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Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment For discussions about vintage test gear and workshop equipment such as coil winders. |
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18th Feb 2018, 7:07 pm | #1 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Tottenham Wireless Society
Just been given a lovely old gem. See pictures. Tottenham Wireless Society is etched in white on the faceplate.
There are two calibration charts with it - dated 7/June/26 & 7/7/26 - provided by "Experimental Wireless & the Wireless Engineer". Titled "Test of Buzzer W/M" . Details of test - "Absorbtion Method". I'm guessing a 1920's Wavemeter. Any info most welcome, please. Regards, David |
19th Feb 2018, 12:15 pm | #2 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
This ancient piece of test equipment has raised many questions :-
a) Who were the Tottenham Wireless Society ? Perhaps they were a forerunner of the London WS who eventually became the RSGB ? b)Did enterprising WS's back in the 1920's make their own T/Eq. ? c)Who were "Experimental Wireless" ? Did they make T/Eq. back in the 1920's ? As well as offering a calibration service. c) On the rear of the Ebonite panel in the bottom R/H corner is Registered Trade Mark - RADION (ACE) PANEL the "ACE" is actually etched inside an Acorn Logo. d) The Dial was made by the AMERICAN HARD RUBBER Co. New York, and is stamped RADION No10 . e) Perhaps the Tottenham WS, or Experimental Wireless imported the wavemeter from RADION in the USA ? f) The mahogany wooden case seems to be bespoke made just for this item. No evidence of it being altered from some other use. Regards, David PS. Googled "RADION" - Seemingly it was the trade name for the Ebonite-like panels produced by the American Hard Rubber Co. of New York back in the 1920's. Then there was the American RADION Valve manufacturer. Were they one & the same, perhaps ? Last edited by David Simpson; 19th Feb 2018 at 12:26 pm. Reason: More info |
19th Feb 2018, 1:29 pm | #3 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,846
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Loads of results re. TWS on Google e.g. from Wireless World 1922:
Quote:
Last edited by Nickthedentist; 19th Feb 2018 at 1:43 pm. |
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19th Feb 2018, 2:41 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex.
Posts: 5,817
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
That's a wonderful find of great historical significance, especially as it has the sort of provenance so many items lack. The "Anniversary" of that Society is only four years away.
Dave W |
19th Feb 2018, 3:04 pm | #5 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Thanks Nick for that info.
Further internet research has revealed an article in the BVWS's Bulletin dated Dec 1981 - Vol.6 No3. about RADION's valve manufacturing & the Pattison family in Bollington nr Macclesfield, Cheshire in the 1920's. I guess this shouldn't be confused with the American Ebonite product. I'd just like to zero in on who was making early test equipment for the wireless fraternity back in the 1920's. Cant find any gen in my third edition of Radio! Radio!, nor in my 2001 edition of Tickling the Crystal. I've a Scott-Taggart book & some other 1920's wireless books, so will delve into them. Perhaps those guys in Bruce Grove back in 1922 were serious innovators & went on to manufacture bespoke early test equipment. Regards, David |
19th Feb 2018, 6:46 pm | #6 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Well, before I treat myself to a pre-dinner swally of a tumbler of cheapo British sherry - thought I'd supply the latest info I've uncovered on the internet :-
The Experimental Wireless & the Radio Engineer - - (see http://www.americanradiohistory.com/...l_Wireless.htm) was a British Publication which started out in October 1923. They also provided a Calibration Service. From page 70 of the Nov.1923 publication there can be seen an article on Wavemeters. Page 306 from their March 1924 Mag reveals an article on their Calibration service. I've printed off copies for my own use, but not sure weather attaching copies to this post infringes the American website's copyright rules. Even though we're talking about an original 1920's British publication. Perhaps a Moderator would like to advise, please. Still haven't found any gen on this particular Buzzer Wavemeter. Regards, David |
19th Feb 2018, 8:56 pm | #7 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,043
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Hello,
The coils look like they were made by Gambrell (http://www.valve-radio.co.uk/coils/g...-plug-in-coil/) which came out circa 1923. Gambrell did produce a similar wavemeter in 1923 https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/gambrell_wavemeter_a.html and here is another similar one by Bower-Lowe https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/bowyer...ave_meter.html You can see the marking out lines on the underside of the ebonite sheet which suggests that it might be "homemade" as you might have expected a manufacturer to use a template etc for drilling. Yours, Richard |
20th Feb 2018, 3:34 pm | #8 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Right enough Richard, I had forgotten to mention that the coils were Gambrell's.
