear" and has been rewound on an American RL-29 cable winder instead of the usual Commonwealth drum, and I have a selection of the British wire aerials issued with various sets (the WS19 set of six aerials and the later 100-ft No.5) on wooden board winders, plus a couple of wire dipoles for the WS53. There's also the aforementioned 41-yard packets of Wire, Electric, R4 and a 100m (I think) cardboard reel with a NATO Stock Number - and it all appears to be the same specification ever over a fie decade timespan.

The tighter you wrap the stranding, the more copper wire gets consumed, so a finished 100 foot run of stranded wire will hold considerably more wire than that when done. Actually, the central core wire would be the only one to be 100 feet long. the other six wrapped around it would all be longer. If you needed to conserve copper during the war, loosening up the wrap in stranded wire would certainly help. One would have to be careful, however, as if the concentric wrap is loosened up too much, it will degrade quickly into a 'bunched' wrap, which can become a complete rats nest to work with in no time.

David

"Rats nest" just about describes my store of kit. I really need to make some space, sort everything out, and catalogue it.

Best regards,
Chris.