Plessey Sockets and Plugs Wiring Standard

[QWENIX]

Hello members,

I am assembling cables and Plessey plugs/connectors /sockets for B40 collectors here in Holland. I’ve seen many plugs on which cables were cut off. But what I am looking for is the standard (Handbook or other MOD info. Maybe a electronics B.R. Handbook Admiralty or Air Ministry for wiring)

So if I take the correct cable/wire how should I know which colour should be soldered on which spot ?
e.g. 4 way
A = red or blue
B = blue or red
C = green
D= yellow ?

Back Shell = Braid

6 way ?
12 way ?
Who knows were to find the standard “instructions”
best regards Qwenix

[turretslug]

Quenix, when you say "12 way" Plessey, are you thinking of the one used for power in and audio out on the Pye CAT receiver?- I ask as I know you're into other sets aside from B40s and the Pye was used by the Koninklijke Marine. I was lucky to find a matching 12 way Plessey line socket to interface mine but some other sets may have had them removed to connect them to the outside world- shame, but these things happen. There's a block (multiple-pi) filter immediately behind the connector in the receiver, with wiring connected to the output feed-through caps- I'll look out the colours for these but it might be a few days. I'm assuming that you're looking for wire colours in order that original connectors can be re-fitted to modified receivers- hope I'm not barking up the wrong tree!

[QWENIX]

Thanks for the reply. I am into B40 B41 62B FAZ SSB Outfit. Some Racal AVO equipment. Murphy Racal Rees Mace/Pye and AVO also used bij the Dutch MOD.

About the Pye/Reesmace cat receiver (part of 619 set). The one I own has been added with a original 12 way cable (found a few at a radio rally) with both ends plugs male and female fitted so no need for soldering). I designed and made my first extended tube power supply. So this set works realy nice.

My question is about were to find the specs prescriptions handbook, about which cable and more important to me which colour conductor (in case of multiway cable) should be soldered onto which spot in the plug or connector.

This infomation should exist, but where and which number is the original handbook is there maybe a downloadable example?

The 4 way plug is used as antenna plug for the B40D.
a=?
b=?
c=?
d=?

The 6 way plug is for audio and maybe other functions.
a=?
b=?
c=?
d=?
e=?
f=?
best regards Qwenix

[turretslug]

Aha, re-reading the first post, I see what you mean- colours for external interconnecting wires, rather than internal wires to panel connectors.

It would have been nice to find a 12 way socket-to-plug cable for the Pye/Rees-Mace receiver but in the end I made up a loom of five sets of twisted pairs (240VDC, 6.3VAC, muting, Lo- and Hi-Z audio out) plus a safety bond to the alloy Plessey shell, forming them into a slow spiral and sleeving overall with braided nylon "snake". This worked out more neatly than I expected, about 60cm long with receiver socket at one end, hard-wired to the home-made PSU at the other end. I'm afraid that I used a solid-state bridge here....

[QWENIX]

Interconnecting cables in the first place thats correct. Till now I had to copy the colour code from cut off cables and plugs and apply this onto new diy cable + plug combination.

Cables found a radioamateur rally, see here:

http://www.gloeidraad.nl/radioforum/...dd3f8e1f99.jpg

Info pics and Dutch text about the proces designing and building a diy PSU with 2 x EZ80 rectifiers see here:

http://www.gloeidraad.nl/radioforum/index.php?id=193106

bets regards qwenix

[QWENIX]

Yesssssssssss I overlooked this... so heres the link to the document I meant.

http://www.royalsignals.org.uk/refEM...0_Chap_123.pdf

[Reelman]

I think a password is required to open the .pdf?
Peter

[M0FYA Andy]

It just opened for me without a password.
Andy

[DangerMan]

Opened ok for me too.

[QWENIX]

This document is not pw protected. Some other documents on the royalsignals... do have this protection. Only on asking available for members (like me) and non members.

kinds regards Qwenix

[Sean Williams]

It is quoting needing an updated version of acrobat - I thought 9.5 was up to date?

[Reelman]

Yes, sorry about that was using an iPad and a password was requested but if I use the Adobe app then it opens fine.
Peter

[Radio Wrangler]

I've just tried it with an Apple Mac/Safari the file downloads and when I attempt to open it, it displays a grey page stating that a password is needed.

When moved onto the desktop it comes up as a PDF icon with a closed padlock on it.
Could it be that members of the source organisation alteady have the password stored as a default?

David

[AC/HL]

I'm not a member and it opens for me (PC). Something to do with Apple?

[Sean Williams]

I have downloaded Acrobat DC, it now works. The PDF is "secured" which I think means you cannot extract pages or anything like that without a password - common to a lot of VMARS documents (my feeling is that the same people were involved in the documents for both organisations....)

Anyway, this seems to be the workaround for those that cant get in.

