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Volume 12 Number 2/3
October, 1996 |
 Found Objects |
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| [?] Cables (TIGHAR Artifact 2-3-V-1) |
| Date Found: |
February 1996 during TIGHAR’s NIKU III Preliminary expedition. |
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| Description: |
These are two lengths, possibly once joined, of coaxial cable. Each end has
a single-pin connector with a knurled tightening nut. The cable consists
of an outer layer of rubber insulation covering a shielding braid of tinned
copper wire over another layer of rubber insulation. The core is made up of
ten twisted strands of wire wrapped with cotton. |
| Identification (partial): |
The connectors are Howard P. Jones Series 101 plugs manufactured from the
mid-1930s onward and used on certain models of Western Electric, Bendix and
Sperry receiving equipment. The construction of the cables indicates aviation
use and matches the description of 70 or 72 ohm coaxial cable used for antenna
lead-ins for radio receivers. |
| Condition: |
Various components of the cable are missing in many areas, but entire cross-sections
survive to permit a full description of the original make-up. The connectors
are in remarkably good condition. |
| Commentary: |
Specifications for military-approved coaxial cable in 1941 begin with a 12-strand
core. It may be that the 10-strand cable found on Nikumaroro is an earlier
civilian type. Documentation is being sought. The Earhart aircraft carried
Western Electric and (possibly) Bendix receivers. |
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