Chris Suslowicz

On 3/10/2024 at 7:06 PM, guy66 said:

Hello , I am still looking for the right cable !

I may have some 3-pin connectors - what are the body and pin diameters? (They were made in several power ratings, but being brass are targeted by the scrappers.)

Chris 

(Wishing it would stop BLOODY RAINING.) 

On 3/10/2024 at 9:26 PM, andym said:

It seems that they do have two sockets, I obviously hadn't noticed on mine - it's probably got the blanking plug inserted.

http://www.fv432apc.com/fv430webzine/issueone/fv430webzinefv430nightscope.html

Andy

Looks very much like the connectors used for the tent lighting kit I've got, but with a screened cable to keep electrical noise out of the nightscope and inverter whine from the nightscope out of the 432. Cable will be male to female so that the scope can be inserted/removed in an existing cable run.

Chris.

I have one off the later steel-clad version, with cables intact, and it looks like all the screw holes will line up with your brass plate. Will post it later today (I hope). I can't find the Chatterton's Compound (used as a sealant, but maybe the existing cables will do - they look like they're from a 12V 22AH.

Best regards,

Chris. (Still trying to complete the retirement paperwork!)

On 2/14/2024 at 11:12 AM, Surveyor said:

Many thanks, i did wonder 

This is a few month project the drum I have wont rotate at the moment despite penetrating fluid

Think either heat or dismantle part is next

I've got some drums (free-standing reels actually) of co-ax and Lightweight Quad that were backloaded into a skip from a great height, then left out in the rain for months. They're bent and rusted to the point I'm not sure where to begin - some of the folding handles are immovable. (I only bought them for the contents, though some might be repairable.) 

24 minutes ago, Surveyor said:

Many thanks, yes i suspect its getting the crimp sleeves, when I was changing one wire to the drum for the set up came across a pair, as both metal and side by side i did wonder about shorting

Ah, they're a cunning "sandwich" construction and the outer layer is basically armouring of the joint. The actual joints are waterproof and very strong if properly made. (Far better than the old "Self-Soldering Sleeve type which were time consuming, messy, required manually insulating after the cleanup, and couldn't be posted because... firework composition. Bound-In joints were even less fun and very hard on the fingers as I discovered in the Cadet Force, decades ago.)

I've not seen the Hellerman jointing sleeves for sale anywhere, but then I haven't been looking - I think I have a couple of boxes of them tucked away somewhere, but no D10 to use them on!

Best regards,

Chris. 

2 hours ago, Richard Farrant said:

I have a new old stock Crimper for joining D10 cable, never been used.  Any interest? Photos below;

 

Looks a bit used to this gnome. (Or badly stored.) 

I have a couple of them, the original red handled ones and the later "low observability" version like that one.

Did they ever issue the carrier in DPM, I wonder? (I have the dark green cotton webbing version, and a lightweight synthetic one with the same NSN, but nothing more recent than that.)

Chris.

The jointing sleeves and a Hellerman tool are so much easier than doing bound-in or soldered joints - assuming you can get the crimp sleeves, of course. :-)>

Best regards,

Chris.

(Recently discovered the Belt, Linesman was discontinued around 2011. End of an era.)

:-(>

Thinking about it, the Intercom is probably always going to be required, so cabling for that may be incorporated into the standard vehicle harness. (Other possibilities are the ECC (Emergency Crew Communication) for Commander to Driver which originally used a "Power Microphone" and used the vehicle battery and a transformer rather than an amplifier to feed the intercom circuit - the big grey Tannoy or Truvox microphones with the 3-pin connector.)

Chris.

On 1/4/2024 at 7:17 PM, Ron said:

Dose anyone have the dimensions for the 12V 22ah wooden batteries as used in WW2 please?

 

Ron

Hi Ron,

They will be the same as the post-WW2 steel cased ones and the latter had to fit the same trays. :-)

(I can run a ruler over a steel one if you like - I don't have any of the wooden ones.)

