Chris Suslowicz
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Posts posted by Chris Suslowicz
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Thanks Chris, that's very helpful. I think this would be military (1) because it has a broad arrow on it, though I appreciate that might apply to other government surplus, (2) because it came with a load of military vehicle spares from a vehicle repairers whose bread and butter work was contract MV repair for the WD.
There was a lot of stuff for signals vehicles with it though, so maybe they were issued for signals linemen - so there's a new accessory all you signals types can hunt down for your MV!
The broad arrow is the "Government Property" mark, and that applied to GPO kit as well (I have cable jointing tools with the broad arrow and GPO 1949 stamped on them).
That said, it's an interesting piece, and I might be tempted at some point (though I don't see myself ever needing to erect overhead telephone lines). :-D
Other line kit would also be of interest.
Chris.
(Beltring-on-Sea tomorrow, must get an early night. Zzzzzzzzzz....)
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It's a lineman's tool for use with telephone/telegraph lines. Quite possibly Post Office rather than military, because the "draw tongs" used for air line usually have a ratchet and spring scale for setting the tension correctly (it's quite large and varies according to the air temperature when you erect the line). For 70lb (weight per mile length) cadmium-copper, the tension is 90lb at 0F, 75lb at 20F, 55lb at 60F, 35lb at 100F and 30lb at 120F though I would not like to be laying air lines at either temperature extreme!
The triangle is probably for attaching to the lineman's safety belt so he can lean backwards to keep the cable clear of the ground during the initial laying (i.e: before it gets properly tensioned and fixed to the pole insulators).
Chris.
(I collect this kind of stuff.):red:
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Mine works fine, I use kiln dried paving sand
That's illegal (or at least extremely dangerous), I think? :shocked:
The use of actual sand as an abrasive in sandblasting was banned because you get silicosis from inhaling the fine particles produced, which is why the "grit" used these days is aluminium oxide or other manufactured abrasive.
A quick rummage finds: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press%5C2008/coinw01708.htm and a search on "sand blasting silicosis" will probably turn up a lot more stuff.
Chris.
(This post brought to you by the elves who drink safe tea. (Because elfin safe tea is very important: you've only got one set of lungs.)
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Whilst the Thorny restoration is moving at a little slower pace, I wonder if I could ask a period question about something I know very little?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]93972[/ATTACH]
How were solid rubber tyres manufactured like those shown in the above photograph? Are the pads hard rubber disks which are screwed into the rubber below? Could they even have been moulded like this!? Do any tyres of this type survive? Has anyone tried to re-create such tyres in recent times?
Kind Regards,
Barry.
On the assumption that they're solid rubber, it's a fairly sticky (or can be manufactured to be fairly sticky) compound until cured. Assuming the normal solid tyre was produced by extrusion, it could be cut to length, then formed into a hoop and have the studs bonded on before curing in an autoclave or be moulded as a standard length with the discs before the bonding and curing process. (The inner layer might well be "wound on" to a former before the tread is glued on (using naptha as a solvent, I think), similar to current practice where the case and tread (plain) are assembled from separate components (and different compounds) before insertion into the mould with the desired tread pattern for final forming/curing.)
For pneumatic tyres the usual machine was a "Bag O Matic" press, in which a central bladder inflated to force the uncured "casing" into the two piece mould (with the tyre horizontal, there would be a top and bottom half mould) before the heat was applied (superheated steam) to cure the rubber. For solids I could imagine a segmented "belt" type mould to force the tyre against a rigid central drum.
Yes, I used to work at Fort Dunlop, but as a dinosaur herder in the computer department.
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Chris thanks for your interest in the battery box.There is no sign of any acid in the cells and no smell of acid either. The bottom of the box is fairly rusty but not to the extent that the base has any holes. The price would be £15, as for getting it to you I will sort that out if you descide to buy it, thanks, John.
Done!
I'm in Birmingham (by the airport), might be at the Reading radio rally on the 13th, and am intending to visit Beltring-on-Sea for a couple of days if that's any help.