Reason for slurping sherry yesterday evening - managed, at last, to get the 90 odd year old buzzer mechanism sorted & working. Drew 80 - 100mA between 4 & 6V DC, and 110 to 120mA at 9V. Briefly checked the resonance of the tank circuit using the 'A' Coil, and my wee h/held counter revealed "approx." frequencies between 800KHz & 1.2MHz. But its hit & miss, as folk ken - the buzzer's wee spark-gap will give an infinite bandwidth of EM radiation, and the LC tuning circuitry is rather basic. So the wee counter just couldn't lock-on to a specific steady frequency. It might well be that the enterprising Experimental Wireless Magazine perhaps became agents for a specific wavemeter manufacturer. This set is too well made for a 1920's homebrew project. Shall delve further. Regards, David |
20th Feb 2018, 4:35 pm | #9 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Spalding, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 2,859
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
David, that sounds like a useful pantry transmitter for crystal sets!
Sorry, (slaps wrist hard) On a more serious note, they certainly knew how to make stuff impressive back then. Rob
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20th Feb 2018, 5:43 pm | #10 |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Newmarket, Suffolk, UK.
Posts: 612
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
According to
http://www.dokufunk.org/upload/g_callbook_20-34.pdf they held a pre-war amateur licence as 5TT 73 Fred G4BWP quite post war |
21st Feb 2018, 6:22 pm | #11 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Bit more progress :- Thought I'd try & replicate one of the 1926 calibration graphs using coil A's original graph. The wee hand-held Watson Freq. Counter was tried first, but the digital display would just not lock on to a frequency long enough to read. Only managed to get one decent reading with the Condenser dial set at midway - (50), which came in at approx. 910KHz. (Close to the Lowe's result).
Then tried using my wee hand-held GDM - a Lowe FX-1 in wavemeter mode. More success, but that tiny edge meter was a sod to read. Anyway, the results more or less followed the old graph, but neither the Lowe's 'A' or 'B' plug-in coils gave any readable results at the higher freq. end. Coupling issues, I suspect. The heffing buzzer didn't help, would run at a constant buzz for 3 or 4 seconds, then stutters for a bit. ( Bit like a WAAF I used to know). Regards, David |
13th Mar 2018, 9:51 pm | #12 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Well, I guess this project is complete. Major cleaning, rubbing-down & re-varnishing has been completed on the scratched & crud encrusted cabinet. Had to make a replacement brass strap for the leather handle. A couple of sections of the m & t corners had loosened & required pinning & gluing, and clamped in a sash clamp. Another lovely old mahogany boxed working item from the 1920's to add to my collection.
Must get back to re-cupboarding the scullery, and finishing the painting. Regards, David |
14th Mar 2018, 12:21 am | #13 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex.
Posts: 5,817
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Really nice David. If only the distinguished members of the Tottenham Wireless Society were around to give you Dinner and an Honourary Membership [preceded by a Sherry Reception of course],
Dave W |
14th Mar 2018, 2:55 am | #14 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,339
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
I have a few random copies of Experimental Wireless etc. complete with covers and adverts, somewhere in the loft, acquired in a Plessey library clear-out. It was not cheap, 2/6d an issue if I remember correctly. The ones I have include a regular page written in Esperanto (unfortunately without an English translation).
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14th Mar 2018, 11:55 am | #15 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Aberdeen, UK.
Posts: 2,853
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Perhaps Emeritus, next time you're up in your loft, you wouldn't mind locating the old magazines, please. Just in case there is any info on this WM. Of particular interest to this test eq. sub forum would be info on early 1920's test equipment used in their calibration service.
Regards, David |
14th Mar 2018, 10:49 pm | #16 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 3,987
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Re: Tottenham Wireless Society
Experimental wireless is available on American radio history site, First issued Oct 1st 1923, possibly a little later than you wanted but other earlier British mags on same site. I just Googleg "Experimental Wireless"
John |