Artifact Evaluation - microphone connector

[Ric Gillespie]

Second picture (not terribly well focused) shows external speaker connection cable.  Looks close to Joe's find ?

Closer than anything we've seen on the Electra.  Seems like a 16mm projector would be a common standard issue item for military units.  Somebody knows.  Some museum probably has one.
The way you identify an artifact is to find a known thing that looks just like the unknown thing.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

It seems to me that there various kinds of radio stations on Niku at different times.  I think it would be hard to eliminate all of them as possible sources of the connector. 

From "Nikumaroro" by P. B. Laxton:

"They rose before dawn each day, and after the early light meal, went out under the leadership of Tem Mautake to the bush for clearing and planting. Gallagher would make his radio schedule, deal with the little office work, and follow the working parties with the native leader and acting Magistrate, Teng Koata and with his personal "boy," young Ten Aram Tamia, a Gilbertese educated under Major Holland, G.C., at the Colony's King George V school at Tarawa."

"The terrific impact of German and Japanese aggression and global war threw Nikumaroro into the background, and no resident officer replaced Mr. Gallagher. In 1943, however, a survey party came, and thereafter a radio navigation station was set up by the United States Forces."

"The acting Island Magistrate was that same Aram Tamia who had accompanied Gallagher as his houseboy. Next day I set out with him on a tour of inspection. A hundred yards from the house to the north was the radio station, under charge of Ten (or Mr.) Tekautu, a skillful, English-speaking, Gilbertese wireless operator. He kept a daily "Met. log" which he transmitted to Canton Island, making also two other daily schedules for official business and private telegrams. His equipment, old and needing replacement, was well and intelligently maintained. Tekautu was unmarried and a little lonely, since he was not a Nikumaroro man."

[Ric Gillespie]

A hundred yards from the house to the north was the radio station

The radio shack was still standing and basically intact when we started visiting Niku.  All gone now.

[Bill Mangus]

Closer than anything we've seen on the Electra.  Seems like a 16mm projector would be a common standard issue item for military units.  Somebody knows.  Some museum probably has one.
The way you identify an artifact is to find a known thing that looks just like the unknown thing.

Looking . . . have a couple of feelers out . . . see if I get a response.

Anyone have the TO&E for a LORAN unit?
;D

[Ric Gillespie]

Anyone have the TO&E for a LORAN unit?

That's Table of Organization & Equipment for you civilians.  Every military unit has one. How many people, what kind of people, what kind of stuff, and how much stuff you're supposed to have (and rarely do).

[James Champion]

The Morse code key in the cockpit picture shows two connectors under the key, and these appear to be the 1/4" phono plug type. There are a set of headphones draped over the seat armrest. So, it would seem that one is for the key and the other is for the headset - makes sense.

To have a CW/Voice switch on the cockpit control panel makes sense given the method of CW of that era. It is not quite the same CW that we're familiar with mid-WWII and afterwards, but technically MCW or Modulated CW. A tone-modulated AM signal was transmitted in MCW, and not just the AM carrier only. With pure CW, receivers needed a BFO or Beat Frequency Oscillator function (or other early CW reception feature) internally to add the tone to a CW signal being received. But with MCW, any AM receiver, older or newer, would receive the CW and provide an audible tone. This switch would activate the tone modulation circuits within the transmitter to create a MCW signal when the key was pressed. You wouldn't want the tone modulation to activate if you were actually using the microphone.