Chris.
(Worst case: I can repaint it and it'll do for static display with the pedal generator and a suitable radio.)
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Hmmm... I assume it's been used (from the state of it), which would make shipping it a problem.
Price and location?
Chris.
In Birmingham (UK).
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Air ministry stores codes (number, letter / numbers) the part before the / is the stores section:
34E = POL Sampling and Testing Equipment
40P = Containers for petrol, oil and lubricants
Chris.
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WW2 for that one.It's "Lamp, Electric, No.1" and the standard military electric lantern for the period, can be clipped to a belt or hung up (using a wire handle that is missing from your photograph - it's a rectangular loop that fits into the holes at the top of the lamp and also acts as a retaining clip to hold the top on). Battery is the long-obsolete 3 volt No.800 cycle lamp one.The shutter is for blackout use (e.g: on the march) so it only casts light downwards, the red filter is so that you can retain night vision if you need to use a light after your eyes have become dark adapted.Joseph Lucas (Prince of Darkness) and other companies made vast quantities of them.Despite the optimists on eBay and elsewhere, they are not signalling lamps. (Nor bicycle lights.) Chris.Thanks Tony. Wartime, or later? -
The SLR was designed at a time when small arms were designed to kill and a 7.62mm round from it could take out anyone with one shot. So I'm told the SA80 was designed on the basis that a smaller calibre bullet would allow a man to carry more rounds. Also the idea in the Cold war was to wound rather than kill so that two men would help the wounded man and so that might get three men away from the fighting! Well that's the theory but sadly experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has shown that sometimes it has taken as much as 10 rounds to down a man charging forwards like a crazed suicide bomber!
The 7.62 x 51 cartridge is the U.S. .30 cartridge of WW2 vintage, shortened by about 0.25" due to improved propellants.
That's the theory, anyway.
The reality is that it allowed the USA to retain their existing tooling - just shorten the chambering reamers, etc. - and take over much of the western arms industry with the resultant head start. It's far too powerful for the original purpose, and was only accepted due to politics.
7mm (e.g: .280 Ross) was far better from a ballistics/weight of ammunition point of view, and the standard infantry rifle didn't need the 1km range (most fighting during WW2 and since has happened at 300 metres or less).
The EM-2 was the real answer but the politicians killed it (and then the Enfield design team had to make the SLR work properly, just to add insult to injury). :-(
Chris.
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Paul there isn't a Page 2. I think Page 1/2 is relating to Page 1 Issue 2.
Looking in EMER E&M A 001 (the detailed index) it lists D 309 as only 1 page.
The scanned page I posted is actually A4 but I compressed it as there was a lot of blank paper. So if there was some further information they could have got some of it in there..
If it's anything like the Telecommunications EMERS, then Page 2 will be the back of Page 1 and will simply contain the word: END.
Chris.
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Thanks Iain and Clive for both your replies, it gives me at least a bit of hope that something may turn up if I keep looking about! Cheers Dave
To help you on your way, I have a couple of the single channel units (that I bought to strip for parts), as yet untouched from how I got them. They will probably need some restoration as the finish is badly worn. All valves present except the buffer stage (QV03-10, I think) and I have some of those somewhere.
The bad news: it's set only, no ancillaries.:-(
The worse news: they were part of a large clearout last year (originating, I think, from Coventry Airport decades ago), so you've missed all the control boxes and cables - which went for scrap.:-(
I'll see about some photographs at the weekend.
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It is too late now, but it just occurred to me that any Sarah the Chemist ought to be able to borrow a cork borer. Or, in fact, supply pre-bored corks by post.
Curiously they only seem to exist on eBay Germany:
They appear to be from China, judging by the quoted shipping time, not to mention the oriental characters that seem to have been left in the listing, and this disclaimer really does not inspire confidence:
NOTE: In the event of any misunderstanding as to the description or this package contents, the package contents shall prevail.
