Whaddon Mk III "Tinker Box" HF radio

[matchlesswdg3]

I have been looking around for the above WW2 transmitter as made by the Whaddon Hall team but as I suspect these are rare and expensive (??) and I do not really need a working set, I thought I would try to put together a dummy set.  It was a very basic bit of kit to look at, so I only need a few components.  Where is the best place to have a rake around to put together the required controls?  EBay has a few bits with things like a couple of period looking on/off toggle switches, for example, but they seem crazy prices.  Also, the rectangular bakelite knobs for ariel, tank, etc adjustment seem available on eBay only from the US and so expensive with post and customs.  Are there such things as electronic component jumbles?

Edited February 14, 2018 by matchlesswdg3
Typos

[gordonb]

You want to visit an amateur radio rally. A bit of googling should show up the forthcoming ones. Rainham, Dover and Kempton all coming up in the south east in the next month or so.

gmb

[matchlesswdg3]

Thanks, Gordon!

[MatchFuzee]

Also, have a look at The Vintage & Military Amateur Radio Society:-

http://www.vmars.org.uk/History_Aims_Activities

[mogmaner]

Have you any pics of the set ,will have a look in my junk box to see what might match if you have.

[matchlesswdg3]

This is a photo of the facia I plan to recreate.....

 

[brown cow]

The two main dials with the rectangular knobs look like they are off the type 3 mkII spy radio

[matchlesswdg3]

7 hours ago, brown cow said:

The two main dials with the rectangular knobs look like they are off the type 3 mkII spy radio

I think the rectangular knobs are HRO origin, which makes sense as they used HRO receivers.  Actually, I have now amassed pretty much all the bits I need to  fabricate a dummy MkIII.  I found a couple of sites where folk in the US have put together working copies so that helped track down the key real parts on the facia plus some other bits and bobs I can use to make up copy parts.  I have a sheet of tufnol on order to make up the facia which can be engraved with the various knob labels........as they did on the working US copies. If you are interested, here is the site of a Mk III fabricator.  http://www.blogoteca.com/mk3/index.php?l=1&pag=0

Edited February 22, 2018 by matchlesswdg3
Adding information

[matchlesswdg3]

So here is the dummy Mk III that I made up, using a mixture of real parts where I could find them and "dummy" bits and pieces to replicate others.  Its non working of course apart from the on/off light!  But it looks a reasonable copy from a few yards away, I think.  I have the correct receiver, morse key and headphones, so the setup should look authentic when installed in the Dodge.

[MatchFuzee]

34 minutes ago, matchlesswdg3 said:

But it looks a reasonable copy from a few yards away, I think.  I have the correct receiver, morse key and headphones, so the setup should look authentic when installed in the Dodge.

I doubt, that many members of the general public are going to know that it is copy unless you tell them and having the correct receiver, morse key and headphones will really add to the display.