Wireless of The Week - Week 26

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Posting remotely from sunny Halifax...

Another telephone set, this time the ‘Tele F’. It was a portable telephone for army communication and not normally used forward of divisional headquarters. It provided calls by buzzer, calls by magneto generator, response by bell to magneto generator calls, response by aural indication to buzzer calls and speech communication. It could communicate by wire directly to other telephones or as part a network of multiple devices connected through a switchboard.

This particular example, correctly identified as a Telephone Set “F” Mk.1* (Canadian), was made by Northern Electric Company in 1944. It is 12” long by 7” wide by 8” deep weighing 17 lbs. 4 oz. and is housed in a hinged wooden box for carrying and storage. The set was removed from its case by depressing a metal spring tab, or alternatively, the spring tab had a second stop leaving the set somewhat inside the case where it could be operated protected from inclement weather. The set had a cast alloy body with provision for the handset socket and cradle, a buzzer, ringers, line connections and a magneto generator operated by a crank. Power was supplied by two 1.5 volt “X” or “S” cells in a wax lined battery compartment on the left side of the set. The magneto and gears were in the centre and the buzzer slid in vertically on the right. Access to the batteries, magneto and buzzer was by way of removable caps on the top of the set. There was no provision for a Morse key as there was in other telephone sets designed for use in more forward areas.

Reliable voice range was 13 to 18 miles with twisted D8 wire, however range would be reduced with wet wires, poor connections or wires run along the ground. Two wires (Line 1 and Line 2) could be used, or alternatively, Line 2 could be grounded with an earthing spike and only a single Line 1 wire used between sets. Under good conditions this could actually increase the working range.