[ARC5] The comms war - VHF & HF (a bit OT).

[Geoff]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. Forster" <jfor at quikus.com>
To: "Richard Knoppow" <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>
Cc: "ARC-5 List" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 2:12 PM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] The comms war - VHF & HF (a bit OT).


> Not so OT IMO.
>
> Another list has been discussing R.1155s. They are well known examples of
> what happend to poor quality rubber over time...  It becomes like caked
> mud and crumbles at the slightest touch. This can be very problematic in a
> radio.
>
> It is clear that some WW II rubber was pretty bad. Items from the 1920s
> and 1930s are fine, but 1940s stuff tends to become rock hard and almost
> as brittle as glass. Rubber improved by the early 1950s, but not all.
> Lately it has been replaced by vinyl, but some of that degrades into
> nasty, sticky, goo.
>
> BTW, does anyone know of a modern source for multiconductor real rubber
> control cable, preferably with multicolor wires, about #20 or #22 that
> could be used to rewire radios? Belden/Alpha used to make it, but
> seemingly not now.
>
> -John

Anyone who has worked on a mid-late 30's RCA, GE, Zenith, Majestic or many 
other household brands would beg to differ with you.

In addition, tires and vehicle wiring was no better with wire being a 
problem well into the 50's which keeps replacement harness companies busy.

What passes as rubber on tires these days is unsafe after about 4-5 years 
which gets expensive when you have several collector cars to enjoy driving 
only 1000 or so miles a year.