[turretslug]

Thanks for posting that link- scanning through the document lightly, I'm intrigued by the recommended method of soldering the buckets on the pin/receptacle ends by passing a heavy current through them to heat them! That would seem to involve more faffing around connecting things in rather a small space than simply the careful wielding of a small iron/bit Maybe precise soldering apparatus just wasn't mainstream then.

I found a puzzlingly basic design shortcoming in the Pye CAT's 12-pin installation- whilst working out the pin connection details from the afore-mentioned filter block tags on getting hold of the set (I didn't have any circuit details at the time), I checked the heater supply voltage between valveholder tags and chassis- very low, though the set sort of functioned. Investigation showed that the "earthy" side of this supply, entering the receiver on 2 paralleled pins of the 12-way, is connected to the case of the filter block by a short soldered link. This sheet brass case is held against the reverse side of the mild steel front panel by the aluminium lock-ring of the 12-way. Guess what happens in a marine environment- haha, a feast of iffy contact, I could "modulate" the heater volts by leaning on the connector shell at different angles. Cure was to add a short linking wire from the connection point on the filter block to a nearby stamped tag on the main chassis, near the 2nd conversion ECH81.

I'm surprised that something as contrary to good practice as this got through- I imagine that the filter block would have been added towards the end of the production process to ease access to everything else, maybe an internal connection simplified installation, allowing it to be treated as an easy-fit module. Only saved a short wire link, though.

[QWENIX]

Heres the cirquit of the 12 way socket Cat Pye/Rees Mace 619 set receiver. See last page of the manual.

A = equal to B = chassis filament and chassis HV PSU
C + D = 2 x parallel 6,3 V AC filament total running about max 3A (counting and adding all the valves filament currents)
E = HV = 245 V DC max 150 mA

My DIY built PSU runs smoothly.


source see link:

http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/archiv...nformation.pdf

[turretslug]

Handily, the designer liked the EF92 in several stages (including 1st AF amp!), also the EC90 as 1st LO, keeping the heater current reasonable. I make it 3.8A nominal, including 2x 0.3A scale bulbs?

It's good that you highlighted these connectors and found the information associated with them- so much ex-miltary equipment used them over a few decades, and very often users have the equipment but no means to connect them, so if forum users become aware of what they are if they happen across them, it's good. I bet large numbers of connectors and cables got junked when equipment became obsolete, or when vehicles/aircraft/ships with fitted harnesses were scrapped. A while back, a forum member posted that he had found a number of discarded 2- and 3-pin Plessey, I think used with PA/speaker type kit originally but as mains with much military stuff.

The mains transformer in my PSU is a nice Danish-made varnish impregnated one from a junked Storno base station with ample LT capability and choice of several HT tappings, it's actually quite small but runs very cool and quietly. Primary is 234V max setting but a 220 ohm (cold) NTC SMPSU-type inrush limiter loses about 6V hot, 750mA primary fuse loses another 2V! Our UK mains has stayed quite high after "harmonization", often in some ateas over 240V. Green lamp for mains on, after 30s red LED lights on relay switching of HT into 4x BA159 rectifier, via VA1015 thermistor to keep things civilised. Smoothing is CLCLC with Marconi chokes, making a very heavy little box.

[QWENIX]

Nice built PSU. My compliments.

Filament current 3.8 about 4.0 A correct. My mistake My PSU (recently built) was my first diy experiment. I built it and it was functional right away. No mistakes there strange enough. Built from vintage radio parts such as transformer + 2 x EZ80 recifier valves marconi/plessey electrolytics smoothing by CLC no stabilizers. Built in a defective sensitive valve voltmeter marconi cabinet (slaughtered that one ...) Designing by counting/adding all currents needed for filament and HT and doing the same for later on choosing which transformer could supply all this. Filament current became the crucial factor (is that english ? ) 3.8 A /2 parallel = 2 A per conductor.

This whole "designing/engineering ""proces is written down on the dutch vintage radio forum meantioned earlier.


Back to topic if I may:

I just finished soldering a 4 way mark IV plessey plug for the B40D antenna.

Combining the EMER and manual B40D aerial plug specs, no coax but 4 way cable used for reception as good as coax ... Rg 58C/U mil specs

A=red , B=blue both not connected but A+B directly linked. C = RF signal from the aerial = yellow, D= is green not connected not used.

It's nice to have this EMER document next to my FClane and Plessey connector tools and parts.
kind regards Qwenix

[Keith]

Originally Posted by turretslug

It's good that you highlighted these connectors and found the information associated with them- so much ex-miltary equipment used them over a few decades, and very often users have the equipment but no means to connect them, so if forum users become aware of what they are if they happen across them, it's good. I bet large numbers of connectors and cables got junked when equipment became obsolete, or when vehicles/aircraft/ships with fitted harnesses were scrapped.

Roy at Electrojumble (http://www.electrojumble.org/Connects_01.htm) has good stocks of many of these circular connectors. I think that's where I sourced the connector for my 619 TX (http://www.tibblestone.com/oldradios...0and%20CAT.htm).