:wow:
In other words "if we send you something completely different to what you purchased (including a box full of sawdust and swarf), that's what you get, no comebacks".
Thanks, but no thanks.
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It probably is Wireless Telegraphy, and would be to note that the vehicle had been drilled for aerial cables and had mounting plates for control units, etc. added to the standard fittings.
Does the non-W/T version of the Daimler Scout Car have the aerial boxes fitted to the rear of the hull?
Chris.
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That doesn't look very safe
If anyone has a pair of those boxes lying around I'd be interested in getting some though, they would be handy for some extra storage.
Cheers,
Terry
It's fairly safe, they're steel cased lead-acid batteries and are securely bolted down. It can't have been comfortable for anyone trying to use the seats behind them though - unless that was where the radios were fitted?
(The boxes are actually the battery casing, so the only way you'll find them is with the cells fitted or with the cells stripped out - probably converted to toolboxes.)
Chris.
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Chris
The Ipswich radio club had something similar used for a 50 foot mast at SSB field days in the '80s and '90s - theirs had tapered sections about 12 feet long rather than these which appear to be parallel sided, though. It is interesting to look at the seller's other items - the 30 foot angle iron mast looks like something straight out of the hariggers site !
Regards
Iain
There's another theory they might be part of the 70-ft mast for the W.S.3 in its 6x4 wireless truck. Working out the scale is likely to be the difficult part since I have no idea of the size of the truck.
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ITEM 181328964967
These are on ebay at the moment, and they look like the poles carried on Bedford QLR trucks. Can anyone confirm this, and are they any use to a Bedford QLR owner?
I have no connection with the seller and I am just passing on the information.
I think 9 foot eight is rather too long, and am tending to the idea they might be marquee poles.
(I think the military used stick to between 4 and 6 feet for the small masts, and only the trailer transported ones were longer than that - e.g: the 26-ft sections for some of the large towers.
http://www.hariggers.co.uk/odds.htm may be of interest.
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Hmmm, the good news is that I've got 25,000,000 Dollars sat in front of me, doing nothing.
The bad news is that it's a single Zimbabwe banknote (and it has an expiry date that is long since gone).
Anyway, I can't drive.:embarrassed:
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8" diameter is a bit big for a mobile application! Also, it's marked as "Moving Iron" so is intended for AC use. I would suspect it's for a large generator set or a power distribution switchboard in a factory. I remember seeing something similar on the motor control boards for the mill lines at Fort Dunlop back in the 1970s. (The machinery went back forever, being made by Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers (etc.) with cast-in dates of 1919, and the No.3 Calender that was commandeered by the War Office (from a carpet factory in Kidderminster, apparently) to increase production for the war - it was still in use in the 1980s, by which time depreciation had given it a book value of £0.75 - and a replacement cost of £4M - I noticed it on a Plant Inventory printout and boggled a bit.) The motors (driving 2 - 3 rolling mills that mixed the compound) ran on 2000 volts at around 20 amps (probably per phase) and were about the size of a transit van (from my fairly flaky memory).
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The 55 in the headstamp is likely the date.
Markings around base
SWN/124/56/HEIT/TNT N13Z
On the flat of the base
55 RG OEZ
SWN may well be Swynnerton, which was an ammunition factory that produced/filled 20mm Oerlikon ammunition.
124/56 is probably a batch/date code
HEIT/TNT is the projectile type and filling: High Explosive Incendiary Tracer/TNT
N13Z may be propellant (Z is a suffix denoting Nitrocellulose propellent as opposed to Cordite).
I suspect the case was manufactured at Radway Green due to the headstamp, and sent to Swynnerton for filling.
55 RG OEz = 1955 Radway Green Oerlikon Nitrocellulose propellant.
Chris.
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Canadian, manufactured by Montreal Suspender & Umbrella Ltd.
Apart from that, no idea but it's probably not for radio kit.
Chris.
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Not a bad show, typical insane pricing from the usual suspects.