Best regards,

Chris. (G8KGS)

47 minutes ago, sirhc said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196164547882?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Ef3Rp-6cQs6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=A3ZwjB7vSVy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

That's the "Split Drum" that clips onto a vehicle and can be used for rewinding the cable into the more portable "Dispenser Pack" which are currently being listed as 'new', so it might be worth getting both items. There used to be mountains of D10 available, but it seems to have been collected up by now - I don't think the scrap value is very high because it's 4 tinned copper and 3 tinned hard steel cores, so difficult to recycle.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276262038438 for dispenser packs.

Best regards,

Chris. (G8KGS)

I've since discovered that I bought a binder full of CVR(T) documentation[1] from a friend who was moving house and downsizing... this included User Handbooks for various vehicles, CES lists for ancillaries, and does include the Spartan.

A quick browse tells me the radio fit (Clansman) is VRC-353, PRC-352, Intercom, plus CBF (Commander's Box (Fixed)), and I think the CES for the radio fit lists all the cabling, trays, etc.

If this is any use to you I can run it through the scanner. (It does not appear to have actual layout diagrams for the radio install, for that you probably do need the EMER Comm Inst for the particular setup, but Dom Blanchard may be able to provide whatever that turned into (AESP something_or_other).)   

Best regards,

Chris.

[1] There are several boxes of manuals, including binders for CVR(T), CVR(W), Chieftain Mks 1 to 15 (I think), Saracen & FV432 plus other non-radio related stuff (Radar and Fire Control Equipment) Tentage, Bridging, Armour Training, and Lord knows what else!

16 hours ago, 67burwood said:

Thank you for the info, a guide price is helpful. Does the Racal mast not fit this clamp?

Oh, I'm sure it will fit either mast, but I only bought it for the collection of aerial bits (not having a vehicle to put it on).

What I really wanted was the one for the Racal 27-ft mast (MA683) on a Lightweight landy, but got outbid in that auction.

Chris.

If it's any help I paid £50 for one on Fleabay in November 2023, thinking it was Racal rather than Clarke.

Clansman Clark Mast / Racal Mast Landrover Clamp

£50.00

Unit price £50.00

Item number: 375035758818

Returns not accepted.

 

Best regards,

Chris.

Afterthought: The cable in Socket 3 probably surfaces wherever the second radio is/was meant to be fitted. It may have been tucked away out of sight and tied down to prevent rattling, as it well have a 4-way free socket on the end, intended to mate with the power distribution box for the second radio set. That could well have been mounted on the "top tray" for the second set. it just depends what was fitted:  C42 and something else (if Larkspur era) VRC353 and maybe VRC321 if Clansman. (There was also a Doppler radar observation system, so the socket may have ended up somewhere completely different if it was meant to power that!)

Best regards,

Chris.

I know nothing about Armour, but that looks like a "bare vehicle" fit - the Radio Distribution Box has two 4-way connectors and an 'outline' Radio Junction Box in socket 2 (nothing in Socket 3). So it's most likely a way of showing the power distribution to a single set (socket 2) or two-set (sockets 2 & 3) installation. 

The real details will be provided in the Communications Installation EMER for the actual setup.

Best regards,

Chris.

6 hours ago, AlienFTM said:

For clarity, do you want the Antenna Tuning Unit mounting box or the actual ATU box. If the latter, what Larkspur set is it intended for?

I worked with C13 and C42. One of them istr took an ATU Number 6. 4½ decades later I can't remember what the other was.

5 was the twin 'roller-coaster' ATU for the C12 (Pye interim replacement for WS19)

6 was a VHF ATU, so that would be for the C42

7 is the HF one for the C11

8 is the VHF one for the B47

9 is the VHF one for the C45

10 is the VHF one for the B48

11 is the radioactive 'barrel' ATU for the C13 (Scarce but don't store it under your bed!)

12 was supposedly for the R210 receiver in 'stand alone' mode but may never have gone into service.

Best regards,

Chris (G8KGS)

18 hours ago, robin craig said:

Jolly smart Land Rover there.

 

Complete with anti-theft unit in the passenger seat. (Very Necessary in something that nice.)

On 11/26/2023 at 8:55 PM, guy66 said:

Now with these short daylight periods I try to do the small jobs on the radio box.

