[Milsurplus] CDL

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

I meant to send this also to the list last night but must have only hit the 
Reply button.


Technically, it isn't the military's manufacturer's code but the Navy 
Contractor Code. Dates from WW-I. The Signal Corps used it intermittently in the late 
30's and 40's. Generally (I don't know of any exceptions but as soon as I say 
Never Bill will find the one and only) Signal Corps nameplates either have 
the contractor's name spelled out or have a colon followed by the Navy 
Contractor Code following the serial number. But not both. Most prolific examples are 
on the BC-611 nameplates. but there are many other examples.

Also, to correct an earlier post, CQC is the Navy Contractor Code for Admiral 
Corp., not CDL.

But as to what happened to Belmont after the War, I don't know. I don't 
recall seeing them on any of the Korean War sets.

There were three contractors who made BC-348's (two of whom also made 
BC-224's). Belmont (CDL) made the BC-348-HKLR and BC-224-FK, Wells-Gardener (CWQ) 
made the BC-348-JNQ (the cheap sets), and RCA (CRV) made the original BC-224, the 
first BC-348 (the BC-348-B) and the rest of the BC-348's and BC-224's.

Further to the Contractor Code, the first letter ("C") stands for 
"Contractor". The first codes, assigned during WW-I, may have been assigned explicitely 
rather than just alphabetically, as CW is Western Electric and CG is General 
Electric. When they ran out of two-letter codes they went to three, and then 
four late in WW-II. Of the ones from the late 30's on, the only one I know of who 
lucked out and got their company name as their contractor code was Collins, 
COL. Some got second and third letter preference (Telephonics is CTE). But most 
just got the next available letters (Jefferson Travis is CAPI, Westinghouse 
is CAY, etc.).

In a message dated 4/15/2007 9:54:22 PM Central Standard Time, 
kk5f at earthlink.net writes: 
> >This may be a silly question, but I have seen some
> >dynamotors &a BC-348 made by 'CDL'. Was CDL limited
> >to WWII production??, &was it a standard radio
> >manufacturing firm?
> 
> That was the military's manufacturer's code for Belmont Radio, a maker of 
> many BC-348 units (BC-348-H, K, L, R, S).
> 
> See Ken Corwin's (SK) write-up at: http://nj7p.org/history/bc-348.html .
> 




Robert Downs - Houston
<http://www.wa5cab.com> (Web Store)
MVPA 9480
<wa5cab at cs.com> (Primary email)
<wa5cab at houston.rr.com> (Backup email)
   
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