Bought a K9 manifold gasket for a friend who has a K9, a mostly complete and apparently unused geiger counter (Meter, Contamination, No.1), a few electrical bits, a mine detector logbook (unused, 1945 issue) and a West African printed "notes on the care of instruments" (binoculars, compasses and watches). Oh, and a WS88 Officer's Handset in nice condition for £10.:-D
Failed to buy a WS18 waistbelt (Mk.2 variety) and noted a quite nice Mk.1 (the full width P08 belt) version at £55 - rather cheaper than eBay pricing, but I didn't need another one of those.
I _still_ haven't found the "dry battery cage" that fits the contamination meter - every one I've seen recently has either a vibrator pack or an empty space.
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Thanks for that, will double check it tomorrow.
A note from the Elves who drink Safe Tea (because elfin safe tea is very important):
Do NOT use (wear, put on, or especially breathe through) ANY gas mask manufactured before 1956 (possibly later if it's not a UK or US manufactured one). All the earlier ones contain asbestos fibre in the filters (esparto grass pulp mixed with asbestos fibre to make the filter paper, etc) and this will have degraded to the point where it is shedding fibres.
The British "Service Respirator" (mask with hose and oval canister) contains crocidolite (blue asbestos)
The British "Duty Respirator" (mask with canister on the front) contains chrysotile (white asbestos), as do the civilian gas masks.
The green "Contex" filter fixed to the front of the civilian respirators (to protect against Arsine (Arsenic Hydride)) also contains blue asbestos.
Later filters with red and green bands may also contain blue asbestos.
(The Arsine filters were the result of confusion on both sides during WW2: the Germans captured some British gas detector kits which included test papers for the presence of Arsine (because British scientists thought it was possible the Germans might have/use it); the Germans concluded that the test papers meant the British had stockpiles of it and issued instructions and test kits of their own; news of this reached the British, confirming their suspicions and upgraded filters were promptly produced to meet the (nonexistent) threat. Arsine, though rather toxic, is not a very effective poison gas for military purposes.)
Chris.
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100ft aerial no5 nos for sale on ebay. also have other radio equipments I'm putting on ebay next month some of which are below. if you need anything just ask as I may have it (NO SETS) and you can always make an offer.
Item 1: Larkspur power lead, not sure which size from the photo.
Item 2: Larkspur elevated aerial base (goes on top of 27-ft telescopic mast) for VHF sets.
Item 3: Wireless Set 62 power cable (battery to set)
Item 4: Leads, Counterpoise No.2. (Earth subtitute for when you're on concrete of desert/dry soil, etc.)
Item 5: Aerial Base No.8 (WW2-era HF base, replaced by Aerial Base No.10 as soon as possible!)
Item 6: Aerial Base No.28 (Larkspur VHF base)
Item 7: Charging set cable, probably from the 60 watt pedal generator kit used with the WS62, but general purpose.
(This is a lot easier than Clive's brain-teasers.)
Chris.
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I don't know Lauren I suppose if you were on horseback you could see into it a bit better but on the other hand the cavalry would be charging & there wouldn't be much stopping or turning round.
It's going to be fairly nasty: horses would probably break legs, anyone falling into a pit has a good chance of ending up with the sharpened stake stuck somewhere unpleasant, and the GI wire will stop anyone trying to play hopscotch around the pits. That assumes during daylight; at night the enemy won't see the pits until they fall into them (especially if they try a mass attack on foot) and the resultant screams will have the whole camp alert before the enemy have got themselves out of the trap.
(I was going to suggest "Punji trap" but was beaten to the solution by Lauren.)
I suspect the French translates as "Wolf Pits" (Holes of the wolf).
Concertina wire is a much kinder, gentler, substitute.
Chris
What's Sean got now?
in I may be stupid, but......
Posted
Go for it! Telephones (UK ones, anyway) I can probably identify.
Chris.
(Had a good, but fairly expensive, day at Beltring-on-Sea today. Piggy Bank not happy.)