Fitted the aerial isolator and now need to make the blackout box for the inside . 

Cleaned up the courtesy light for over the two side windows. 

 

 

Just a thought, but I'd turn the insulator around so that the side with the engraved lettering is inside the vehicle - the weather will wash the lettering out otherwise, and the plate may start to delaminate. (Though you are very unlikely to leave your masterpiece out in the weather for extended periods, of course.) 

On 11/28/2023 at 10:11 AM, guy66 said:

Hello Chris.

These are the desk type lamps that I have in my collection, and think found a suitable Amp meter .

 

 

 

 

I have one of those "Lamp, Electric, Adjustable Mk.1" units, obviously industrial in origin. (Lighting for a machine tool?) Mine was converted to a table lamp by my father, many years ago, and now lives on my bedside table as a reading lamp. :-)>

1 hour ago, guy66 said:

yes , indeed these sockets are market as 240V  , but I don't know where you will find 240V on this setup?

I'm quite sure you won't.  They will have used readily available fittings, knowing that lamps were available in all kinds of voltages and bases (in this case 12V SBC (Small Bayonet Cap)). The 2-pin socket is probably intended for one of the desk type "Lamp, Operator" versions (with a toggle switch on the base and a gooseneck from the base to the lampshade).  

It's looking very nice indeed - what diameter meter do you need for the PTO or external generator feed? I'm assuming it's a 20 - 30 Amp one with left hand zero as the generator will not draw any current, only supply it. I have a box full of odd meters, and may have some suitable ones.

Best regards,

Chris. (Counting down to retirement - at which point I can get things done at home for a change.)

1 hour ago, REME 245 said:

As for a source for spares, you buy another one and break it.   Normally a few on e-bay.

If you're _very_ lucky you can find the "Case, Spare Parts" for the beast, which contains spare valves, gaskets, spark plug and ignition lead, shims, and a few tools. Most of them have been looted of contents, though.

On 11/13/2023 at 2:31 PM, ploughman said:

A friend of mine has just bought an ex Military antenna mast, it is a "Racal MA 798/RA 477". It is designed to be erected via hand or pneumatically.

His still has the pneumatic coupling so helping him to source the various fittings and safety valve to pump it up via a car compressor. It is the type of mast that can be tied to the ground or clamped on the back of a Land-Rover.

Just out of interest, I have tried to source documentation/parts lists but nothing coming up on google,  does anyone have any scanned documentation on this model please?

What vehicles would be fitted with it?

Only info I can find is the link below, which lists his 9m model but not much other info.

RACAL RA477 (radiohistory.uk)

Thanks.

 

I think I have the same mast (plus its rigging/ancillary kit and some documentation) it's part of the Racal "Lightweight Telescopic Mast family, which consists of 8m, 9m and 12m variants in the standard "Push-Up" and "Air Assisted" versions, and a lot of the components/ancillaries are common to the various masts. The 798 was intended for VHF use with vertical aerials (and SHF use with small diameter dishes), so the top section is made of GRP (transparent to radio waves) to avoid problems. The guys, halyard and radius line may be different from the 8 and 12 metre versions (it uses four guys instead of three for the erecting, middle and upper positions), but most of the other kit is the same.

I'll see if I can dig out the AESPs and scan those. I've got the common "Operating Instructions" one as a reduced size photocopy, but I don't think I've scanned the parts and maintenance sections of the document set. (I have a 12-metre mast that's bent and need to dismantle it at some point and get the tubes straightened if they're still usable/repairable.)

Do you have the ancillary kit (guys, stakes, hammer, baseplate, etc.) for your mast? The individual bits are not cheap on eBay, especially the guys.

Best regards,

Chris.

Good Lord! Not so much impractical as impossible... even setting the welding voltage and current would be difficult unless to remove the central toolbox and what I assume is the field current controller. (Maybe they did?)

Very impressive, but why would the engine be jacked up? (Surely it would make the trailer far more unstable when being towed? Or was ground clearance an issue when used off-road and they had to do that to resolve it?)

Chris. (G8KGS) 

32ft would be for holding the roof on a house, or a cross-brace for a bridge! :-)